Author Archives: makielb

This weeks adventure took us to Vermilion Point, Michigan where we were looking for orchids and other interesting plants. Fortunately we lucky enough to find what we were looking for. Walking from the buildings towards Lake Superior we crossed through the dune-swales, alternating dry sandy ridges separated by low set swales. This is the areaContinue reading “Photographing orchids”

In the 1980s and 90s I spent a lot of time in Mexico leading natural history tours. One place that I spent a lot of time was the archeological ruins of Palenque. The site was quite amazing in itself, and the birds and other wildlife made it even better. Since I was here so oftenContinue reading “My time in Mexico (Part 1)”

This week somebody came down with Marburg virus in Guinea. This is the first case since an outbreak in 2005, in Angola resulting in the death of some 200 people. This deadly virus was first observed in 1967, with simultaneous outbreaks in labs in Marburg and Frankfurt, Germany, as well as Belgrade, Serbia. There wsContinue reading “Viruses – from animals to humans”

Going for a walk from out cabin to the Whitefish Point Bird Observatory allows me to think about both nature (especially lichens), how I feel removed from the pandemic when we are here, and how diseases have affected my ancestors i n Italy. One instance that came to mind occurred late in 1777 (August throughContinue reading “Genetic memories”

We had a rather slow day at Whitefish Point since it was threatening to rain all day, and there were little dribbles here and there. So we were content with what appeared at the lights on the side of the cabin. As I stepped outside I was drawn to the above antlion. Antlions are interestingContinue reading “Today’s adventure with insects”

I have been visiting Paradise in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan since 1978 when I first came here for the spring hawk migration. After visiting, in every season for a variety of birds over 29 years we finally bought some property, ultimately building our cabin. The main place to shop for food in Paradise isContinue reading “They paved Paradise and put up a parking lot”

The other day we took a wonderful long walk at Hudson Mills Metropark in Washtenaw County, Michigan. The loop trail that we took is 2.75 miles long and winds next to the Huron River and over some streams, through woods and fields. It was a beautiful day to talk a nice long walk and seeContinue reading “A photo (or two) from this week”

Back in the 1990s I spent a lot of time illustrating, sometimes for journals, articles or books. The above Kirtland’s Warbler was for the cover of Michigan Birds and Natural History. It was done from a photo that I took, but I should have figured out how to include the second leg. The Brown CreeperContinue reading “Projects from the 1990s”

I’m sitting in the garden looking out at. the plants. Beans in flower. Basil that needs to be harvested. Ripening tomatoes and squash. All easily see from the tble on the deck. But my mind wanders to birds. A House Wren singing behind the fence. Red-winged Blackbirds and doves overhead. A Great Egret, Trumpeter SwansContinue reading “Drawing birds”

A year and a half into the SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) pandemic and the United States is slipping backwards in both the number of new cases, deaths and hospitalizations. This slide is being driven by the combination of the delta-variant and anti-vaxxers. The number of new daily cases on 3 August, 104,758 was the greatest number sinceContinue reading “The continuing Covid-19 pandemic in the United States”