Making friends is hard to do...especially if you are a turkey!

While working on a project at my desk, suddenly ADD took over (McT, you know what I'm talking about). To cure my ADD, I stood up, walked around for a bit, and then as I was walking back into my office, I looked out the window.

Little background before I continue...my office building backs onto a nature preserve. On the north side of the building there is a large, concrete, half-circle seating area where groups can host a campfire. This seating area is tiered so it looks like large, deep steps.

View from my office window/scene of the activity

On these same steps, during the spring, a couple co-workers and I rescued eight turkey babies (known as a poult). Mom was strutting around on the back side of the concrete steps; while the babies were running around on the steps not able to get by mom. They would try to get up by her by jumping, hitting the top rim of the step and then fall backwards. Granted it was humorous watching them do this, but the little guys were stressing out. So, my co-workers and I helped get the babies back to mom by draping a towel over them, scooping them up and flipping them over the step. Then they would scurry off in to the grasses by mom. I do feel a slight attachment to these turkeys because I rescued them.

Back to my sighting, and trust me I wish I had my camera today. As I looked outside, I saw a little rabbit munching on some grass (minding his own business), four hefty crows hanging out, and a woodchuck walking around on the concrete steps. All of sudden a family of turkeys came strutting through the area. It was the same turkey family that I rescued – mom, dad and the eight chicks, which were now teenagers (they grow up so quickly). The teenage turkeys were a curious group. My guess is that they wanted to make friends...I can hear them saying, "wanna be my friend?" I watched the turkeys wander over to check out the rabbit, and the rabbit had no interest in the turkeys. So he said, "Forget it, I'm outta here," and ducked under a bush. The turkeys then saw the woodchuck, and tried see if he would be their friend. I'm not really sure the woodchuck acknowledged the turkeys because he kept plodding along until he disappeared into the tall grasses. Now that these turkeys were shot down by a rabbit and a woodchuck, I think they felt the four large-and-in-charge crows would be a good choice. (I could have told them that they were not very nice birds.) Not being able to give them a clue, I watched the turkeys approach the crows. The four crows advanced towards the turkeys, making a few of the turkeys run closer to mom and dad. I figured the crows said some mean words to upset the turkeys. Then one by one, the crows left. One crow stood there and flapped his wings, one crow turned his head and walked the other way, one crow squawked and flew away, and the last crow just plain flew away. For a moment, I was expecting a battle of the birds: turkeys vs. crows.

The poor turkey kids did not make any friends. I felt bad for them, but I did continue to watch the family of turkeys poke around in the grass for food until they disappeared into the prairie grasses and trees.

Definitely an interesting observation of wildlife, and it did consume some time so my ADD could settle down. Granted my ADD led me to writing this story rather than tackling my project. Guess I better get back to that. Hope you are all well, and I will write soon!

Milwaukee Lakefront

In the last post, I talked about cheering on Chris and Cassie during their marathon. I am proud to report that both of them finished strong and well before their estimated times. Chris finished in 3 hours, 32 minutes and 56 seconds; while Cassie finished in 3 hours, 33 minutes and a couple of seconds. Chris improved his time over last year by 20 minutes, and Cassie's time qualified her for the Boston Marathon. As for the performance by Dad and me as spectators, I'd have to say that we need to improve our times! :) We arrived at Klode Park (the 20 mile marker) to cheer them on. Dad dropped me off, he went to park the van, and I found a place to stand. Just as I got comfortable, turned on my camera, suddenly I saw the 3:35 pace marker with two familiar faces hot on the pace! I quick snapped some pictures, ran ahead to catch a couple more and then my runners were gone. I met Dad back at the intersection and said, "They already came through, back to the van we go so we can get to the finish line." Dad and I had plenty of time to spare at the finish line, picked out prime spots, and cheered Chris and Cassie the last few feet they had to run!

Following the race, the four of us hung out at Veterans Park for a while to partake in the post-race activities, enjoy some Milwaukee Lakefront brews, and let the runners recover (or stiffen up). By 1 p.m., we looked at our watches and said time to go because we had important games to watch - Brewer playoff game and Packer game. While waiting for Dad to pick us up at Veterans Park, a white tower standing strong in the blue sky and water caught my attention. Circling the white tower were numerous sailboats and seagulls. This white tower was the Milwaukee Breakwater Lighthouse (MBL).

Feeling confident that the two runners were not going to move another muscle unless it was into the van, I wandered off to photograph the lighthouse as well as the numerous sailboats in the harbor. This photographic opportunity allowed me to capture the MBL in a different light and setting. Back in 2008, while at the Rascal Flatts concert at the Marcus Amphitheater, I snapped a couple of shots of the MBL at dusk. From the Amphitheater grass seats, you have a beautiful view of the Milwaukee Breakwater Lighthouse.

