DEAR BLOG...

Dear Blog,

It's been nearly one whole month since I've shared with you, and that lapses into a form of neglect in the world of blogging. But I've been sick, and perhaps the worst casualty of sickness is getting out into the wild. When you're bed-ridden and home-bound, the window and the computer screen become the portals to the wild.

I'm feeling much better and have been fortunate enough to make it out on occasion, which, as you know, is a form of healing in and of itself (that's the irony of illness - inhibiting the very cure by disconnecting you from the outdoors).

Last week I was blessed with a perennial gift: an occasion where I make my usual rounds to a place that's yielded virtually no action, and I'm searching for something completely different, and a rare encounter occurs. This time I was hoping to capture a wobbly-legged fawn, but instead stumbled upon coyote pups!

The father yote was on to me quick though and had no qualms barking, approaching, and signaling that I was too close for comfort. This is all opposite their normal behavior of vanishing into thin air when they sense the slightest trace of human presence.

I'll post some more later, but for now, here are some keepers:

NESTING REDWINGS

With eggs in the nest, the redwings are on alert.

While kayaking Ottawa Marsh I came upon a nest and these two reacted in opposite fashion: the male flared and defended while the female retreated and hid.

Fight or flight.

Both made a lot of racket.

TALLAMY ON TV

At last, Douglas Tallamy's wonderful presentation, Gardening for Life, will be broadcast next week on Public Media Network.

The award winning author of Bringing Nature Home was the keynote speaker for a conference on native gardening at the Kalamazoo Nature Center in the Fall of 2009. I was commissioned by the Kalamazoo Area Chapter of Wild Ones to document Tallamy's presentation and the panel discussion following his talk. You can read more about the presentation and the commissioned DVD by clicking here.

If you care about the decline of biodiversity in the world and want to know how you can do something about it right in your backyard, you need to watch this program!

Friday, May 27th @8pm, channel 20

Sunday, May 29th @7pm, channel 19

Tuesday, May 31st @10am, channel 20

Thursday, June 2nd @3pm, channel 19

VARIATIONS ON A THEME

Oh, how I love the little yellow warbler...let me count the ways.

And words will always fall short of my feelings and affection for Ottawa Marsh.

I made my first trip to Ottawa this year, still early enough in the season to savor

the more delicate shades of Spring's palette. 

Ask me anytime of year where I'd like to be, if I could be anywhere

in Southwest Michigan, and I will almost always say: Ottawa Marsh.

OSPREY DEJA VU

The Osprey are back!

In town along the Kalamazoo River.

They nested at this same spot for the first time two years ago, but were severely pressured by the constant gaze of awe struck onlookers, as well as a meth bust that put every news station van in Southwest Michigan within 10 yards of their nesting pole.

Given all that, I'm surprised they returned.

I'll post more soon. In the meantime, you can read an earlier post about these birds by clicking here.

PEREGRINES ABORT CLUTCH

The unfortunate update on our peregrines is that Idelle abandoned her nesting spot on the 15th floor of the Fifth Thirds building.

She aborted the clutch about two weeks ago, leaving behind four eggs in a copper-lined rain trough. It's very possible the torrential rains we had a few weeks ago were simply too much for Idelle as the rising water surrounded her and the eggs. 

A failed, first clutch is not uncommon and certainly explains the copulating I witnessed recently as the pair makes a second attempt at nesting this year. The birds have also gravitated over to one of the Pfizer buildings, perhaps attracted to what some say is a gravel roof.

Another twist in this story are reports of a third bird. Karen Tindall, who works in the Haymarket building on Michigan Avenue, across the street from Fifth Thirds, reports she saw a third peregrine recently in the area, something Jonathan Morgan (a local birder) witnessed a few weeks back. 

I think it's safe to say the falcons are here to stay, and sooner or later they'll succeed with a brood and young will fledge. The question is exactly where and when that will happen. 

PROBLEMS WITH BLOGSPOT

For some unknown reason, Blogspot was having internal difficulties and consequently my last post, "PEREGRINES ABORT CLUTCH", was unexpectedly deleted. I'll be re-writing and re-posting very soon. Stay tuned.

I'm proud to announce that I, 

Matt Clysdale, am now officially 

a "dot com".

mattclysdale.com is the home of my new website! 

There you'll find samples of both my photographs and videos. There's also a shopping cart if you're interested in purchasing a print.

I'm extremely excited since this is my first centralized website. It's a work in progress, but I've come to realize life itself is a work in progress.

Enjoy! 

Paintings by BRENT SPINK

My good friend and neighbor, Brent Spink, is exhibiting a large collection of his work this Thursday through Sunday (April 28th - May 1st) at 309 North Burdick, right next door to Sarkozy's bakery.

Brent is a master painter of the natural world and has an uncanny ability to capture the sublime, ephemeral beauty of a landscape, whether it's a pristine wetland or a bulldozed wood lot. He's exhibiting works from huge to small, new to old, surreal to real, and epic to everyday.

If you want to open beautiful, new horizons in your home, now is the time to invest in a Spink*. 

So, come take in the stirring visions of one of Michigan's finest painters. He's also a great guy to talk to. He'll be there.

Hope to see you,

Matt

Click here to see his Gazette article and get the specific times.

*If he sells enough work, perhaps he won't move out West as planned.

Idelle

Karen Cleveland of the DNR was able to identify our female falcon using the band identification on her leg. And no, HP does not stand for Hewlett-Packard.

Her name is "Idelle". She was born on May 24th, 2009 at Gold Rock Point, in the Split Rock Lighthouse State Park in Lake County, Minnesota.

All the way from the gorgeous Lake Superior lakeshore - she's a city girl now. Amazing.

Idelle.