Into the Woods and Elsewhere: June 2023

Saturday, June 24, 2023

Discovery

I glimpsed this image as it scrolled by in one of those Google photo videos that come to my phone every so often. Wait! Where did it come from? I had no recollection of taking this photo.

I did not find it in my iPhone photos. But I had changed phones a couple of times. I could not find it in my Google photo albums. Then I went back to my old Macbook computer and found it in my Apple photos. It had to be somewhere to show up in one of those videos.

The photo was taken on June 12, 2015 with my Panasonic DMC-FZ200 camera. But where was it taken? I started with this blog. In June 2015 Artemis Eyster and I took a long weekend trip to the Upper Peninsula to visit Susan and Mike Kielb. On the night of June 12th we stayed at the Driftwood Motel across the road from Shepler's ferry service in St. Ignace. That evening we visited Straits State Park and that's where I took this photo.

I guess that back in 2015 I didn't get too excited about taking a nice dragonfly photo. It has been pointed out to me that this seems to be a good year for Four-spotted Skimmers (Libellula quadrimaculata) in southern Michigan. I've been trying to find one without success. Fingers crossed I'll find another Four-spotted Skimmer this summer.

Tuesday, June 20, 2023

LeFurge preserve and tree swallows

After all of the relatively recent discussion about removal of the invasive species, buckthorn, I was curious to see how LeFurge was looking. Not because of the buckthorn removal, but because I had not been there in quite some time. Many years? I thought it was fine that buckthorn had been removed, but overall I was sort of disappointed. I just took one lap around the marsh area and the cattails had grown in so thickly that it was impossible to view or get near the ponds. From the top of the hill I could see that the ponds were a fraction of their former size.

Didn't see much there - of course, it was hot and sunny. But tree swallows never disappoint, especially this nestling with its head sticking out. Its parents were nearby.

The photos loaded backwards, but it doesn't matter. The final two photos are of a different nest box.

Driving in, two green herons flew overhead. I probably should have visited the pond across the street, but I didn't know how to do that without walking along the road - definitely a dangerous thing to do along Prospect Road.

Baltimore Checkerspot

At the LeFurge office grounds - on the path behind the big red barn - on Vreeland Road, I saw three Baltimore Checkerspots (Euphydryas phaeton) this afternoon. Even though I must have seen this butterfly before, I cannot recall where or when. So, from this standpoint, I guess this is my first. Unfortunately, photos are not great.

Monday, June 19, 2023

Wood duck with ducklings

Unlike mallards with ducklings, I feel that a wood duck with ducklings is not something I get to see often. This mother wood duck has six. Even though I was reasonably distant, I could tell she was nervous at my approach.

Friday, June 16, 2023

Julie Zickefoose's presentation about bluebirds and other birds

Julie Zickefoose gave this presentation on May 5, 2023 for the New River Bird and Nature Festival in West Virginia. Julie Zickefoose, "Bluebirds". Introduction with Geoff Heeter.

Book cover image pulled from Amazon to accompany this blog post.

This presentation is about an hour and 14 minutes long with YouTube commercials that can be deleted after 5 seconds. Be patient. There are also some pre-presentation readiness ticks and technical difficulties but these are resolved and the presentation begins, after Geoff Heeter's introduction, at about the 8 minute mark. I am well-acquainted with her artwork and reputation as a bird and wildlife artist, but this is the first presentation that I have seen her give. She's an excellent speaker. Highly recommend!