Huron River and Watershed
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Ruby-throated Hummingbird ~ Archilochus colubris ~ Huron River and Watershed, Michigan
"A day without laughter is a day wasted." ~ Charlie Chaplin
Rubythroated.Hummingbirdhummeron the wingbirdhummingbirdHuron River and WatershedMichiganfauna
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Ruby-throated Hummingbird ~ Archilochus colubris ~ Huron River and Watershed, Michigan
"May the forces of evil get confused on the way to your house." ~ George Carlin
Rubythroated.Hummingbirdhummeron the wingbirdhummingbirdHuron River and WatershedMichiganfauna
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Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Female ~ Archilochus colubris ~ Huron River and Watershed, Michigan
“The daily hummingbird assaults existence with improbability.” ~ Ursula K. Le Guin
Rubythroated Hummingbirdhummeron the wingbirdhummingbirdHuron River and WatershedMichigan fauna
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Ruby-throated Hummingbird ~ Archilochus colubris ~ Huron River and Watershed, Michigan
“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” ~ John Hughes
Rubythroated.Hummingbirdhummeron the wingbirdhummingbirdHuron River and WatershedMichiganfauna
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Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Female ~ Archilochus colubris ~ Huron River and Watershed, Michigan
“The world is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.” ~ Bertrand Russell
Rubythroated HummingbirdHummeron the wingbirdhummingbirdHuon River and WatershedMichiganfauna
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Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Female ~ Archilochus colubris ~ Huron River and Watershed, Michigan
"Forget the failures. Keep the lessons." ~ Dalai Lama
Rubythroated Hummingbirdon the wingHuron River and WatershedMichiganfaunahummerbirdhummingbird
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Ruby-throated Hummingbird ~ Archilochus colubris ~ Huron River and Watershed, Michigan
"Listen to the hummingbird whose wings you cannot see. Listen to the hummingbird, don't listen to me." ~ Leonard Cohen
Rubythroated Hummingbirdon the wingHuron River and WatershedMichiganfaunahummerbirdhummingbird
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Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Female ~ Archilochus colubris ~ Huron River and Watershed, Michigan
“In order to see birds it is necessary to become a part of the silence.” ~ \Robert Lynd
RubyThroated Hummingbirdhummeron the wingbirdhummingbirdHuron River and WatershedMichiganfauna
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Hummer's World ~ Ruby-throated Hummingbird ~ Huron River and Watershed, Michigan
"A route of evanescence
With a revolving wheel;
A resonance of emerald,
A rush of cochineal;
And every blossom on the bush
Adjusts its tumbled head, —
The mail from Tunis, probably,
An easy morning's ride."
Emily Dickinson, "The Humming-Bird"RubyThroated HummingbirdhummerbirdArchilochus colubrison the wingHuron River and WatershedMichiganfauna
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Wrapping All These Beautiful Pixels Around this Sweet Little Jewel ~ Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Female ~ Archilochus colubris ~ Huron River and Watershed, Michigan
"To know someone here or there with whom you can feel there is understanding in spite of distances or thoughts expressed... That can make life a garden." ~ Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
RubyThroated HummingbirdbirdhummerHuron River and WatershetMichiganon the wingfauna
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Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Female ~ Archilochus colubris ~ Huron River and Watershed, Michigan
"Soyez gentil et ayez du courage." ~ Anne Frank
Rubythroated Hummingbirdhummerbirdhummingbirdfaunaon the wingHuron River and WatershedMichigan
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Coming in for a Landing ~ Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Female ~ Archilochus colubris ~ Huron River and Watershed, Michigan
"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." ~ John Muir
MichiganHuron River and WatershedRubythroated Hummingbirdhummerbirdhummingbirdfaunaon the wing
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One Last Sip Just Before the Storm ~ Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Female ~ Archilochus colubris ~ Huron River and Watershed, Michigan
"An essential aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail." ~ Edwin Land
MichiganfaunaHuron River and Watershedon the wingRubythroated Hummingbirdhummerbirdhummingbird
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American Goldfinch ~ Spinus tristis ~ Huron River and Watershed, Michigan
This regular visitor to our hummingbird feeder carefully shimmies down the pole and turns upside down to help himself to a few sips of water from the ant moat ~ he seems to prefer the moat over our mister and birdbath.
