A Bird in the Hand

 I find the Metroparks in Michigan to be an endless source of recreational surprise; you can hike, bike, canoe, kayak, golf, cross country ski, swim; attend concerts, and so much more. This is not news to anyone who grew up in Michigan. I have been the happy owner of the combination dog park/ park pass  since moving to Michigan and have visited all 13 parks multiple times. A favorite Metropark activity involves hiking and cameras , my sister and I refer to this as photo-walking. We simply grab our cameras and lenses and off we go to see what inspires. My sister Debbie is an avid birdwatcher, she belongs to birding groups,  travels the Midwest photographing a wide variety of avian beauties, has a successful nature photography business, and has had her photos published in several national birding magazines. We have spent many hours roaming the trails at our favorite Metropark, Kensington.

What is so special about Kensington?  If someone were to tell me that there is a place not far from home where all someone has to do is walk around with a handful of bird seed in and wild birds would fly out of the trees to eat these treats or that the birds will fly very close to you looking for a handout, I would have been skeptical if not a downright disbeliever. Yet this is what happens at Kensington. The birds of Kensington have been trained over a number of years to interact with people; they expect to be fed by the park visitors. All kinds of birds from the tiny chickadee to the larger sandhill cranes will walk or fly right up to you. People come from all over the Midwest to experience this firsthand as this little secret has gone viral among the birdwatcher communities and is repeatedly mentioned in blog posts, tweets, flicker pages, and social networking sites.People share and post pictures and news regarding rare bird sitings, nesting sites,  and a variety of information for all. 

Debbie will be celebrating a birthday soon and I wanted to give her something she could bring with her on her many birding excursions. Inspiration comes from many place and the inspiration for my sisters birthday gift came from the May/June issue of Birds & Blooms, a popular birding and gardening magazine.A birding journal craft was featured and  I thought this would be a nice idea for Debbie, so I and decided to make her a bird watching journal  to take with on her outings.  To personalize it for her I gathered favorite pictures from photowalks and decoupage them onto an artist’s field sketchbook purchased at a local arts and crafts store.  Decoupage as an art has been around for many years, it is simple to do, you can decoupage anything from a canvas to a box and it is a unique way to personalize any item.

This project took several hours with the majority of time spent selecting images for the project. I used modge podge ( a glue substance), a paintbrush, scissors, and photos to create the journal. The modge podge was purchased at the same art supply store as the artist sketchbook. Once the images were selected, I spent some time arranging them on the cover of the sketchbook and applied a thin layer of modge podge  under them to secure them to the surface then on top to adhere them to the surface. The result when dried makes them look like they are varnished onto the cover.

I would recommend a decoupage project for anyone who wants to personalize a gift or create unique artwork. For my sister, it will be used to create memories and record details for upcoming excursions, for your project the possibilities are endless.

If you’ve never experienced the magic of Kensington Metropark, grab the kids and the camera and get ready for a unique and delightful visit. Here is a link to the local Metropark website so you can keep informed about the wonderful offerings at the Metroparks in the area.

Please feel free to share the inspiration behind a gift that you have given or the location of a favorite Michigan treasure that you and your family have enjoyed as much as my sister and I enjoy the Kensington Metropark.