Moths at Whitefish Point

The other day we had a delightful morning with moths at our moths lights at Whitefish Point. Here’s a sample of what we had. Celery leaf tier on the left. Pale glyph on the right. Eastern panthea. Horned spanworm on the left. Powder moth on the right. Lettered habrosyne Northern pine looper. Rosy maple moth.Continue reading “Moths at Whitefish Point”

A morning at Whitefish Point

Sunrise yesterday was stunning, making it a great time to go for a walk after breakfast. There was a group of six Common Loons on the bay. Piping Plover on a nest within the nest enclosure. Blue flag iris and orange hawkweed. Beach pea. Sand cherry. Susan counting the Lake Huron tansies. Getting close forContinue reading “A morning at Whitefish Point”

The Great Influenza

The other day I finished re-reading The Great Influenza, which I originally read early in the century when I was still teaching. I had used influenza, the virus as a critical part of explaining the relationship between evolution, genetics and disease. This book addresses all of those issues. Influenza is an RNA virus, as isContinue reading “The Great Influenza”

Looking for unusual birds

The other day Susan and I went out in search of Dickcissel and Henslow’s Sparrow, which we found along with a lot of other things. We stopped to look at Turkey Vultures in the road then we saw a doe with three fawns. We’re used to seeing lots of Northern Mockingbirds when we visit theContinue reading “Looking for unusual birds”

Books and book reviews

So, in continuing reading books related to the Trojan War I recently read two books by Dan Simmons – Ilium and Olympos. These strange, convoluted, but interesting books were “loosely” about the Trojan War, but also included aliens, modern and post-modern humans. Essentially, there were four or five distinct and quite different stories being toldContinue reading “Books and book reviews”

How does your garden grow?

Our garden in Ann Arbor, Michigan is doing quite well. So far we’ve collected 150-200 garlic scapes, which means that potentially we will have a lot of garlic this year. Herbs are doing well – cilantro has started flowering, parsley is turning into a small bush. Chives, rosemary, dill and thyme are all waiting forContinue reading “How does your garden grow?”

A southern Michigan bog

The other day we visited the bog at the Eddy Discover Center in Washtenaw County, Michigan. It’s a favorite place for us in June. It’s probably a mile walk from where we were parked to the bog. The trail goes through a beech-maple forest and ends at the bog. Near the bog the trail becomesContinue reading “A southern Michigan bog”