The solar had risen, however clouds and a thick stand of timber extended the darkness at Reeds Lake in East Grand Rapids, Michigan. Standing on a floating boardwalk, Steve Jessmore heard the swans earlier than he noticed them: a sudden commotion of high-pitched cries and beating wings, piercing the stillness of the late-November morning. Instantly, the flock crested the treetops because the solar broke by means of, bathing the stark white birds in fiery mild. Simply as rapidly, they have been gone.
It was Jessmore’s first time seeing Tundra Swans, a species that solely briefly touches down in Michigan on the best way from its Arctic breeding grounds to wintering habitat on the mid-Atlantic coast. However his fortune in recognizing the swans was not the results of cautious planning. Two months into a brand new wildlife pictures undertaking, he had already realized that the trick to witnessing the spectacular was merely to indicate up, day after day, season after season.
Having labored as a community photojournalist for 35 years, Jessmore was used to placing within the time. He’d documented every part from breaking information to skilled sports activities, however he’d by no means centered on the area’s wildlife. He began photographing birds on a whim whereas at residence in the course of the pandemic, and when he posted the photographs, he was floored by the enthusiastic response. Strangers instructed him that his images offered consolation and pleasure at a time when the world felt distant. Nonetheless, whereas he was having enjoyable, Jessmore didn’t take into account himself a birder. “I might have named perhaps 10 birds,” he says.
Although he lived lower than quarter-hour away, he’d visited solely as soon as earlier than.
His work at Reeds Lake was rapidly altering that. In 2021 the native library commissioned Jessmore to {photograph} the 265-acre freshwater physique for an exhibition, and he was instantly taken with its lengthy boardwalk. Accomplished in 2010 as a part of the brand new Waterfront Park, it zigzags greater than 400 ft over water. Although he lived lower than quarter-hour away, he’d visited solely as soon as earlier than, and what he’d initially thought can be a fast task blossomed in his creativeness. He requested the library for one 12 months, throughout which he would go to as usually as he might to doc the avian life he encountered—an strategy generally referred to as “patch birding.” Although Jessmore hadn’t but heard the time period, he was struck by the probabilities: “This may very well be my place.”
Over that 12 months, Jessmore returned to the park greater than 100 occasions, often arriving earlier than dawn and infrequently exploring close by trails or venturing out on his kayak. However most days he stayed on the boardwalk, which turned the theater the place he took within the ecosystem’s drama and abundance. As he’d executed with human topics, he preferred to attend for moments of motion to seize photos that instructed a narrative. He photographed geese sparring and Bald Eagles gathering nesting materials. He spent days making an attempt to border a chook in flight between the branches of an jap redbud, lastly getting it proper on the fourth morning with an Japanese Warbling Vireo, its wings unfold angelically between the blooms.
Even amid these outstanding moments, Jessmore realized that the biodiversity he was so intently observing wasn’t significantly distinctive. Tucked into Michigan’s second-largest metro space and ringed with houses, Reeds Lake is just not untrammeled wilderness. From the boardwalk Jessmore might hear vehicles rumble alongside I-96. Nonnative vegetation threaten to alter the lake’s chemistry and clog its bordering wetlands.
But the lake, park, and surrounding trails additionally guarantee important entry to nature for the town’s folks and wildlife alike. One morning Jessmore measured the boardwalk’s size along with his personal footfalls: 241 steps. A brief and flat stroll, designed for accessibility. Placing a quantity to it drove residence that the wonders he has seen at Reeds Lake can be found to anybody. “You wouldn’t have to be in camo or do something bizarre to see these items,” he says.
The expertise, for him, affords proof that outstanding locations will be present in each neighborhood.
The expertise, for him, affords proof that outstanding locations will be present in each neighborhood. Endurance (and maybe a willingness to rise early) is all it takes to disclose the myriad lives that intertwine in a single slice of habitat. A patch birding or pictures follow near residence—an inherently low-carbon activity—can, by means of repetition, sharpen any birder’s skills by focusing consideration on refined wildlife behaviors and panorama shifts.
That was true for Jessmore. He not solely realized about dozens of recent species as he edited every day’s pictures and examine his sightings in a rising assortment of area guides—he additionally noticed how wildlife used totally different habitats and vegetation all through the altering seasons. The undertaking opened his eyes to the advanced realities of avian existence, too. Like folks, birds kind shut bonds and compete or cooperate for what they want. Some even have day by day commutes. He got here to acknowledge the dignity of their lives.
Greater than something, cultivating his connection to Reeds Lake has crammed Jessmore with gratitude. “Once I’m on the market, there’s no dangerous day,” he says. “I’ll not deliver again any nice footage, however the day is just not a waste.” Previous to the pandemic, he was staring down retirement, uncertain of how he would spend his days and discover that means past his profession. Via his now-tremendous love of birds, and by sharing what he finds with others, Jessmore has found a brand new course. “I’ve a lot to sit up for,” he says. “I don’t also have a doubt about what I’m doing for the remainder of my life.”
As we speak Jessmore continues to go to the lake a number of occasions a month. He hopes his images encourage folks to seek out their very own patches and do what they will to guard them. That is the thought he returns to when the world’s issues really feel overwhelming. “Let’s chunk off one thing we will chew, after which let everyone try this. Let’s see how we do,” Jessmore says. “I believe we’ll do fairly good.”
This story initially ran within the Winter 2025 challenge as “On the Boardwalk.” To obtain our print journal, turn into a member by making a donation today.
