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In the 1980s and 90s I spent a lot of time in Mexico leading natural history tours. One place that I spent a lot of time was the archeological ruins of Palenque. The site was quite amazing in itself, and the birds and other wildlife made it even better. Since I was here so oftenContinue reading “My time in Mexico (Part 1)”

This week somebody came down with Marburg virus in Guinea. This is the first case since an outbreak in 2005, in Angola resulting in the death of some 200 people. This deadly virus was first observed in 1967, with simultaneous outbreaks in labs in Marburg and Frankfurt, Germany, as well as Belgrade, Serbia. There wsContinue reading “Viruses – from animals to humans”

Going for a walk from out cabin to the Whitefish Point Bird Observatory allows me to think about both nature (especially lichens), how I feel removed from the pandemic when we are here, and how diseases have affected my ancestors i n Italy. One instance that came to mind occurred late in 1777 (August throughContinue reading “Genetic memories”

We had a rather slow day at Whitefish Point since it was threatening to rain all day, and there were little dribbles here and there. So we were content with what appeared at the lights on the side of the cabin. As I stepped outside I was drawn to the above antlion. Antlions are interestingContinue reading “Today’s adventure with insects”

Back in the 1990s I spent a lot of time illustrating, sometimes for journals, articles or books. The above Kirtland’s Warbler was for the cover of Michigan Birds and Natural History. It was done from a photo that I took, but I should have figured out how to include the second leg. The Brown CreeperContinue reading “Projects from the 1990s”

I’m sitting in the garden looking out at. the plants. Beans in flower. Basil that needs to be harvested. Ripening tomatoes and squash. All easily see from the tble on the deck. But my mind wanders to birds. A House Wren singing behind the fence. Red-winged Blackbirds and doves overhead. A Great Egret, Trumpeter SwansContinue reading “Drawing birds”

As I have said before I started making a family tree in 1963. This started as a school project thanks to Mrs Weidemann at Clippert Elementary School. By the end of 1963 I had talked to my three living grandparents (my grandfather Michał Kiełb died in 1943), as well as all of my aunts andContinue reading “Family from the past”

The blueberries in the above photo were collected in the wild so to speak. At Whitefish Point we have tremendous access to several types of blueberries, both within close proximity to our cabin and on the state land across Whitefish Point Road. Before returning to Ann Arbor we picked blueberries wherever we found them. ThereContinue reading “Gifts from our gardens”

When I went to Panama a few years ago, besides vaccinations for yellow fever, hepatitis-A, hepatitis-B and typhoid I had to take malaria medications. That only left three major insect-borne diseases to be concerned about – zika, dengue fever and chagas disease. Chagas is caused by a parasite found in the feces of Triatomine bugsContinue reading “Malaria among other mosquito borne diseases”

For much of my life I have carried pencils, pens and watercolors where ever I was. In reality I had started drawing by 1956 – a very long time ago. Even while I was leading natural history tours in Mexico in the 1980s and 1990s I took some time to sketch. The above photo ofContinue reading “Drawing and painting”