Back Home Again

I am here, in Michigan, once again. Nothing like a refresher course on traffic in major metropolitan areas to remind me why I fell in love with Ann Arbor.

The wetland waters have receded and the grasses are starting to green up and grow taller. It's interesting to watch the transformation, as we weren't here this time last year.

With luck, life will settle down a little now and I'll have some time to attend to the yard and plants, get out birdwatching and shooting photos, and just enjoy the nice weather and scenary.

Here kitty, kitty

Go check out Robin's prose and pictures of a bobcat in the post Pleasure moves on too early at Dharma Bums. There's a series of three earlier posts as well, with more pictures celebrating the joy of encounters with wildlife and the reflections such encounters provoke.

On the road again...

I came to Virginia for a meeting, and am staying on to visit friends. I woke this morning to the sound of a Carolina Wren, the first I've heard since moving to Michigan.

Signs of spring

While I am waiting for the waterfowl to migrate through (April is supposed to be the best month for them around here) and earnestly hoping for some really interesting ones to land in the backyard, I am appreciating the other signs of spring that are flitting about.




The bluebird is sitting on a branch of the snag I mentioned in an earlier post, but the cardinal has chosen a living tree for his perch. He appears to be the mate for "shes-no-einstein" female that keeps knocking at our windows.

Good News for Michigan Gardeners

The Nature Conservancy in Michigan - Nature Conservancy Scientists Help Meijer Shoppers Pick Better Plants This Spring

This press release, found via The Invasive Species Weblog is a note of good news for those of us in Michigan.

Yes, I know there's a commercial motive, and yes, it's not perfect because they will still sell non-native species, but it's a strong step in the right direction. Positive reinforcement is more powerful than whining ...

Memories times two

This picture is from our home and habitat in Virginia. Although I'm happy with my move overall, I invested a lot of time and emotional energy in creating a habitat there, and it was hard to leave it behind. In addition, we have a sentimental attachment to this plant. Our pussywillow was rooted from one which my husband rooted as an elementary school project, then planted in his parents' backyard. We took a cutting from it and after several attempts, successfully rooted in in Virginia. I'm still trying to restart it here in Michigan.

Pussywillows are a member of the willow family. They thrive in wet soil and in soil with lots of clay and/or poor drainage (In Virginia, we had a high water table, being on the edge of the flood plain, and lots of clay). They are nonetheless drought resistant and hardy to zone 2.

The catkins appear in mid-to-late February, an early sign of spring, and provide early season food for migrating songbirds as well as resident birds and small mammals.

I'm looking forward to the day that the next generation of this plant successfully puts down roots in Michigan.

The value of snags

We have a dead tree in our backyard, right on the edge of the wetland. It's been there for at least 10 years, as long as the house has, because our next-door neighbor mentioned once that he had wanted to take it down when he moved in but his wife reminded him that it wasn't on their property. The previous owners of our house apparently liked the tree as well as I do, because they left it in place for the entire time they lived here.

It's a great perch for hawks and other birds to survey the surroundings, and it draws woodpeckers on a regular basis. I'm particular fond of woodpeckers, and feed them peanuts all winter. It's nice to have a natural source of food nearby to keep their interest over the summer. I had always wanted to have a snag in the yard in Virginia, but in that dense, semiurban environment, it wasn't practical. Here, it fits right in.

She's sweet, but she's no Einstein

My little friend, pictured here, was repeatedly perching on the window sill and trying to tap her way into the house.

Unfortunately, she moved from this window to the front of the house where she could get up more momentum. To stop her repeated flying into the window, we bought a balloon and tied the string to the window sill. It moves around when the furnace comes on, and I guess it looks human enough to discourage her hanging around that window. I hope she doesn't decide to try another one. I don't want her to hurt herself, but I also don't want a housefull of balloons.

If my next post is titled "the balloons are coming, the balloons are coming" you'll know what happened. When it comes down to the decision, I care more about cardinals than I do about interior decorating.

Two good reasons to check out this post

Naturephotographers.net « Mike Moats

First, you'll get to see a really beautiful macro photo of bright green leaves.

Second, Mike points you to Nature Photographers Online Magazine where you'll get to see even more beautiful photos.

I have looked at the Nature Photographers Network (NPN) site before, but hadn't looked at the NPN membership info. I really like that one of their principles is "the use of nature photography as a means for generating interest in habitat conservation."

Moby Groundhog swims again

I think he's swimming laps

The groundhog, that is. He or she seems to spend a lot of time in the water, including nearly an hour paddling around this morning.

I've seen him get in and out of the creek, so I know he's a groundhog and not a beaver or muskrat.

One of the many reasons to love Ann Arbor

New library branch is an example to follow

The Ann Arbor District Library is great, really great. Good collection, great staff, innovative programs, responsive to the community, and (like the rest of the city), very environmentally conscious and conscientious. I like the creativity of using draft horses, and as a library administrator myself, not to mention a local taxpayer, I love the fact that they got a grant to pay for it.