The Milwaukee Breakwater Lighthouse is one of three city of Milwaukee lighthouses – MBL, Milwaukee Pierhead Light and North Point Lighthouse. MBL was built in 1926 and replaced an earlier structure that was built in the 1890s. The current white steel plate structure stands 53 feet high on the Milwaukee breakwaters, which is comprised of three levels – the fog signal equipment housing, the keeper’s living quarters and the lantern. The lantern is a fourth-order Fresnel lens that flashes a red light every ten seconds. By 1966, the light became automated and was powered by electricity fed through an underwater system. Today the light is owned by the United States Coast Guard.

My historical information is courtesy of the Great Lakes Lighthouse Encyclopedia by Larry and Patricia Wright, pages 304-305. For more information or directions to the Milwaukee Breakwater Lighthouse, visit: http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=243.

In closing the Milwaukee lakefront proves to be a great place to run and observe a beautiful lighthouse.

Wisconsin Lighthouses

Christine asked a great question - how many lighthouses are there in WI? Well, according to one of my favorite resources (granted it may not be the prettiest of sites), http://www.lighthousefriends.com/pull-state.asp?state=WI&Submit=Go, there are 52 lighthouses is WI. To break it down by WI body of water, there are 36 on Lake Michigan including around Door County, 11 on Lake Superior including the Apostle Islands, and 6 on Lake Winnebago.
I have visited each of the lighthouses around Lake Winnebago...more detailed story to come. I only photographed 4 out of the 6 because two of them weren't much to look at. The others in WI include a handful on the Lake Michigan shoreline. I have yet to venture to Lake Superior...maybe that will be next summer's trip.
There is a great book available called "Wisconsin Lighthouses: A Photographic and Historical Guide" by Ken Wardius. Mom has a copy of it, and I have been studying now and then. Right now the book has stayed at Mom and Dad's house. I feel guilty for taking it from Mom's collection, even though I'm sure Dad won't have a problem with it. So for right now it gives me something to read at Dad's house when sports viewing is a little light. (Granted I can't say that about this weekend because we have Milwaukee Brewers playoff action, HUGE Wisconsin Badgers vs. Nebraska Cornhuskers football game, and Packer football, plus Dad and I will be cheering on Chris and Cassie in the Lakefront Marathon on Sunday morning. So no lighthouse reading for me.)

Well I'm going to call it a story for today! Have a great weekend, and I'll share more stories with you next week!

The Start of Lighthouses, Birds and Wildlife, Oh My!

Welcome to my blog about lighthouses, birds and wildlife, plus there may be a few other topics thrown in for some extra fun! The inspiration for starting this blog came from my brother. We were sitting in Mom and Dad’s backyard, and I was sharing my experiences during a Horicon Marsh hiking trip. I was telling Dad and Chris all about the birds I saw, including Great Egrets and three Green Herons. Then I went on to explain how I wanted to visit all of Wisconsin’s lighthouses. As we chatted on, Chris looked at me and said, “You should blog about your experiences and share the photos you take of the birds and lighthouses.” After giving the idea some thought, I decided to start this little project.

I have selected to write about these three topics for a couple reasons: 1) each of them have a connection to my family and 2) aside from taking pictures of my family and friends, these three topics are some of the most photographed pieces in my albums.

Lighthouses are a universal family interest, however I have grown to love them even more and they mean a little more to me. Mom loved lighthouses, touring lighthouses and gathering postcards with pictures of the ones her and Dad visited. Since she has passed I have found great peace in photographing them and reminded each time I see one that they are the beacon calling you home. To date, I have visited and photographed 10 Wisconsin lighthouses, 3 Michigan lighthouses, and 2 Illinois lighthouses – most of them located on Lake Michigan.

I also wanted to write about all of the birds I have photographed plus this is another element that is connected to our family. When the four of us would go up north and take our nightly cruises on 7 Mile Lake, Mom and Dad added some excitement by awarding one of us with quarters for whoever was the first one to the Common Loons, Great Blue Heron, Kingfisher, or Bald Eagle. Needless to say, Chris and Mom always won the quarters. Today, Chris still gets all of the quarters, while I spend my time taking pictures of the various birds and telling Dad and Chris to drive the boat around the birds numerous times until I get all of the shots I want.

Lastly, I have added wildlife to the list of topics to write about because I love animals and enjoy taking pictures of them too. I have some fun and unique photos of squirrels, rabbits, deer and everything else in between.

I hope you enjoy the stories to come about the lighthouses I have seen/photographed and the birds and wildlife I capture in action. Along the way, I will share what I learned about these topics as well as share the silly experiences my family and I have in our adventures.

In closing, I want to dedicate this blog to my Dad and Mom – for they have always been my rock and guiding light!

Stay tuned, and until next time, take care!