Zoo babies (and more)

Speaking of flexible summer days, today we dropped everything and headed over meet the new river otter pups just introduced on exhibit. Actually, our zoo has several babies this year, including a camel calf we did not get to see, and river otter pups and grizzly bear cubs, all of which were very entertaining while we were there. We had a chance to see the otter pups nursing, swimming playfully, and even tumbling down the slide in a head-over-tails ball of baby otters. We also watched them them follow and perfectly mimic their mother's every move in what could only have been a river otter's version of home (zoo) schooling. The lesson included swimming, looking for food, and waste elimination, and it looked quite a bit like follow the leader. One of them must have stepped out of line, though, because we actually saw his mother drag him by the scruff, under water, across the entire exhibit, then haul him out of the water onto the shore (he's as big as she is, mind you), and sit on him. We didn't see what got him into that trouble, but I think he's not likely to do it again.

The grizzly cubs were equally as precious. The three brothers were brought to the zoo late last year after their mother was killed by a poacher (story here), and they are immensely fun to watch. While we were there they swam, chased each other, and tumbled over and over a log that was in their pool. It was as though they were daring each other to be increasingly brave. There were other animals that we greatly enjoyed this trip, too, like the giraffe drinking from a spigot, the ostrich eyeing us warily from the shade, the penguins (of course), the polar bear who was just a glass width away, and some hoppity kangaroos. We ate lunch in the shade of a powerless carousel (the power still out in parts of the zoo from last week's storms), and even happened to spy some non-resident birds: black-capped night herons (adult and juveniles), and a red bellied woodpecker. Wildlife at the zoo, just imagine that.

We have gotten pretty good at spotting interesting wildlife, actually. I am a naturalist at heart, much of my college learning being focused on animals, their behavior, evolution, adaptations, and habitats, and Calvin has long taken part in seeking, finding, and quietly observing nature with me. Recently we have started to talk more in depth about what differentiates various types of life, like plants from animals, or mammals from amphibians, reptiles, or birds. A few weeks ago, partly following suggestions in BFSU, we talked at length about energy as the driving force behind life and about speciation, which really added to our enjoyment of all critter sightings while we were hiking on vacation, and the same can be said about today's sightings, both wild and not-so-wild (and one green heron sighting back in our own yard). Which means, I guess, that this only seemed like just another trip to the zoo, and that, in fact, brings me back around to what I was saying yesterday about learning and life fitting quite nicely together, quod erat demonstrandum.

Or, put more simply, we had a great time at the zoo today.

Baby river otters!

Little bumbles

Black-capped night heron being sneaky in the vulture enclosure

Black-capped night heron juveniles being sneaky (and avoiding their parents) in the ostrich and kudu enclosure

Animal watching...

People watching...

Grizzly cubs (including the little guy above)

Young polar bear

Adult polar bear

Sadly, a powerless carousel
American bison

Peacock

Little boy on an elephant sculpture

Red bellied woodpecker (from very, very far away, and very, very cropped in, but he's there)

Green heron flying over our yard at home

Vacation, part 2

We're now relaxing in Harbor Springs. Enjoying the company of well-loved family, playing putt putt in Petoskey, driving the Tunnel of Trees, swimming the surf of Sturgeon Bay, hiking the nature preserve behind the brewery-to-be (and why couldn't it have been in time for our trip???), and boogie boarding the waves of Little Traverse Bay from Petoskey State Park. It stormed over night last night, which is why we had such monstrous waves today, but we've had nothing but enjoyable weather during our waking hours. This is what summer should be.

Pirate's Cove, in Petoskey

Back up in Wilderness State Park for a swim in our favorite spot—Sturgeon Bay

Hiking Spring Lake Park and Round Lake Nature Preserve, in Petoskey

Eastern Garter Snake

Brown Snake

Eastern Kingbird (and nest)

Mute Swan (invasive species)

Ring-billed Gull, watching us swim in Petoskey State Park

Camping Michigan, 2012

Although we are still on vacation, enjoying beautiful Northern Michigan away from the heat at home, we have come to the end of our first real camping trip, and enthused enough to label the trip with a year, because we are already planning an even longer trip for next summer.

This year's trip was three night's long, spent with friends in Wilderness State Park in a camp site that was nestled between the lake and the pine forest. It was beautiful and peaceful, and even had pretty clean bathrooms and showers, and the weekend was practically charmed. We slept in tents, we cooked over a propane stove and over a fire, we listened to the waves at night, or the wind in the trees, and we swam in the lake at almost every free moment.

We also took the boat to Mackinac Island for a day. We brought our bikes with us and biked the eight miles around the Island, stopping many times to explore and play, and half way around to eat lunch with the sea gulls. We visited the Grand Hotel (from the outside, of course), the Governor's residence (also from the outside), and Historic Fort Makcinac (also, outside), and we hiked the Island's hills to see the traditional geographic sites, like Arch Rock and Skull Cave. We took a horse-drawn taxi, we enjoyed a seafood dinner, and we brought home a box of Island fudge. We came home on almost the last boat, and watched the sun setting behind the Mackinac Bridge.