Public libraries are a great resource for habitat builders. They can help you find all sorts of useful information, print and digital. Anyone want to share a great library story?

Good news, bad news

My outdoor photography plans for the weekend are on hold until it gets a little warmer and last night's snow melts. Yes, major bummer, springophiles - so go look at Wayne's photos of daffodils instead if you need a warm-weather fix.

The one advantage of the snow is that birds come to the feeders - already this morning I've seen finches, blue jays, starlings, doves, a red-bellied woodpecker, and a pair of cardinals.

The cardinals are interesting - the female repeatedly flies over to the outside window sill and tries to come in. It's not like she's crashing into the window, it seems very deliberate perching on the sill. She's done this about 20 times in a row now.

Photo Failure

It was doomed from the start. A hand-held zoom lens in the rain at dusk from the deck didn't have a chance. But I had to try - it was the first great blue heron of the spring, just standing out back.

And now I have something special to anticipate. Check out this post from Cindy at Woodsong, who writes

And if you REALLY want to be entertained, find a craft store that sells small white feathers- take them out in the field with you where Tree Swallows are numerous and hold them out so they’re visible to the birds. They’ll pick them up right from your hand. They’ll often fight over them, as white feathers are a favorite nesting material.

Our swallows haven't returned yet, but I am sure going out to buy white feathers this weekend.

Yes, they can swim

Thanks to Mrs Gray's classroom and their report on the groundhog, I can report that groundhogs can indeed swim. Thanks also to my hubby who was intrigued enough with the question to go look for the answer.

The U of M Biodiverstiy Website entry on groundhogs notes "Though observed mostly on the ground, woodchucks have been seen climbing trees to reach food and swimming with only their head and nose above water." This is exactly the behavior I observed.

Can groundhogs swim?

I swear I saw one paddling around the wetlands!

Also, today brought the morning sighting of a racoon and the evening sighting of a doe.

It must be spring

Morning has broken, like the first morning
Blackbird has spoken, like the first bird
Praise for the singing, praise for the morning
Praise for the springing fresh from the word

-- lyrics by Eleanor Farjeon; as sung by Cat Stevens

Today I saw the first red-winged blackbird of the year.



I also saw the first Eastern Bluebird.

Two days in a row of sunny weather, and the start of Daylight Savings Time. Life is good. The Canada Geese certainly think so. It's fun to watch them react to other flocks as they pass overhead, but mostly they are quiet neighbors.



The mallards are present in larger numbers. Apparently, despite the shallow water, there's something worth eating in Honey Creek.



In addition to the bluebird, blackbird, ducks, and geese, this morning I saw:

• A song sparrow
• Several finches
• A few juncos still hanging around
• Pair of cardnials
• Two blue jays
• Mourning doves
• Beaucoup de starlings
  
• A robin
• Three squirrels, none of them in my birdfeeders

The household chores are calling, but hopefully I'll have time later today to get out and explore a little more.

Update: I can now add a chickadee, a grackle, a house sparrow, and a red-tailed hawk to the count.

The Zen of Doves

It was a glorious day today: warm, sunny, and overflowing with birds. I watched the ducks and geese congregate in the wetlands - they seemed to be having a wonderful time splashing around, like kids in a wading pool. The deck visitors were more mellow, except for the starlings who squabbled like pundits on a talk show. The doves were more typical - soaking up the warmth and placidly watching the passing scene.

It takes a village

I mentioned in an earlier post, that we can see a golf course from our back deck. Truth is, we live in a golf community, even though neither of us has ever golfed. What can I say - we liked the house, we liked the community, and we liked the view. Plus, we're far enough away from the duffers to avoid a field of golf balls blooming beneath the deck.

Last night, I and a dozen neighbors along with some of the club staff met to discuss the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf Courses (ACSP). The clubs owners' and staff are very interested in certifying our golf course, and called for member volunteers. Our group is enthusiastic about the project, and last night's initial brainstorming led to a host of ideas for followup. It looks like we have enough momentum to move forward, and I plan to blog our efforts as we go along. Stay tuned!

Hope *is* the thing with feathers

On the good news front, Live on the Internet: Eagle protects egg - Yahoo! News. An encouraging story for those of who remember the Bald Eagle's near extinction. The cam is linked from http://www.briloon.org, but I couldn't access it this morning, probably due to overload from people who read the story. I periodically checked in at a different cam last year, and I can attest that they are a great experience as well as a tremendous time sink. Enjoy!

Build it and they will come

One of my surprising observations of this new habitat was the absence of squirrels. There were large trees and plenty of food sources for them, but apparently the trees were just too far away. All summer and fall I saw rabbits, a variety birds, and the occaisional odd mammal, but no squirrels. I sort of missed them - the Fox Squirrels we see around here are much bigger than the Eastern Gray Squirrels that we saw so much of in Virginia, but they have the same personality, behavior, and cute looks.

