Author Archives: makielb

We met our friends Mike and Linda for breakfast at Avelon in downtown Ann Arbor. Afterwords we walked around town and the University of Michigan campus. The Vault of Midnight is a game and comic book store. Here’s a place I didn’t know, sounds like my kind of place. We haven’t been to Tíos inContinue reading “Breakfast in downtown Ann Arbor”

We spent this morning at the Eddy Discovery Center in western Washtenaw County, Michigan. We walked through the prairie trail then down to the bog. It was nice finding both the male and female of Libellula cyanea, Spangled skimmer in the prairie. This is the trail map for the main trails at the Discovery Center.Continue reading “Orchids and insects at Eddy bog trail”

My day started with reading the latest news about the Russian invasion of Ukraine. That and the admission of Sweden and Finland to Nato. A soon to be identified beetle in the genus Calligrapha. Orange hawkweed and Day lilies along M-123 on our ride from Whitefish Point to Ann Arbor. Back in “hot” Ann ArborContinue reading “A hot day to travel”

World-wide the number of new cases have increased by 18% in the course of a week. While numbers have decreased slightly in the US, numbers in Europe, especially Germany, France and Italy have increased dramatically, with an equally disturbing increase in the number of deaths. Johns Hopkins has put out an interesting set of graphicsContinue reading “The latest on the pandemic”

Platanthera orbiculata, Large round-leaved orchid that we found at Sawmill Creek Park in Paradise on the way to Naomikong. Listeria convallarioides, Broad-lipped twayblade at Naomikong. We found three of these in bloom which was our major target for the day. These orchid flowers are about 125mm tall (approximately 5 inches) Plantanthera huronensis, Green bog orchidContinue reading “Naomikong and more”

The weekly pandemic statistics. Both cases and deaths are decreasing in the US. Europe and Brazil are increasing in the number of cases. This Least-marked euchlaena was one of the new recent moth additions for the year. Morrison’s pero was another recent addition. Saddled heterocampa was a delightful addition to the year moth total. AnContinue reading “Another day filled with moths and orchids”

Nightmares are terrible. When reality is the living nightmare it is even worse. Too many people do not remember what the past was like. But, how many of your mothers or aunts had D&Cs, which amazing dropped dramatically when abortions became legal. Interesting isn’t it. Hmm, lying under oath is illegal isn’t it? The “FifthContinue reading “Sunday editorial page”

Before you start looking at insects you had better become familiar with some getting to know them on a first name basis. Today started out as our typical mornings do – with moths. We never tire or Luna moths. We had our first Azelea sphinx moths of the year. Rosy maple moths are always anContinue reading “Insects and orchids”

The day started with so much promise. It was a beautiful sunrise. This Spotted tussock moth was among the many new species for the year. Blinded sphinx moth south signify the start of the sphinx season. The gem of the day was this Polyphemus. I thought that this would be the worst news of theContinue reading “A nice day ruined by an extremist court”

The blue flag are now in bloom between the cabin and the point. But when walking to the point it’s hard to miss all of the shrubs and small trees with leaves chewed on by some insect. The culprit is a small green weevil, Polydrusus formosus. Not only did we find many individuals, but alsoContinue reading “Botany, bugs and wood”