Author Archives: makielb

So, work has continued on the changes to walkways and the parking situation at the “Lighthouse” parking lot. Notice in the map the three areas marked as “protected bird habitat.” The two smaller areas are approximately 100 square feet and the larger one closer to 200. Too bad that the Michigan Audubon Society didn’t haveContinue reading “Latest happenings at Whitefish Point”

Stopped at the rest area south of Grayling on I-75 because we had stopped south of there looking at the fire damage from last weeks fire. One of the highlights of stopping at this rest area are the 13-lined ground-squirrels. Now on to the fire along Stahley Lake Rd. The fire swept through the jackContinue reading “An orchid, a mammal and a fire”

We spent much of the morning today in western Washtenaw County. This is a southern blue flag. We see a lot of blue flag in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, but now see few southern blue flag since we usually miss the flowering season. This is a big bur-reed on Embury Road. Divided olethreutes moths were quiteContinue reading “Back to Plants and insects”

We avoided parking by taking the bus. Walked by Cahoots coffee which looked interesting. Here’s the front of the building. Checked out bookstores, although none were open since we were meeting friends for breakfast. And apparently another coffee house opening. Or maybe you need your robot repaired. The side of our favorite downtown bookstore –Continue reading “A trip downtown and more”

Still makes me mad. Now, just imagine the issues with insect names. Here’s a silly fact – I have a copy of the Egyptian Book of the Dead. Explanations make life easier to accept. I’ve always wanted to see gazelles and cheetahs, the speed demons of the animal world. One of the joys of summerContinue reading “Some humor for the day”

Before heading south last month we started getting some of the nice northern moths. These are just a few. There will be many more in the future. The Two-lined hooktip on the left and the Arched hooktip on the right. It’s always nice when they appear together. Northern apple sphinx, our first sphinx of theContinue reading “Insects from Whitefish Point”

More on the “crazy” aspect of the past two days later. For now we stopped at Fresh Forage yesterday for lunch. Fresh Forage is on Jackson Road west of town. We had not eaten there before, But we both highly recommend it. I had the Korean Philly sandwich It has bulgogi-marinated shave ribeye, kimchi, bellContinue reading “Crazy couple of days in Ann Arbor”

The other day besides looking for birds we headed off to find heat-leaved tway-blades. Thousands of mosquitoes later we found a few. This was perhaps the prettiest since most of the flowers were open. These orchids grow in sphagnum in black spruce bogs. And the flower stalk is perhaps 4-5 inches tall. Then back inContinue reading “Finding a blooming orchid”

Oops, those pesky Antarctic cruises to experience penguins. That’s like our SUV being passed by a big truck. Always avoid the decoys – they can be more dangerous that expected. Warm enough to get out to see birds and the mosquitoes know it! Fleas? Try to kill them and no nit picking. I always lookContinue reading “Travel day humor”

Yesterday we spent the day at Natalie Lake, which is a flooding of the Tahquamenon River due to the Dollarville Dam. The birds were amazing. Lots of warblers – with Golden-winged Warbler being the highlight. At a nearby large pond bordering a huge wetland there is a large beaver lodge. While we didn’t see theContinue reading “Natalie Lake warblers”