Chippewa River Floods (March 2019 Edition)

Over the past few days warm temperatures and rain have caused most of the snow around Mt. Pleasant to melt.  Unfortunately the ground remained largely frozen so none of the water could filter into the ground.  The water had to go somewhere - it pooled on the surface and where it could flow downhill entered the local waterways.  Enough water entered the streams that flood warnings were issued for the Chippewa River and several other local streams.  Today I stopped at several parks in the Mt. Pleasant to check on the state of the flooding - here are some photos.

My first stop was Chipp-A-Waters Park.  The river here is well over its banks and flowing over the Riverwalk Trail.  I waded in to the top of my boots but could not get down the trail without getting my feet wet.

Looking upriver near the canoe landing - the Riverwalk Trail is on the right.

Water over the trail

Great Blue Heron resting on a stump in the woods.

Pedestrian bridge across the Chippewa River - the bridge abutment to the left normally sits several feet above the river level.

Mallard ducks swimming over what is normally dry land.

Those ducks should have been on a leash!

This tree is in what would normally be the main channel of the river.

My second stop was at Mill Pond Park.  The Riverwalk trail continues through Mill Pond Park, but several sections are flooded over.

Looking upstream from an island at the Leaton St. parking lot.

The flow under a pedestrian bridge at Leaton St.

Water flows over weirs creating standing waves.

Looking downstream from the pedestrian bridge - the glide in the center is the spillway of the first of five weirs with tree trunks hung up on the second weir in the background.

A small footbridge is mostly underwater on the far side of the river.

My final stop was at Pickens Field.  From there I crossed a pedestrian bridge to the north end of Island Park.  Pickens Field is the northern terminus of the Riverwalk Trail

Flooded ballfield at Pickens Field

The Michigan Vietnam Memorial is surrounded by floodwaters

A kayaker paddles down the road at Island Park

Water levels were up to the bottom of the bridge connecting Pickens Field and Island Park

This is not the worst spring flooding Mt. pleasant has experienced in the past decade.  2014 saw approximately the same water levels and the spring floods of 2013 were higher.  If you type "flood" in the search box to the right you can find pictures from several more years.

Random photos with the same name

Here is a seemingly random collection of thirteen photos from the past five years.  The only thing these pictures have in common is their name IMG_0225.  Why?  Because its February 25th or if you prefer 02/25.  To see a similar random collection of photos here is a post celebrating IMG_0115 from January 15th of 2018.

The best thing about these photos is that they were all taken in locations open to the public - public gardens, nature preserves, local parks, state parks, national lakeshores, national monuments, and national parks.

Dow Gardens, Midland, Michigan (August 2018)

North Higgins Lake State Park, Michigan (July 2018)

Bundy Hill Preserve, near Remus, Michigan (June 2018)

Chipp-A-Waters Park, Mt. Pleasant, MI (November 2017)

Teddy Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota (July 2017)

Devil's Tower National Monument, Wyoming (July 2017)

Hall's Lake Natural Area, near Remus, Michigan (October 2016)

Tahquamenon Falls State Park, Michigan (October 2015)

Lake Michigan seen from Lake Bluff Bird Sanctuary, Manistee, Michigan (September 2015)

Peterson Natural Area, Stanwood, Michigan (August 2015)

The Garden Door, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin (July 2015)

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Michigan (September 2014)

Ludington, Michigan (August 2018)

The Days of Summer - Day Forty-five through Day Fifty-one

This is part seven of my Days of Summer photography project.   Beginning with the Summer Solstice (21 June 2018) and ending with the Fall Equinox (22 September 2018), I am making it a point to get outdoors and photograph something every single day.  One photograph from each day is being selected for this project and shared here.

The previous installments of this project can be found at the links below:

Part Six
Part Five
Part Four
Part Three
Part Two
Part One

I hope you enjoy the photos from this past week - one of them might be quite a surprise.

Day 45 (04 August 2018) - A Banded Bird

The first image of the week was taken at Forest Hill Nature Area.  If you look closely at This female Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas) you might notice that her left leg sports a band.  Between this picture and several others of this bird I was able to make out a couple numbers on the band.  With that information, I contacted Mike Bishop at Alma College - he is running a banding project at Forest Hill.  With the numbers I gave him, Mike was able to narrow it down to one of two birds that he banded on June 28th of this year.  We both thought this was pretty cool.

This photograph has been cropped into a landscape format - taking some off the top and bottom of the image.  I just thought it was the most appealing of all the different crops that I tried.  I like how the bird looks like she is about the launch herself at the goldenrod to the left of the image.

The Days of Summer - Day Seventeen through Day Twenty-three

This part three of my Days of Summer photo project.  To learn more about the inspiration for this project and to see the photos from part one and part two click on the following links:

     The Days of Summer - Day One through Day Nine
     The Days of Summer - Day Ten through Day Sixteen

 Day 17 (07 July 2018) - Snowberry Clearwing Moth

We normally think of moths as nocturnal insects, but many are adapted to daytime living.  This includes a group of sphinx moths known as Clearwings.  In North America, there are four species in the genus Hemaris.  All fly by day.  They mimic the appearance of bumblebees and the feeding behavior of hummingbirds - thus they are often known as Bumblebee Moths or Hummingbird Moths.  This one is specifically known as the Snowberry Clearwing Moth (Hemaris diffinis) after a favorite larval host plant.  This photo was taken at Forest Hill Nature Area.  This probably not the best image from the day, but I cannot resist the subject.