Goldfinchspinus tristisbirdfinchacrobatshortdistance migrant
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Ruby-throated Hummingbird ~ Archilochus colubris ~ Huron River and Watershed, Michigan
"The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
Rubythroated HummingbirdHummeron the wingbirdhummingbirdHuron River and WatershedMichiganfauna
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Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Male ~ Archilochus colubris ~ Huron River and Watershed, Michigan
"Think and wonder, wonder and think." ~ Dr. Seuss
on the wingbirdhummingbirdRubythroated HummingbirdfaunaHuron River and WatershedMale Archilochus colubris Huron River and WatershedMichigannature
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"For the poor Wren. The most diminutive of birds, will fight, Her young ones in her nest, against the owl." ~ William Shakespeare
House WrenTroglodytes aedonon the wintbirdnest boxfaunasongbirdforager
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Tufted Titmouse ~ Baeolophus Bicolor ~ Huron River and Watershed, Michigan
"I once met a man who said he had visited every exotic place from the Grand Canyon to the Great Wall, but when I questioned him closely I discovered he hadn't seen the songbirds in his own backyard." ~ Richard Bode
Tufted TitmouseBaeolophus bicolorbirdechoing voicesongbirdnatureon the wingfaunaforageracrobat
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Black-capped Chickadee ~ Poecile atricapillus ~ Huron River and Watershed
"Use what talent you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sang best." ~ Author unknown, quoted in The Ladies Repository: A Monthly Periodical, Devoted to Literature, Arts, and Religion, September 1874, commonly misattributed to Henry Van Dyke and Henry David Thoreau
curious.and.socialBlackcapped.ChickadeePoecile atricapillusacrobatspresence may indicate other migrantscommunications complex and language likeold brain neurons replaced by new for adaptation purposesHuron River and Watershedfaunaon the wingsongbirdnot migratorynature
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Downy Woodpecker, Leaning Against Stiffened Tail Feathers for Support ~ Dryobates pubescens ~ Huron River and Watershed, Michigan
Downy WoodpeckerDryobates pubescensHuron River and WatershedMichiganbirdacrobatic foragerblack and whitefaunafrequent members of mixed flocksdrum rather than sing songsoldest almost 12 yearsshort billwhite spottingmales have red napeshrill whinnying calleat mainly insectsexcavating nest holes takes 1 to 3 weeksundulating flight pattern
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Downy Woodpecker ~ Dryobates pubescens ~ Huron River and Watershed
"It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge." ~ Albert Einstein. Thank you, Carl Berger.
Downy WoodpeckerDryobates pubescensHuron River and WatershedMichiganbirdnatureacrobatic foragerjoins mixed flocksdrummersdon't sing songsundulating fliersPico PubescentePic mineursmall versions of classic woodpeckersmales have small red patch on back of headcommon feeder birdfauna
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Happy Thanksgiving from Michigan!
"When I was younger, I used to drive up to a bunch of turkeys, roll down the window and say something. They'd all gobble back at once." ~ Levon Helm
Huron.River.and.Watershedfaunaon the wingnaturebirdWild TurkeyMeleagris gallopavofeathersgobblersonly 1 of 2 domesticate birds native to new worldmay be named after country Turkeysome turkey fossils date from more than 5 millions years agocan swimgame birdunfeathered headblack and red wattlesbronze and green iridescent plumageroost in treestravelroost and forage in flocksresponds well to efforts of game maangers2nd most sought game after deergive softpurring sounds while on ground
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River in October ~ Huron River and Watershed
“Not I, nor anyone else can travel that road for you.
You must travel it by yourself.
It is not far. It is within reach.
Perhaps you have been on it since you were born, and did not know.
Perhaps it is everywhere - on water and land.”
~ Walt WhitmanriverskycloudstreesHuron RiverOctoberfallautumnMichiganripples
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"There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer.” ~ Ansel Adams
floraHuron River and WatershedMichiganflowerswildflowersyellowpetalsleavessummertime
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Design and Natural Beauty
"People travel the world over to visit untouched places of natural beauty, yet modern gardeners pay little heed to the simplicity and beauty of these environments...these special places we all must preserve and protect, each in his own way, before they are lost forever." ~ Mary Reynolds, Gold Medal winner at the Chelsea Flower Show, 2002, for her garden design; her story is portrayed in the lyrical movie, "Dare to be Wild." Here's an attempt to capture one small lovely corner of a local Master Gardener's efforts.
