Basket of Hope

 

Behold.

The mystery;

the potential miracle

of unhatched eggs.

Placed in a soft cup

of dried grasses,

into a woven

basket of hope.

Elegant eggs

dappled and splotched

with earthy colors.

Being incubated,

nurtured for the 

invisible future.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations: Home Gardens - Cannonsburg, Michigan

Devoted

 

In the cold spring air,

on the cool April ground,

green blades of  young grasses

spear through the dead mat of tans.

Here in a small depression,

a hidden patch of earth

is warmed by the breast

of a nesting Woodcock.

Four elegant eggs

splotched with earthy colors.

Vulnerable to the elements.

Dependent on her devoted presence.

© 2024 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. & 2. Grattan Township - Kent County - Michigan

Our Cardinals

 

Our cardinals

begin singing at dawn

and linger into dusk.

The last to dine at the feeders.

They like to nest

in the dense branches

of our viburnum and hawthorn.

Weaving strands of wild grape vines.

Cardinals are common,

loyal and hardy.

They look spectacular

in the white of winter.

© 2023 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations: 

1. 2. 3. Home

4. Townsend Park - Kent County - Michigan

Questions for Birds

 

Does your breath

come faster and deeper

when you're flying

versus perching?

Like when I'm running

versus walking?

How often and how long

do you rest while migrating?

Maybe every ten to twelve hours

like when I'm driving cross-country?

How exactly does your navigation system work?

Is it similar to my truck's GPS?

How do you build such cool

and functional nests

with only two feet and a beak?

We need manufactured materials;

lumber, metals, plastics,

and a plethora of power tools.

How is your diet so simple;

seeds, insects, berries, worms and larvae?

We plant, process and package

our protein and nutrition.

How long will you,

your particular species,

survive and multiply,

if we first do you no harm?

© 2022 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Swallow-tailed Kite ~ Collier County - Florida

2. Yellow-headed Blackbirds - San Pedro House ~ Sierra Vista, Arizona

3. Snow Geese ~ Bosque del Apache NWR - San Antonio, New Mexico

4. Yellow-throated Vireo ~ Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

5. Cedar Waxwing~ Home Garden - Cannonsburg, Michigan

6. American Avocet ~ Mono Lake, California

7. White-crowned Night Heron ~ "Ding" Darling NWR - Sanibel Island - Florida

Rushing

 

Like a fast mountain stream

plunging past boulders,

the current of time

is rushing through my life.

To slow down time,

I sit on a boulder,

breathing slowly, deeply;

open to possibilities.

After some patient waiting

under the shade of pine and spruce,

an American Dipper suddenly appears.

While slipping into the current,

it captured larvae

from underwater rocks.

Now it's ready to serve them to its young,

hidden in a globular nest of bronze moss,

anchored upon a wet boulder

in the middle of this

fast mountain stream

rushing through my life.

© 2022 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. 2. & 3. Taylor River (Lodgepole Campground) - Almont, Colorado

Basket of Hope

In honor of Lillian Havenga's Birthday ~ 10-22-22 > 9-2-21

You built your nest

strong and secure,

and placed four eggs

into a woven

basket of hope.

Ready to nurture

the invisible future.

You have recently flown away,

above the clouded blue sky,

and entered Heaven's bright glory.

Your descendants

have grown and matured,

and now carry on

your legacy of kindness.

And have themselves

built nests of hope

where their fledglings

will either grow and thrive,

or die too young.

© 2021 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

2. Pray, Montana

3. Pickerel Lake Park / Fred Meijer Nature Preserve - Kent County - Michigan

 

 

The Nest

the gnatcatcher's nest

swaying in the summer breeze

hatchlings huddle down

©  2014  Richard Havenga

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - Sounds  

Photo Location: Home Woods

Pickerel Lake Loop

A few weeks ago, I was asked to guide a group of 8th graders on a Birding walk at Pickerel Lake Preserve. The students were from The Potter's House; (Potter's House) an excellent, private, Christian school in the Grand Rapids area. These kids were amazing! Respectful, attentive, polite. Their parents, and the staff at The Potter's House are doing something right.

These soon-to-be Freshmen looked me in the eye when they talked to me, and the handshakes were firm during our introductions.They knew how to relate to adults. Sincere curiosity guided their questions. This was a fun and friendly group of mature, young adults. I thoroughly enjoyed our time together.

This week, at a different event, their hand-written thank-you notes were delivered to me. Nice touch.

Near the end of June, some of these kids will have the tremendous opportunity to attend the Teton Science School in the Grand TetonNational Park (Grand Teton) in Wyoming. Wow! I've been to the Tetons about five or six times. It remains in my top five all-time of our national parks, and we hope to return. These kids are going to love it!


Today I returned to Pickerel Lake Preserve, with my camera this time. Come along now for a Walk With Father Nature as we do the Lake Loop. It's less than two miles long, and totally natural. (When you visit, know that this trail is one-way -- clockwise.)

That opening photograph, above, is  a basking Blanding's Turtle. Named for William Blanding, an early Philadelphia naturalist. This one is about seven inches long, with a speckled carapace (top shell), and downright yellow under its neck. I found him along the really long, floating boardwalk. This is a well-engineered and well-constructed structure. And a great place to fish from with your younger kids.

In a smaller pond adjacent to the larger lake, these leaves of the Fragrant White Water Lily floated flat on the calm surface. The Lily flowers appear later.

A male Red-winged Blackbird shrieked a piercing warning whistle from high overhead in a Black Willow, while this female scolded from below. Both guarding their nest.

How can they craft and weave such a marvelous nest within last year's cattail stalks, with only two clawed feet and a beak?

These are the early leaves of Pickerelweed growing in the shallower water of Pickerel Lake. Attractively designed leaves with smooth curves and up-curled edges arching out over the water. Can we please delete "weed" from its name? Later this summer you'll be able to see the beautiful purple-flowered spike, erect and a prominent part of most inland lakes here in Michigan.

Look! 40 feet up in that dead tree. An unusually high perch for this sweet little Yellow Warbler, most often found in dense, thick brush, under 10 feet. Listen! He is calling right now: "sweet-sweet-sweet-sweeter-than-sweet." Such a common resident of wetlands, but an uncommon appearance; bright, cheerful yellow with a copper-streaked breast. It's not migrating through either; but hanging around to fill our summer days with his joyful song.

Want more yellow? Right here at your feet. My feet. My knee boots are only 5 inches into the black, soupy silt. Worth it though, to bring you a view of these Yellow Pond Lilies.

Closer now. Let's look inside this small, yellow cup. Still not mature; holding what looks like dozens of flat pull-tabs.

Of course our familiar friend, the Wild Iris (see post: "Blue Flags in Wetlands") is still flowering. Still displaying dynamic beauty.

As we finish our walk a pair of Mute Swans play front guard and rear guard for their five cygnets. Paddling straight as an arrow toward the next feeding area; fertile and abundant in this Pickerel Lake Preserve.


Thanks for joining me. Come again, and bring your family. Bring all your cygnets.

I'll be happy to show you around the Pickerel Lake Loop. (Pickerel Lake)