August 31

Monday, I drove 50 miles east to the 10,000-acre Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge, located 12 miles south of Saginaw. The early morning weather was foggy with a temperature of 63 degrees and a light breeze from the west. I stayed in my car and began the 6.5-mile Wildlife Drive through the heart of the refuge where I saw one of several Great Egrets. From the car window, I spotted pink Water Smartweed and Yellow Birdsfoot Trefoil along the roadside. Perching on separate poles sticking out of the wetlands were a Kingfisher and a Blue Heron. On both sides of the road, I noticed patches of Mustard, Wild Carrot and Chicory while far in the field Whitetail deer were grazing. I turned east and followed the road along the edge of the Shiawassee River. This river flows north 110 miles from Shiawassee Lake near Fenton and feeds into the Saginaw River at the northeast corner of the Refuge. As the road turned south I first paused to a gaze at a large marsh occupied by several Great Egrets and a few Blue Herons. Further ahead in the same marsh, I paused again to look at a large gathering of Mallards. Near the end, I stopped to watch a couple of Grebes diving for food. Finally, I completed the drive and headed home.

In golden fields

Crickets sing

In trembling aspens

Chickadees cling

In native prairies

Blue Stems grow

In vernal ponds

Water’s low

Swallows gather

Migrations begin

Cycles of nature

No beginning or end

D. DeGraaf