Author Archives: makielb

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”

The number of “reported” cases has been steadily dropping in the U.S., even though the total number of cases in the week is still quite high. When we were shopping this morning I stopped at Nicola’s to see what was there. This was the chalkboard outside. So I thought this was an appropriate book toContinue reading “The last day of May”

Memorial, as in memory from the Greek goddess of memories – Mnemosyne. Memory is what we fear loosing as we age. Fortunately, most people that I know have retained their memory and mental health, although we all get forgetful on occasion. Then again, how many people do I know that know so much that theyContinue reading “Memorial Day”

We spent a long morning at the Eddy Discovery Center in western Washtenaw County today. There were a lot of birds singing, notably Black-billed Cuckoo, Acadian Flycatchers and waterthrushes. But we we weren’t especially looking for birds. We were looking for orchids and other bog plants. Bog bean was in bloom at the bog atContinue reading “A walk on a warm Sunday”

Susan photographing dwarf lake iris and Indian paintbrush at Point Labarbe in 2021. Susan, Dan, Nova and Chris watching and photographing a Lazuli Bunting at Whitefish Point bird feeders. Here’s a photo of the bunting that I took. Here’s the garden. Lots of tomato plants, peppers, garlic and mint. We’ve let one of the oldContinue reading “People and the garden”

As we drove down the road towards Point Labarbe in St. Ignace it was obvious that fog was going to make everything difficult. But we did manage to find Dwarf Lake irises in the mist, covered with dew. One open field had hundreds of these delightful little plants, where I “should” have taken a closeContinue reading “A foggy morning”

Spending an overcast and misty day visiting the Upper Falls on the Tahquamenon River. This was the perfect way to spend the day. Lots of warblers and the Falls themselves. The distant view is just a quiet tease for getting close to them and their roar. Each viewing site as you approach the falls getsContinue reading “Tahquamenon Falls”

It’s always fun finding caterpillars, but frustrating trying to get them identified properly. This caterpillar is a great example of an unidentified beauty. But we’ll keep working on it. A spider on the side of the cabin, searching for breakfast. Another species of sand-loving tiger beetle. This one shouldn’t be “to hard” to identify. AContinue reading “Birds and bugs”

Finding the tracks of a black bear on our dune close to the cabin is always a treat. And that’s how our day started. The road to the Whitefish Point was full of thrushes and warblers. This Eastern Bluebird was joined on the branch by a Swainson’s Thrush. A big treat and rare sighting hereContinue reading “A fun walk from the cabin to the Point”