Old Cattails

 

Old cattails, browning with age,

bulge in late autumn wetlands.

Erect on stiff stalks,

they persist into winter.

Black-capped Chickadees

grasp the heads with tiny toes.

Hammer the dense cylinders;

brown cigars in the swamp.

They peck and probe

until the cattails explode.

Extract hidden larvae

deep within the spikes.

Releasing fine fibers of fluff

into blustery winter winds.

© 2023 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. 2. 3. Grattan Township - Kent County - Michigan

4. Rogue River - Rockford, Michigan 

 

Walking the Swamp in Winter

 

I set out for a walk,

wearing layers

of flannel and fleece,

but winter's cold hand

slaps the tight skin

on my wind-burned face.

Six degrees

makes my eyes water 

blurs my vision.

I seek shelter

from the wind

in a Tamarack swamp,

crowded with cattails,

and arduously  follow

a narrow deer trail

through deep snow

and half-frozen black mud.

While stumbling and grunting

through eight-foot cattails,

fluff is sticking to my lips,

and to my stocking hat.

Hidden hummocks of grass

trip me up,

try to bring me

down.

I try to maintain balance,

and get warmed-up

by the effort.

© 2022 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Townsend Park - Kent County - Michigan

2. 3. & 4. Cannon Township - Kent County - Michigan

 

Blue Statue

 

The Great Blue Heron statue,

standing still in shallow water,

begins a slow-motion ballet.

A picture of patience,

leaning over its own reflection,

holding a pose of predation.

Cattail leaves swaying gently,

frame the backdrop for

the anticipated attack.

Living spear thrusts.

Calm water splashes.

Heron pierces prey.

© 2021 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. & 2. Estero, Florida

3. & 4. Rogue River - Rockford, Michigan

Saul Lake Bog

Fine tracings

of arching grasses

are frosted at dawn.

Thick shrubs of Cranberry

display red and green leaves 

packed tightly along their twigs.

Browned cattail leaves

curve down from their heights,

more brittle than their summer selves.

A White-tailed buck

stands tall in the Tamaracks;

alert and muscular,

displaying a large rack of antlers.

A few hundred Canada Geese

announce their departure;

rise clamorously

off the shallow water,

assemble airborne into formation,

and depart over autumn leaves.

Winterberry and

large rose hips

add red highlights

into the dense shade.

Black-capped Chickadees

balance like acrobats

while picking at seed heads

of dried wildflowers

and cattails.

Morning has broken 

at Saul Lake Bog.

© 2020 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

Saul Lake Bog Nature Preserve - Grattan Township - Kent County - Michigan

 

November Light

 

The light in November

changes slowly, subtly. 

The sun,

when it does shine,

sneaks in at a low angle,

with patience.

You finally accept

that warm summer days

are long gone,

and autumn colors

have faded out.

You begin to admire 

shades of brown.

Yet, the sun,

when it does shine,

carries a subtle hope

for tomorrow.

© 2020 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations: Grattan Township - Kent County - Michigan

Red-winged

Red-winged Blackbird lands

on arching stalk of cattail.

Cloud of pollen drifts.

©  2019  Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

Huyser Lake "Peace Pond"  Kent County,  Michigan 

Silver the Wetlands

Late into autumn,

after the hard frosts,

dark brown cattails

silver the wetlands.

Seeds as light as air,

prepared for flight,

on the next breathe

of November wind.

© 2018 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations: 

Rogue River - Rockford, Michigan

receptacle

I long for you

to appreciate with me
the spring chorus
of returning songbirds;
to hear their holy notes
of praise
rising from the woods,
entering your soul.

I long to share
insights gathered
from quiet walks
in summer fields
where familiar wildflowers
expand to dispense
their sweet fragrance
for your pleasure.

I long to be
the receptacle
for words
gleaned from leaves
resisting wind and gravity,
displaying flexibility,
while growing imperceptibly,
through time, precious time.

I wish to enter
through the transparent
window of your heart;
to bring samples
of God's creation
into your waiting world
as we await
the blessed hope.

© 2016 Richard Havenga

Photo Info. & Locations:

1. Red-eyed Vireo ~ Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

2. Scarlet Tanager ~ Fred Meijer White Pine Trail State Park - Rockford, Michigan

3. Purple Coneflower ~ Grand Detour, Illinois

4. Cattail ~ Wabasis Lake Park - Kent County, Michigan

5. Morning sun through fog ~Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

Van Gogh

" Perhaps I shall begin to look about for greens." 

~ Vincent Van Gogh (to his brother Theo)

from: letters edited by Irving Stone (1873-1890)

book: Dear Theo - © 1937 by Irving Stone



Photo Locations:

1. Wabasis Lake Park - Kent County, Michigan

2. & 4. Pickerel Lake Park - Kent County, Michigan

3. Gunnison, Colorado

Return of the Red-wings

Master of the Marshes

The Red-winged Blackbird's slow, stalling flight, with epaulets exposed, tail spread, and head downward... ends with a glide to a perch within his territory.

The male spends his days affirming his presence inside his claimed portion of this wetland.

Proclaiming space along the edge of the lake. His colors looking good among the Weeping Willow twigs.

Glossy black plumage brings greater contrast with his bright wing decorations. This breeding black male has scarlet epaulets bordered with yellow or buff.

"The redwing flutes his O-ka-lee"  -  Ralph Waldo Emerson's description of the song.

Calls: a loud "check" and a high, slurred "tee-err"

Song: a liquid, gurgling "konk-la-ree" or "o-ka-lay"

Female Red-winged Blackbird is smaller than the male, with heavy streaking on her breast and abdomen. 

Leaning over and fanning his tail. Showing constant vigilance in his territory. The male selects the site and defends it against other males.

Nice profile of the female: brownish, with sharply pointed bill, eyestreak, wingbars, and well-defined streaking on breast.

Nice landing on a vertical perch; the ever-present cattails. At home in the marsh.

Female may have a slight pinkish tinge on her throat. She arrives a few weeks after the male;  accepts the site, and the male.

Fabulous display; the male flashes and quivers his spectacular red and yellow epaulets, while fanning out his tail.

                             "oog-la-eee"  

                                                           "ook-a-leeee" 

                                                                                    "konk-la-ree"










Calls of the Red-winged Blackbird from Cornell Labs: (Cornell)

Red-winged Blackbird - Agelaius phoeniceus



Photo Locations:

Cannonsburg,  (Cannonsburg)  Michigan

Rogue River,  (Rogue River)  Rockford,  (Rockford)  Michigan

Pickerel Lake Park,  (Pickerel Lake)  Kent County,  Michigan (Michigan)