Author Archives: makielb

This showed up in my news feed the other day. As a person who has studied genealogy for many years I found it quite interesting. When I was born my mother had turned 26 the day before I was born. Her mother (my grandmother) was 43, her mother (my great-grandmother) would have been 66 hadContinue reading “May flowers in Ann Arbor”

Just back from two busy weeks of birding at Whitefish Point. Juncoes were abundant feeder visitors, but the Cardinal was a pleasant surprise. Fox Sparrows were moving through in small numbers. Flickers were abundant migrants, sometimes with 40-50 and hour passing through. On some of the warmer days we had a lot of dragonflies. WanderingContinue reading “A busy two weeks at Whitefish Point”

It’s always fun when the first Friday in April arrives in Ann Arbor because it’s time for Fool Moon. This is an early evening celebration of spring and there is always a theme. This year it was aliens. Kerrytown was filled with booths, performers, music and luminaries. People dressed up and everybody seemed to beContinue reading “Fool Moon in Ann Arbor last Friday”

For many years I have been interested in lichens. These little “critters” are a symbiotic organism. The contain both algal and fungal components. What really got me going with them are the members of the genus Cladonia. These are commonly referred to as the British soldiers lichens, pixie cups, funnel lichens and powderhorns. I usuallyContinue reading “Rainy day lichens and food”

Going for a walk not far from our house we found a large tree down on city property. It was no surprise that we found interesting critters on it. I think that the spider is a Tuberculated crab spider. The beetle is a Red-banded fungus beetle. We then walked to the wetlands by Skyline HighContinue reading “An Ann Arbor spring afternoon”

While I have seen, and even photographed many Harlequin Ducks, this is the first one that has occurred in Washtenaw County, Michigan, a mere 19 minutes from our home. This bird showed up on Ford Lake last month while we were in Florida. I had little hope that it would remain. However, here we areContinue reading “A cold day bird to warm my heart”

El Jalisco is a fantastic restaurant at exit 155 (Owenton/Williamstown) just off of I-75 in Kentucky. We found this place 8-10 years ago and immediately fell in love with the food here. As you enter the restaurant there is an almost life-sized Aztec jaguar knight, obviously making it a safe place to eat. And –Continue reading “El Jalisco, a great Mexican restaurant in Kentucky”

We spent the first five hours of the day at the Audubon Bird Sanctuary. i wanted to get there ASAP since Worm-eating Warbler had been reported there. Our first bird in the park was “an old friend.” This is a Red-bellied Woodpecker. I photographed this as we were listening to a Worm-eating Warbler sing. WhileContinue reading “Spectacular migrants on Dauphin Island”

Our day started our photographing roadside plants like this atamasco lily. Then got better. At the Ecopassage Boardwalk on the south side of Gainesville we had eight Snail Kites. Unfortunately none we perched close enough for a photo, but several flew close enough for a decent shot. The next “good bird” I should have hadContinue reading “Two photos and a miss”

Our day started with us searching for Yellow-crowned Night-Herons, which we did not find, and settling for a delightful puffer fish. Carolina Saddlebags were our most numerous dragonflies today. The Little Yellow was one of many butterflies that we found today. Finding a perched Barred Owl next to the road that we were on wasContinue reading “A day full of predators”