I'm happy (I think) to say that I can now add squirrels to my list of wildlife observed at Wrenaissance. In the time honored fashion of many a naturalist before me, I put up bird feeders. Need I say more?

This is really depressing

The Scotsman - International - Unhappy feat: biologists baffled as millions of penguins vanish

Yes, this story is from December, which makes it old news. However, being particularly fond of penguins (even though I have none in my backyard habitat), I am distressed that one of the species is declining so sharply.

As Marcus illustrates in his post Overheard on the Corner of 45th and 8th, it's easy for people to joke about global warming in the winter or in a cold climate. I've done so myself, and even jokingly called for a little more global warming. But when you stop and think about it, it's not so funny.

Hairy woodpecker in flight - Cindy Mead photo

I have always been particularly interested in woodpeckers - they are neat birds to watch, for both appearance and behavior.

Check out this photo by Cindy Mead of a hairy woodpecker in flight - isn't it wonderful?

Burning Silo » aquatic invertebrates - part one

Since I discovered Burning Silo, I've learned a new appreciation for invertebrates. Check out Bev's post, Burning Silo » aquatic invertebrates - part one and enjoy her wonderful photos while learning from the text.

This post also links to earlier entries on surveys and monitoring, continuing a discussion begun at Niches.

Niches :: Aftermath

More pictures and commentary after the flooding, Niches :: Aftermath, including a reasonable and balanced discussion of the effects of development upstream. I'm torn between concern for unintended side effects and a celebration of the resilience of mother earth.

If there are signs of spring

in Flatbush, can michigan be far behind?

Flatbush Gardener: Finally, Spring

Anyone interested in building a Google for backyard habitats?

A Google custom search engine (CSE) uses google technology to search a selected group of sites to return results more closely related to the actual information you're seeking. If you have established a google account, which includes gmail or Google Reader, you can use the same login to set up a CSE. In addition, you can make it a coop effort by allowing others to participate in building it.

So, here's my first effort:

Google Co-op - Custom Search Engine

It searches 17 sites, including NWF, eNature, and other national and local sites related to backyard habitats, native plants, wildlife, etc. Advantages? Use this to search for "mourning doves" and you shouldn't get hunting links in your results. Search for "bears" and not only will you skip the football team, your desired ursine results will not be on page 987 of 988.

Right now, this is in "alpha" - it works, but I set it up and turned it on in about 15 minutes max. I'd like to make it better, and also more widely available.

If you are interested in contributing to the content, comment below or email me via this blog. If you don't want to commit to an ongoing contribution, you can send suggestions of sites to include in the search, blog this post, add a link to the CSE to your blog or webpage, or just use it and give me feedback.

or not - that's feedback, too.

A sad and scary story

Losing Their Buzz - New York Times

Not only have wild honeybees mostly disappeared, now the managed hives are threatened by mysterious disappearances.

Rainy Night in Georgia

As witnessed by Wayne's posts Niches :: Portrait of a Rainy Day and Niches :: Portrait After the Rainy Day you can see there was quite a serious rain at Sparkleberry Springs.

Here in Michigan, we had typically erratic weather - at 8am it was snowing, at 9 it was raining, at 10 it was sunny and clear, at noon it was snowing again. We had another round of clouds then sunshine then snow in the afternoon. Despite the snow, it was overall warmer today and stayed above freezing all day, so most of what precipitated melted as it hit the ground, or shortly thereafter.

The melting snow, plus the rain and snow that fell created this out back:



And for any of you who may have thought yesterday's picture of the wetlands didn't look very wet, well, here's another view:

What I'm waiting for

In spring, this is what I see out my back windows.

Right now, it looks a lot like this, but coated in white everywhere. Earlier this winter, during the ice storms, it looked like a fairy tale come true, glistening in the sunlight.

The wetlands run across the entire width of our yard in the back. On the far side of them, the right hand side of the picture is a distant view of a golf course; the middle is a buffer of trees where we frequently see deer and other wildlife; and the left side is an open field - currently farmed, and I hope it remains that way as long as possible. You wouldn't think from this picture that we are in the middle of a typical suburban housing development, would you? But sure enough, we have a paved street out front, near neighbors on both sides, and a full complement of other houses and their occupants all up and down our street. That street is also part of a much larger housing development, in the middle of a golf course.

It's an odd area - you can go out one side of our neighborhood and drive through farm country, and out the other side and drive through endless auto dealers, strip malls, and fast food joints just like those which seem to be outside every city in the country. The next stop light past our turn, the paving ends and the dirt road begins. But go three miles in the opposite direction, and we're downtown.

Unfortunately, we're on a side of town that is growing rapidly. On my way to work (a roughly five-mile drive) I daily pass one former farm now under construction, and across the street there's a large "for sale" sign in another field. Despite all the talk about the housing glut in this area and the downturn in the economy, the building continues unabated. Like everyone else, I want to pull up the drawbridge now that I'm here.