With The Ann Arbor Art Fairs happening this week I am somewhat concerned about the spread of COVID in southern Michigan. Artists from all over the world, not just North America will be in town as will visitors from all over. This, as always is the perfect vector for spreading viruses. The current situation isContinue reading “Summer viruses – 2024”
Tag Archives: nature
Shorebirds at Whitefish Point
Spending a lot of time on the shore and sand dundes at Whitefish Point means that you will see a lot of shorebirds. The obvious target for the majority of birdwatchers is Piping Plover. But there are a lot of other shorebirds as well. Adult Piping Plover. Piping Plover chick running across the stones andContinue reading “Shorebirds at Whitefish Point”
Another day, another orchid
There’s never a day at Whitefish Point that isn’t interesting. Many times it’s with birds, sometimes insects or plants. Today it was with an orchid. The day started with clear skies and 59F. I was sitting on the deck sipping coffee when I took out my phone and got this picture. After a walk toContinue reading “Another day, another orchid”
Butterflies and dinner
Currently there is very little diversity in butterflies at Whitefish Point. But there are still some interesting ones. I’m not a big fan of European skippers, they usually show up in the hundreds or even the thousands. However, seeing just one is OK, even though they are a non-native invasive. Over the past few daysContinue reading “Butterflies and dinner”
A night filled with moths
We’re back at Whitefish Point which means some serious mothing! Getting up in the morning to between two and three hundred moths resulted in hours of photographing and identifying moths. The moth above is a Wavy chestnut Y, which beside being a beautiful moth is an interesting name. The moth on the left is aContinue reading “A night filled with moths”
A day filled with insects
We went to Embury Road the other day searching for several birds that I hadn’t seen or heard this year – Blue-winged Warbler and Cerulean Warbler. We managed to find both species. But the high-lights for our time on there were the insects. Nothing like starting the morning with a Leconte’s Haploa, a nice mothContinue reading “A day filled with insects”
A southern Michigan bog
The other day we spent time at the Eddy Discovery Center bog trail. This is a wonderful trail that goes through a variety of woods and wetlands ending in a delightful bog. Along one stretch of the trail there are a lot of Indian pipes (Ghost pipes). which is an interesting plant. But it wasContinue reading “A southern Michigan bog”
Red-headed Woodpeckers
With so many woodpeckers in Eastern North America how is it possible to haver a favorite bird. Pileated Woodpeckers are large, loud and flashy birds. Black-backed and Red-cockaded Woodpeckers are rare and occasionally hard to find. Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers are fun to find But for me it’s Red-headed Woodpeckers. While exploring areas near Grayling, Michigan thatContinue reading “Red-headed Woodpeckers”
Moths in Ann Arbor
On Friday night we did a moth night for the Natural Areas Preservation people and volunteers at Oakwoods Nature Area. What a great evening at a place we had never been to. The meandering trails in the woods skirt a nice vernal pool and a large pond/lake. Setting up was simple and at about 9:30Continue reading “Moths in Ann Arbor”
Grayling birds
So the other day we decided to spend a night in Grayling which is in the heart of Kirtland’s Warbler country. It’s been years since we stayed in that area, probably since before 2009 when we built the cabin. Regardless, it was a blast. One of the spots that we visited had tremendous numbers ofContinue reading “Grayling birds”
Michael's Place 