Author Archives: makielb

For the past few days I have been going through old pieces that I have written and worked at re-writing and editing them. I find it both fun and rewarding to go through old things that I had written. The fun part is just reading some creative piece that might be six or seven yearsContinue reading “Writing and re-writing”

After a few very busy weeks today is a rather lazy day. Some walking with Susan. Picking the last batch of Roma tomatoes (18.5 pounds) and a meals worth of green beans. Shopping at Aldi’s, which is a 3 mile round-trip walk. But at the same time finding some interesting late season things like thisContinue reading “Finally, a slow day”

I did the picking. Still lots of Roma tomatoes waiting to be canned as sauce. It seems that every time I go outside there are more things to pick. This basket includes a couple of days worth of green beans and even a hot pepper. I’ll be sad when we’ve eaten the last of theContinue reading “Back to the garden and canning”

Don and I went to Lake Erie Metropark yesterday to look at migrating hawks. As is typical for this site the hawks were extremely high. This is a dozen Broad-winged Hawks. After a few hours at the park we decided to head down to the headquarters of Pointe Mouillee where we were hoping to seeContinue reading “Hawk migration – 13 September 2023”

Looking out from the Raptor’s Roost at the cabin it was obvious that the white pines were heavy with cones. I counted the cones visible from where I sat and tallied over 3,000 cones on seven trees. That’s a lot of cones. Yes, I’m a bit OCD when numbers are present. Interestingly the jack pinesContinue reading “The cone crop in northern Michigan”

Since I have been home from Mexico Susan and I have spent a lot of time processing vegetables from our small (350 square feet) garden. When I started picking green beans I was amazed at how many there were, For the past three weeks we have eaten green beans for dinner every evening. But oneContinue reading “The urban gardener”

My typical breakfast in Oaxaca. Lots of fruit, pan dulce, orange juice and black coffee. Breakfast at the Hotel in Oaxaca City. Our lunch at Restaurante Calibre started with two salsas, bread and cheese. We all tried the hot chocolate, I had mine with water. One evening in Oaxaca City we went to a tacoContinue reading “Oacaxan meals”

We had lunch at a coffee finca. To get up the mountain to get there we took “tuk-tuks” crazy little three-wheeled vehicles that we had seen everywhere. We had chicken and rice for lunch with some veggies. I also got to try the mezcal that the owner made – it was quite nice and IContinue reading “Oaxaca, day-9, San José de Pacifico and Oaxaca City”

We once again had a day filled with birds and more. Scrub Euphonia (left), Masked Tityra (center) and Willow Flycatcher (right). We had excellent looks at Russet-crowned Motmots. Very cooperative Orange-fronted Parakeets. Emerald Toucanet. Rusty Sparrow. Streak-headed Woodcreeper. Heliconia collinsiana. Blue-crowned Hummingbird. The underwing of a Blue Morpho. Two, yet to be identified butterflies. OneContinue reading “Oaxaca, day-8, Pluma Hidalgo”

Sunrise as we head out in search of pelagic (ocean-going) birds. A Brown Booby bouncing up and down on a log. Sooty Shearwater. Olive Ridley’s Sea Turtles making the next generation of sea turtles. Red-billed Tropicbird. Nazca Booby. Boobies and shearwaters. More Nazca Boobies that I was really taken with. Wedge-tailed Storm-Petrel. Magnificent Frigatebird. BackContinue reading “Oaxaca, day-7 on the Pacific Ocean”