Author Archives: makielb

We were traveling from Whitefish Point to Ann Arbor today and thought why not stop along the way to look for orchids. This is Susan searching for twayblades. Here’s one of the Loesell’s twayblades with a single flower open. These are hardly 75-80 mm tall. Here’s Susan photographing a twayblade. It’s almost impossible to seeContinue reading “What do you do when you have 360 miles to go?”

I was going to stay inside today and catch up on things, But the sunrise was just too nice to avoid the temptation of slowly driving to Paradise and seeing what was around. So we did a slow drive from Whitefish Point to Paradise, taking 2 hours to cover the 11 miles. There were onceContinue reading “Catching up, but also taking time for birds”

We spent the day on the Curley Lewis Scenic Byway, where we have made a slow-paced drive from M-123 to Brimley (about 30 miles) since 2011. It usually takes us about 5-6 hours to make the trip stopping at every spot we can. Typically we find 16-19 species of breeding warblers. This is Naomikong Creek,Continue reading “A day looking for warblers”

This is the new bridge that crosses the Tahquamenon River to the island at the Lower Falls. Now we can visit all five of the falls, rather than just two and seeing a distant third. Prior to the bridge unless you took a canoe or kayak across the river to the island there were threeContinue reading “The new bridge at Tahquamenon Falls”

Since it first appear outside of Africa, a few weeks ago monkeypox has continued to spread. Monkeypox is a member of the orthopoxvirus genus of viruses. This also includes Variola virus (smallpox virus) and cowpox virus. Currently these are states with cases of monkeypox. Here are the number of cases, by state as of 6Continue reading “Monkeypox and more”

A male Ruby-throated Hummingbird, keeping a close eye on our feeder at Whitefish Point. A real warrior. The Aztec god Huitzilopochtli. The name translates as “Hummingbird of the south.” This god of war, battles, gold and the sun was the brother of Quetzalcotl, the chief god of the Aztecs. Hummingbirds were considered the reincarnation ofContinue reading “Hummingbirds, moths and more”

An Arctic skipper and a Dreamy duskywing, two of todays insect finds. We went to Natalie Lake, near Newberry in Luce County searching for some special birds that nest there. We found them – Golden-winged Warbler, Mourning Warbler and Black Tern. But we are always expecting to find a diversity in insects. Two damselflies. TheContinue reading “Insects at Natalie Lake”

Yeah, this is me. Trying to remember things without the information right in front of me has it’s limits – sigh. The right individual is a Gold-backed snipe fly. The one on the left is a robber fly that is a mimic of other flies. Fringed polygala is carpeting forest floors in the eastern UpperContinue reading “Insects and orchids”

Ebony jewelwing, one of the largest damselflies. Craneflies are a primitive member of Diptera, which contains all of the flies. I think that there are about 1000 species in Michigan and the Great Lakes states. Just because it’s time to see more insects doesn’t mean that I stop looking at other things. This is aContinue reading “It’s now insect season!”

The day started with breakfast at Village Kitchen our local favorite place for breakfast. We were celebrating my birthday. Then I got a message that there was a Black-bellied Whistling-Duck at Gallup Park. While I have seen tens of thousands in the south, I had never seen one in Michigan, let alone Ann Arbor. ThisContinue reading “Starting June with a celebration”