Category Archives: Uncategorized

There are several species of willows flowering right now. I know that there are at least three like these – pussy willow, small pussy willow and Bebb’s willow. But I can’t tell them apart until they have leaves. Fortunately there is an excellent guide, with keys for differentiating them. “Shrubs of Ontario” is an excellentContinue reading “Botany, bugs and birds”

Leaving the heat for the cooler north. We’re heading to Whitefish Point, but will be stopping south of Grayling to try to find some Kirtland’s Warblers. Of course, along I-75 the orange barrels and arrows have popped up like mushrooms after a rain. But we finally got to our destination after lunch in Roscommon. ItContinue reading “Heading north to Kirtland’s Warbler country”

I took this photo in our lawn the other day and it reminded me the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The situation in Ukraine as of yesterday. Ukrainian forces are at the Russian border north of Kharkiv. BBC has reported that 1/3 of the Russian invading forces have died. We’ll have to see how this playsContinue reading “Ukraine, a virus and more”

When I was working in the Insect Division at The University of Michigan Museum I contributed a number of photos to this project – and they’re still there. The originals are slides. The photos I am using today are scans that I pulled off the website. I had better find the original slides and scanContinue reading “Animal diversity web”

Today was the Washtenaw County May Count. My friend Roger picked me up before 5AM to head down to Saline Township to listen for owls and rails. Well, by 3PM we were finally done as the temperature hit 85F and a cold front (thunderstorm with hail) was heading our way. The good news was thatContinue reading “A May bird count without photos”

Don and I spent the morning at Magee Marsh today where we got to see friends and lots of birds. Nice numbers and diversity of warblers. We had some 20 species. Chestnut-sided Warblers were common as were Magnolia, Bay-breasted, Palm and others. We heard Blackpoll Warblers and Northern Waterthrushes. We must have had 7-8 Black-throatedContinue reading “Magee Marsh on a May morning”

While Susan was checking out at Kroger I walked down to “Stars Café” to get us lunch to go. I got one of my favorite sandwiches, falafel deluxe and got Susan her favorite, eggplant and feta. Have for lunch today, half for another day. So, the new business “Cookies” that replaced “Herbana” doesn’t sell cookies,Continue reading “A hot day, lunch, the garden and more”

This Swainson’s Thrush looked away just as I took the photo. Oh well, it would have been nice. Jack-in-the-pulpit as seen from the boardwalk at Furstenburg Park in Ann Arbor. Equisetum litorale, Shore horsetail/equisetum. I found many more today than yesterday. Some were just emerging, others were more robust. Susan spotted the oriole nest onContinue reading “More birds and plants”

Today started out warmer that any afternoon this past three weeks at Whitefish Point. One of our “Redbuds” is in full bloom. So we decided to spend the whole morning at Nichols Arboretum and Furstenberg Park. Migrants were quite common, although most were high in the trees, where songs alerted us to their presence. LowerContinue reading “A nice day at Nichols Arboretum”

Today we drove from Whitefish Point to Ann Arbor. It was hard to leave as the morning was filled with birds. But we have to get the garden planted. On the way I was thinking about my cousin Carol who had wanted some information on our family in Teramo, Italy. So I thought why notContinue reading “Traveling and thinking about family”