colorsnatural beautygarden designDare to be WildMary Reynoldswild garden sanctuarynatural environmentnaturewild naturewild spaces
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Flora ~ Huron River and Watershed
"I decided that if I could paint that flower in a huge scale, you would not ignore its beauty." ~ Georgia O'Keeffe
floraflowergardenplantwhite bloomspetalsleavesnatural beauty
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Rattlesnake Master ~ Eryngium yuccifolium ~ Huron River and Watershed
"Gardens are not made by singing, 'O, how beautiful,' and sitting in the shade." ~ Rudyard Kipling
gardensflowersfloranaturenaturalHuron River and WatershedMIchigan
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Voice of the Marsh ~ Huron River and Watershed, Michigan
"The voice of the frog is the glory of the marsh waters." ~ Sumerian Proverb
frogamphibianwaterfaunanaturebatrachianpolliwogcroakersemaquatic
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Natural Beauty ~ Huron River and Watershed
"The butterfly is a flying flower, the flower a tethered butterfly." ~ Ponce Denis Ecouchard Lebrun
butterflynatural beautyyellowwingsantenaepetalsnatureon the wingflowersflora
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Morning Glory ~ Huron River and Watershed, Michigan
“If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly our whole life would change.” ~ Buddha
Morning GloryblueglowHuron River and WatershedMichiganflowerfloranaturegardenvine
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Barn Swallow ~ Hirundo rustica ~ Huron River and Watershed, Michigan
"In many parts of the world, having Barn Swallows nesting on one's property is considered a sign of good fortune or a harbinger of spring. Legend has it that Barn Swallows consoled Christ on the cross by trying to remove the crown of thorns from his head and attempting to divert those coming to arrest him in the Garden of Gethsemane. Stories are told that Barn Swallows got their forked tails because they stole fire from the gods to give to the people, and their central tail feathers were shortened when they were burnt off by a firebrand hurled by a wrathful deity. Other legends have it that cows will give bloody milk or go dry if anything inopportune happens to the Barn Swallows nesting on a farm; lightning may even strike a house if a Barn Swallow nest is removed." ~ Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Barn SwallowHirundo rusticabirdblueon the wingfeathersbillcolbalt bluetawny belowagile flyerdeeply forked tailnests almost exclusively on human built structureswinters in Southern Hemispheresparrow sized swallowrusty throat and foreheadwhite spots under tail seen only in flightfeed almost exclusively in flightlong distance migrantfauna
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White-breasted Nuthatch ~ Sitta carolinensis ~ Huron River and Watershed, Michigan
“The reason birds can fly and we can't is simply because they have perfect faith, for to have faith is to have wings.” ~ J.M. Barrie
Whitebreasted NuthatchSitta carolinensisHuron River and WatershedMichiganbirdshort tailed birdblack caprusty spots on bellyclings to tree barkmoves at odd anglesperch upside down on treeslargest nuthatchgray blue on backwhite face and underpartshoodbirds of mature woodssmall bird with big voiceon the wingfauna
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Fluffy Northern Cardinal ~ Cardinalis cardinalis ~ Huron River and Watershed, Michigan
“What I like about photographs is that they capture a moment that’s gone forever, impossible to reproduce.”
– Karl LagerfeldfaunaNorthern CardinalCardinalis cardinalisbirdredHuron River WatershedMichigansweet whistlenonmigratorysongbirdstate bird of 7 statesmale black mask and throatlike sunflower seedsmales spread wings to protect young from sun
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Fluffy White-breasted Nuthatch ~ Sitta carolinensis ~ Huron River and Watershed, Michigan
"I don’t think of all the misery but of the beauty that still remains." ~ Anne Frank
White breasted NuthatchbirdSitta carolinensis Huron River WatershedMichiganfeeder birdon the wingfauna
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Cedar Waxwing ~ Bombycilla cedrorum ~ Huron River and Watershed
"Some birds are not meant to be caged, that's all." ~ Stephen King
Bombycilla cedrorumCedar WaxwingHuron River and Watershedbirdwingsfeatherstailred wax dropletseat berriesfaunaonthewingwaxy red secretionsspecializes in eating fruiutprominant crestpale hellow bellymediumsized birdsocial birdshort to longdistance migration
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Musquash ~ Huron River and Watershed
"Courage. What makes the flag on the mast to wave? What makes the elephant charge his tusk in the misty mist, or the dusky dusk? What makes the muskrat guard his musk? Courage! What makes the sphinx the seventh wonder? Courage! What makes the dawn come up like thunder? Courage! What makes the Hottentot so hot? What puts the "ape" in apricot?" ~ Cowardly Lion/L. Frank Baum
native to North AmericamusquashHuron River and Watershedanimalfaunasemiaquaticwaterwetlandnot member of genus Rattusmusky odormuskbeavermuskratHudson seal fur
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Red-bellied Woodpecker ~ Melanerpes carolinus ~ Huron River and Watershed, Michigan
"To confine our attention to terrestrial matters would be to limit the human spirit." ~ Stephen Hawking
Redbellied WoodpeckerMelanerpes carolinusbirdMichiganwoodpeckerHuron River and Watershedred capbillswingsfeathersbeakwoodson the wing
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Mama Sandhill Crane and Her Endearing Canada Gosling ~ Branta canadensis and Antigone canadensis ~ Kensington Metropark, Michigan
10 days later and never leaving the other's side.
