U of M Dearborn - May 9th

This after noon I decided to take advantage of the nice weather and the sun and drove over to the University of Michigan to walk the nature trail. I've never been there (even when I worked there) so I decided to take my Canon Rebel and 500mm lens and go for a walk. There are several trails within the trail but I decided to stay on the outside rim. This walk took me about an hour and a half. As I begin my walk the first birds I see are a Starling and then a Robin. There are several bird feeders near the Nature Center where two Cardinals (male and female) are feeding. I don't know the songs of each bird - but it sounds pretty active. There's a little bird flying around and because I want to know what it is I keep watching it, he definitely has my attention. While trying to get a picture of my little interest I catch glimpse of this Red-bellied Woodpecker as he makes his way up the tree and then to another. I managed to get quite a few shots of this pretty boy.

Along the trail on my right is the water and taking advantage of the sun are the Painted Turtles. There are all kinds of little flowers (which I don't know the names of) and flowering trees; a few butterflies floating around too. As I reach the end of my walk I decided to go around the back of the Nature Center where the feeders are. There were two Chipmunks playing in the grass and a number of birds flying from branch to branch.

While taking in the sights and sounds the area starts getting quite active. In a short time I managed to get photos of a Chipping Sparrow, White-Crowned Sparrow, Blue Jay, Brown-headed Cowbird, Hairy Woodpecker (if correct his beak is longer than the Downy's) and a White-Crowned Sparrow. The picture to the left had me a little intrigued. This guy would sit in the leaves and every now and then would make his way to the feeder but just wouldn't land. With a little patience he made his way to the feeder to my left and I was able to get several pictures of a Rose-breasted Grosbeak.

Well that was my adventure for the afternoon, quite rewarding I will say. Have posted the pictures in the right column from today's shoot. So I hope you enjoy them. Til my next post.