It's been a busy two weeks since I last posted. During that time I spent a long weekend visiting my mom and other family members in the area of Battle Creek, Michigan. I spent a couple of hours one morning exploring the
Kellogg Bird Sanctuary near Hickory Corners. The sanctuary is owned by Michigan State University and open year round. I wish I could have spent a little more time at the Sanctuary, but it didn't open until 9 and I had to leave by 10. I wandered the area outside the sanctuary for about an hour before it opened and found a few colorful birds.
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| Common Yellowthroat at Kellogg Bird Sanctuary Hickory Corners, MI |
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| Common Yellowthroat at Kellogg Bird Sanctuary Hickory Corners, MI |
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| Common Yellowthroat at Kellogg Bird Sanctuary Hickory Corners, MI |
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| Blue Jay at Kellogg Bird Sanctuary Hickory Corners, MI |
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| Blue Jay at Kellogg Bird Sanctuary Hickory Corners, MI |
The light was harsh so it washed out the color of this Northern Cardinal, but I had to include at least one image of a Cardinal in this post. It's the state bird for my home state of Kentucky and I never see them in Utah.
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| Northern Cardinal at Kellogg Bird Sanctuary Hickory Corners, MI |
What sounded like a group of unskilled, beginning brass players from outside the Sanctuary turned out to be Trumpeter Swans, Michigan's largest native waterfowl species. They have wingspans up to 80"--about the same wingspan as Bald and Golden Eagles.
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| Trumpeter Swan at Kellogg Bird Sanctuary Hickory Corners, MI |
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| Trumpeter Swan at Kellogg Bird Sanctuary Hickory Corners, MI |
I ran across a Red Fox, White-tailed Deer, Wood Ducks, Kingfishers, Flycatchers, Woodpeckers, Catbirds, Indigo Buntings, and a number of other expected bird species. This little Mallard family was quite content as I passed by them while walking a short trail.
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| Mallard Family at Kellogg Bird Sanctuary Hickory Corners, MI |
I started to take the 3/4-mile Lake Loop trail around Wintergreen Lake and ran out of time so I had to turn around just after getting on my belly to capture an image of some mushrooms on the trail.
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| Spring Mushrooms at Kellogg Bird Sanctuary Hickory Corners, MI |
I stopped for a few moments outside the entrance to the Sanctuary to observe a few squirrels and chipmunks feeding around some bird feeders. I think mammals are fascinating and need to include more in my future blog posts.
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| Eastern Chipmunk at Kellogg Bird Sanctuary Hickory Corners, MI |
Black squirrels, which are abundant in the Battle Creek area, are actually a melanistic (black pigmented) subgroup of the Eastern Gray Squirrel. I had to remove a tick from my leg after spending some time in Utah mountains a couple of weeks ago so I couldn't help but notice the squirrel below had a tick latched onto the inside of its ear.
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| Black (Melanistic) Eastern Gray Squirrel at Kellogg Bird Sanctuary Hickory Corners, MI |
Here's a super-cropped image of the same squirrel showing the tick in its ear. It's pretty common for ticks to latch onto flesh of mammals that live in the woods.
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| Black (Melanistic) Eastern Gray Squirrel with Tick in Ear at Kellogg Bird Sanctuary Near Hickory Corners, MI |
While we don't see black squirrels in Utah, we certainly have our share of American Red Squirrels. It was a familiar sight when the Red Squirrel below scampered up a tree and perched just above me. These are the smallest tree squirrels in North America.
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| Red Squirrel at Kellogg Bird Sanctuary Hickory Corners, MI |
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| Red Squirrel at Kellogg Bird Sanctuary Hickory Corners, MI |
I missed a lot of good birding opportunities during my short visit to Battle Creek, but I enjoyed the short time I had at the Kellogg Bird Sanctuary.