Canada GoslingCanada GooseBranta canadensisSandhill CranefamilyKensington MetroparkMichiganbirdsgoslingwaterfowlbirdadopted goslingunlikely pairingon the wingfaunaanimalnaturewildlifeadoptedHuron River watershedAntigone canadensis
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Northern Cardinal, Male ~ Cardinalis cardinalis ~ Huron River and Watershed, Michigan
"May you come to find comfort in and remember ~ cardinals appear when angels are near. So go now, sit outside and drink your tea. Keep a look out for the little red bird ~ it is there your loved ones will be." ~ Victoria McGovern
CardinalCardinalis cardinalisbirdHuron River and Watershedredwingsfeathersbillbeaktailnonmigratorydo.not.moltprefer sunflower seedssongbirdstate bird of 7 statesprominent crestthick billblack maskmalelongtailed16 different calls
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Family ~ Adopted Canada Gosling, Mama Sandhill Crane, and Papa Sandhill Crane keeping watch over his family ~ Branta canadensis and Antigone canadensis ~ Kensington Metropark, Michigan
"Sandhill Cranes with Canada Goose Gosling"
Canada GoslingCanada GooseBranta canadensisSandhill CranefamilyKensington MetroparkMichiganbirdsgoslingwaterfowlbirdadopted goslingunlikely pairingon the wingfaunaanimalnaturewildlifeadoptedHuron River watershedAntigone canadensis
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Family ~ Adopted Canada Gosling, Mom Sandhill Crane Stretching, and Brother Sandhill Crane Colt ~ Branta canadensis and Antigone canadensis ~ Kensington Metropark, Michigan
"Sandhill Crane Plays Mother Goose to Adopted Gosling at Kensington Metropark"
Canada GoslingCanada GooseBranta.canadensisSandhill CranefamilyKensington MetroparkMichiganbirdsgoslingwaterfowlbirdadopted goslingunlikely pairingon the wingfaunaanimalnaturewildlifeAntigone canadensisHuron River Watershedadopted
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Sandhill Crane, Keeping Watch over His Family ~ Antigone canadensis ~ Huron River and Watershed
"Magic birds were dancing in the mystic marsh. The grass swayed with them, and the shallow waters, and the earth fluttered under them. The earth was dancing with the cranes, and the low sun, and the wind and the sky." ~ Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
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Mom Sandhill Crane Teaching Her Adopted Canada Gosling ~ Branta canadensis, Antigone canadensis ~ Kensington Metropark, Michigan
"The Goose that Thought He was a Sandhill Crane"
Canada GoslingCanada GooseBranta.canadensisSandhill CranefamilyKensington MetroparkMichiganbirdsgoslingwaterfowlbirdadopted goslingunlikely pairingon the wingfaunaanimalnaturewildlifeAntigone canadensisHuron River Watershedadopted
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Adopted Canada Gosling and Mama Sandhill Crane ~ Branta canadensis, Antigone canadensis ~ Kensington Metropark, Michigan
"This Sandhill Crane Couple Adopted Baby Goose"
Canada GoslingCanada GooseBranta.canadensisSandhill CranefamilyKensington MetroparkMichiganbirdsgoslingwaterfowlbirdadopted goslingunlikely pairingon the wingfaunaanimalnaturewildlifeAntigone canadensisHuron River Watershedadopted
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Adopted Canada Gosling and Mama Sandhill Crane ~ Branta canadensis, Antigone canadensis ~ Kensington Metropark, Michigan
For the dear adopted gosling who touched so many of our lives in his sweet earnestness to keep up with and protect Mama and Papa Sandhill Crane and Brother Colt and for the unwavering and loving devotion of Mama and Papa Sandhill Crane to both of their young ones. "Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air, are heading home again." ~ Mary Oliver
Canada GoslingCanada GooseBranta.canadensisSandhill CranefamilyKensington MetroparkMichiganbirdsgoslingwaterfowlbirdadopted goslingunlikely pairingon the wingfaunaanimalnaturewildlifeAntigone canadensisHuron River Watershedadopted
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Red-bellied Woodpecker ~ Melanerpes carolinus ~ Huron River and Watershed, Michigan
“Your photography is a record of your living, for anyone who really sees.” ~ Paul Strand
Redbellied WoodpeckerMelanerpes carolinusbirdMichiganHuron River and Watershedwoodpecker
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Elusive White Deer ~ Huron River and Watershed
"....keep your eyes out for the elusive white deer. This deer is albino, an animal with a genetic mutation where it is unable to produce melanin ~ a dark pigment which produces the typical coloration of the animal. Albinism in deer is rare, there is a one in 10,000 chance of a parent passing the gene to its offspring.... Please allow them to enjoy their beautiful home by respecting their space." ~ Danielle Mauter
white deeralbinoHuron River and WatershedfaunaanimalwhitenatureMichigan
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