Day 18 (08 July 2018) - Japanese Maple

This image of Japanese Maple leaves was taken in front of our house.  I like the silhouette of the red leaves against the blue sky and the details of the delicate veins in the central leaf.

Day 19 (09 July 2018) - Impression, Michigan Lily

If the previous photo was all about details.  This one is all about impressions.  This Michigan Lily (Lilium michiganense) was photographed at Mission Creek Woodland Park.  This photo reminds me of an Impressionist painting with only the blooms pistil and one or two stamen in sharp focus.  The rest of the flower is clearly visible but much softer.  It's all about the light!

The name given to this photo was inspired by the painting that Impressionism was named after:  Impression, soleil levant (Impression, sunrise) by Claude Monet.

Day 20 (10 July 2018) - Sunlight and Basswood

The photo for Day Twenty is also all about the light.  In this image sunlight filters down through the canopy, shedding light on American Basswood (Tilia americana) leaves.  The sun itself bursts through a gap in the upper right of the image. This image was taken in Mt. Pleasant at Mill Pond Park.

Day 21 (11 July 2018) - Waves of grass

I am constantly drawn to subjects that show pattern and texture.  Choosing a photo for July 11th was difficult.  I traveled north along US 127 to North Higgins Lake State Park for a late afternoon meeting.  Before my meeting I spent a little time exploring the park and came away with images of the lake, pine trees, lichens, etc.  Most of these images focused on pattern and texture.  In the end, I selected this image because of the suggested wavelike motion of the grasses.  I could have easily selected three or four other pictures from the day,

Day 22 (12 July 2018) - Blue Vervain

This photo of Blue Vervain (Verbena hastata) was taken along the Chippewa River at Chipp-A-Waters Park in Mt. Pleasant.  The individual flowers are small, but each plant can have hundreds of blooms over the course of several weeks in mid- to late-summer.  The sheer abundance of blooms makes this an important nectar source for native bees.  Although none appear in this picture, there were dozens buzzing around this colony of plants.

Day 23 (13 July 2018) - White Water Lily with native bee

My final picture of the week shows a native bee collecting pollen from a White Water Lily (Nymphaea odorata).  I took about two dozen of pictures of this exact flower at the beginning of a walk through Mill Pond Park this morning.  I came back near the end of my walk and there was a bee on the flower.  One picture and the bee was gone...

2018 Isabella County Environmental Education Day

Friday was our 9th annual Environmental Education Day.  This event takes months of planning and requires the effort of dozens of people to be a success.  Six months prior to the date I start contacting a variety of government agencies and environmental organizations to participate.  My goal is to have around twenty different educational stations (including the Isabella Conservation District) set up for the students that attend.  This year the following groups participated:

• Michigan Department of Natural Resources (Law Enforcement and Wildlife Division)
• Isabella County Parks and Recreation
• Mt. Pleasant Parks and Recreation
• GreenTree Cooperative Grocery
• Elijah Elk Cultural Center
• Nature Discovery
• Ziibiwing Center of Anishinaabe Culture & Lifeways
• Chippewa Valley Audubon Club
• Pheasants Forever - Isabella County Chapter
• Chippewa River District Library
• Alma College Archaeological Project
• Central Michigan University Museum of Cultural and Natural History
• MSU Extension - Isabella County
• Mt. Pleasant Discovery Museum
• Chippewa Watershed Conservancy
• Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe - Environmental Team

Why do we need so many different activities? 

It's because of the number of students that attend.  We invite every third grade classroom in Isabella County to attend the Environmental Education Day.  This year 28 different classes were able to attend.  That meant that we had almost 600 students in attendance this year!  Luckily, the students don't all come at once.  Half of the students come for a morning session and the other half come for the afternoon - 300 students at one time is still whole lot of kids!  We need so many different activities to make sure the students have something to do the entire time they are at the event.

Here are a few scenes from Environmental Education Day.

Creating a "tree cookie" necklace with Isabella County Parks

Learning about Ojibwe culture with the Ziibiwing Center

Chippewa Watershed Conservancy Executive Director Jon Breithaupt talks preserves with students and chaperones

Everyone wanted photos!

Learning about the life span of materials from the CMU Museum staff

Reptiles always amaze

Every kid received a backpack from us (and elk antlers from the DNR)

Crafting a radish seed necklace with MSU Extension

Celebrating 100 year of elk in Michigan with the DNR

Learning about Anishinaabe culture from the Elijah Elk Cultural Center

Rocks and minerals at the Isabella Conservation District table - such a tactile experience!

Ask me about bees, please!

Searching for aquatic life

Saginaw Chippewa Environmental Team teaching about water quality

Just a few of the students - learning about archaeology from Alma College

Kids love to learn about and from Michigan Department of Natural Resources conservation officers

Bicycle-powered smoothies with GreenTree Grocery

Pheasant Forever had pheasant chicks on site - a huge hit with the students!