And who can go camping without a little hiking? Wilderness State Park has some beautiful hiking trails, and, armed with camera, binoculars, bug spray, and nature books, we spent an afternoon exploring one of them. One of the great things about our weekend was that the afternoons were warm, and the evenings were cool, but it never really got too hot or too cold. Of course, woods hiking requires long pants, socks, and shoes, and it left us sweaty and tired, but we were rewarded with some exhilerating wildlife sightings: Green Frogs, butterflies aplenty, moss and wildflowers, towering trees, chipmunks, squirrels, deer tracks, a Yellow-Bellied Sap Sucker, and a family of Belted Kingfishers playing together over the pond. Awesome.

We marked our final night with popcorn over the campfire, and our final morning with eggs on the campstove. After packing everything back up we took one last dip in Big Stone Bay and headed south to our favorite stop in Harbor Springs, and that is where you will find us still, hiding away from the heat wave smothering our own city back home. And so the vacation story is to be continued.

Tenting with a view of Big Stone Bay.

Pouring over nature books and taking notes.

Hiding from the few sprinkles that fell just after we set up camp.

But it doesn't say 'no seagulls'.

Splashing around in the bay.

Art we found on the beach.

Roasting our first dinner over an open fire.

Roasting our first dessert over an open fire.

Watching the sun set over Big Stone Bay.

On our way to Mackinac Island.

On the boat to Mackinac Island.

Island fudge!

Setting out on our bike trip around the island.

Mile one, we stopped to explore the stoney beach.

Nearing mile 2, we stopped to enjoy Arch Rock from the bike route.

Around mile 3.

Nearing mile 4.

Mile 4, half way around, we stopped at British Landing for lunch.

Actually an 'unposed' picture.

Back in town, outside the Grand Hotel.

Playing in the sprinkler at the Governor's Island residence.

Outside Fort Mackinac.

At Skull Cave.

Above Arch Rock.

Above Arch Rock.

Marquette with a seagull on his head.

The main street on the island.

Taking a horse drawn taxi.

Watching the sun set behind the Mackinac Bridge on the boat ride home.

Hiking Wilderness State Park: Green Frog,

Monarch Butterfly on Swamp Milkweed,

Moss,

Belted Kingfisher,

Identifying wildflowers,

strange, strange, birch tree,

Kingfishers playing,

and a chipmunk.

Cooling off in Big Stone Bay.

A game borrowed from the camp office 'book nook'.

Watching one last sunset over Big Stone Bay.

Morning on the bay.

Eggs for breakfast.

Heading out, looking a little scruffier than when we arrived.

Polo match in Bliss.

Where the week went.

Better late than never. Here are some favorite moments from last week.

The past few days, or maybe the past week, we have been gearing up for a camping trip. It will be our second, but only sort of, since the first was for a single night and only a half hour from home. This time we are headed north to Wilderness State Park to rediscover the beauties of our home state. This trip will be a three-nighter, so still just a warm-up, really. We'll spend one day on Mackinac Island and another hiking or on the beach, hopefully, and we're pretty excited. Preparations have included research (mainly looking up lists of camping needs and wants), list making (of our own lists), and shopping (i.e. garage saling). It has been a fun exercise in "what-ifs" and "best vs. worst case scenarios", and Calvin is certainly developing a knack for contingency planning.

We finished the multiplication talbes this week and broke out Totally Tut to celebrate.

We learned about water animal life at Nature Thursdays and Calvin practiced his swimming in Independence Lake. It's fun to see how far he has come, and I'm looking forward to watching him play like a fish while we are up north.

Of course our one butterfly eclosed and went on his merry way.

We watched a spider weaves his web in the window of Calvin's playhouse, and then we watched him spin it again the next evening, and then the next.

We ate our first strawberry, and made kale salad from our first garden harvest, but we're still waiting on the rest of the plants.

And we went garage saling! We found so many fabulous games for around $1 each that we are still trying them all out. We also brought home a pretty descent Etch A Sketch.

See you in a few days on the other side of the camping trip, assuming we're not eaten by bears (this is one contigency for which I do not have a plan).

Nature Thursdays—aquatic wildlife

Nature Thursdays are back! Last year we spent every Thursday with one of the two fantastic wildlife interpreters from our County Parks & Rec commission, and yesterday marked the beginning of the same for this summer. The weekly programs are aimed at children, each with a theme bugs, or snakes, or flowers, etc. This week's session was about water-loving wildlife. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) Calvin and I were the only people who came, but we had a great time seeing our favorite Michigan wildlife specialist again, and Calvin got to touch green frogs, a crayfish, a snapping turtle, and even got to hold a painted turtle. We also went for a short hike to try netting smaller wildlife in the pond. Being just us of course meant that the program went at Calvin's pace, and because he was so obviously interested we were treated to extra discussion and netting time, which made it just that much more fun.

The program was at Independence Lake this time around, so we packed a picnic lunch and stayed to spend the afternoon, partly in learning to identify a few common Michigan plant and animal species (with only ourselves and a book as guides), and partly to play in the sand and water. Calvin is becoming a fish. He can now push off, arc into the water, and swim a ways with good kicks and a pretty good early crawl. And he loves to float around on his back. Back home in the late afternoon he spent another forty minutes in the bath. It's possible that he should have been included on the list of Michigan aquatic wildlife.

Playing the memory game, then sorting by salt vs. fresh water

Painted turtle

Painted turtle

Green frog

Trying to feed the turtles

Swans on the pond

Looking for and discussing critters in the net

Bigfoot print or tree stump?

Splashing around after lunch

Swimming!

Floating!

Getting as sandy as humanly possible!