Five years...

Self portrait with beard and mustache icicles (03 January 2018)

Yesterday was the fifth anniversary for this blog.

The first post that I wrote here was an introduction of what I wanted to do in this space: answer questions from students, focus on local nature, and highlight upcoming science and nature events in the local community.  I think I have generally stayed with that focus.

My first "real" post was about how Black-capped Chickadees survive the winter.

In the past five years, I have written nearly a thousand posts.  According to Blogger these posts have been viewed over 300,000 times!

The top 10 posts by page views have been:

     1.  Leaves of three, let it be...  What about leaves of five?
     2.  Soil Particle Sizes - Sand, Silt, and Clay
     3.  Logging Tools Part 1 - Axe and Saw
     4.  Waterproof Fur
     5.  Fungi!
     6.  Dogwood misidentification
     7.  Leaves of Three...  Revisited
     8.  Aquatic Ecology and Mother Earth Week at the Ziibiwing Center
     9.  What's in the woods? - 2, 4 & 5 May 2013
    10.  A tale of two flowers - one native, one alien


In the course of writing all of these posts, I have taken and shared thousands of photographs.  I have been contacted several times about using my photographs in books and one of my photos appeared on the cover of our local phone directory for 2015. Several of my photographs have even won awards in photo contests.

Here are ten of my favorites photos that have appeared on this site, with two pictures from each year.

2013

Pileated Woodpecker - Mission Creek Woodland Park, Mt. Pleasant, MI

Sunset - Old Mission Point Park, Traverse City, MI

2014

Stan Lilley photographs a Wild Calla - Hall's Lake Nature Area, Isabella County, MI

Oak Leaves - Mill Pond Park, Mt. Pleasant, MI

2015

Barred Owl - Mission Creek Woodland Park, Mt. Pleasant, MI

Prairie Dock leaf - Mt Pleasant Discovery Museum Garden, Mt. Pleasant, MI

2016

Grey Tree Frog - Audubon Woods Preserve, Winn, MI

Fun with maple leaves - Vowles Elementary, Mt. Pleasant, MI

2017

Northern Water Snakes - Chipp-A-Waters Park, Mt. Pleasant, MI

Badlands National Park, Interior, SD

What's coming up in 2018?  My plan is to continue frequent blog posts, with a goal of 4 or 5 posts every week during the school year.  I also want to spend more time outdoors so that I have more to write about and more photos to share.  This can actually be a challenge because my job keeps me inside most days.  While I try to never write about something original in every post, I might spend a little time revisiting some of my favorite subjects.

To everyone that has been following along - Thanks!