An answer for our manicured lawn ...

... may lie in a column from this morning's front page in the Real Estate section of the New York Times:

A Viable Alternative to Conventional Lawn?  Cornell May Have Found One.

Follow this up with Brendan Woodruff's 45 minute Cornell powerpoint talk shared on You Tube:

Cornell Botanic Gardens' Native Lawn

Addendum 01/16/2024

Also found in the New York Times today, 01/16/2024 (but not published today).  Today, I also learned the meaning of the word xeriscaping.

Low-Maintenance Yards by Amy Gunderson, May 23, 2007

Updated endangered and threatened bird species in the State of Michigan

Julie Craves has just posted (Sept. 1, 2023) on her Net Results blog the updated list for endangered and threatened bird species list for Michigan.

Above: Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina), photo taken at Nichols Arboretum on Thursday, 08/31/2023.  Though I've heard one or two singing at various times last spring, this is the first wood thrush I've seen this year.  New on the species of special concern list.

I think everyone should take a good look at this list.  Many of the listed birds are going to surprise a lot of birders.