Vernal: A Spring Photo Project (Day 81 through Day 93)

Nearly two weeks into summer and I am finally finishing up my spring photography project.  I began this project on the spring equinox and have photographed something outdoors in the natural world (with one notable exception) every day of the season.  I have selected only one photograph to represent each day.  If you haven't seen the first eight sets of images they can be found at the following links:  Days 1 - 10, 11 - 20, 21 - 30, 31 - 40, 41 - 50, 51 - 60, 61 -70, and 71 - 80.

The final set of images consisted of fourteen photographs photographed between June 8th and June 20th (the last full day of spring)

Day 81 (08 June 2019) - White Campion

This image shows a white campion (Silene latifolia).  This species is native to Europe but has naturalized across much of North America.  Unlike many European imports, this species probably does not have a negative impact on the environment.  In fact it may have a slight positive impact as its white flowers attract a variety of moths that seek it out for nectar.  This photograph was taken at Forest Hill Nature Area.  Forest Hill is located northwest of Alma in Gratiot County and is operated by the Gratiot-Isabella RESD.  Forest Hill is located less than fifteen minutes from my house so it is a convenient site for me to visit and photograph.  Many of the photos from my 2018 summer photography project were taken at Forest Hill.

Day 82 (09 June 2019) - How Blue Can You Get?

My second image was taken at one of the Chippewa Watershed Conservancy's farthest flung preserves.  Peterson Natural Area is located in Mecosta County nearly 40 miles west of Mt. Pleasant.  The preserve is significantly closer to Big Rapids (less than 10 road miles away).  Before become a nature preserve, the Peterson Natural Area was farmed for many years.  Much of the property remains clear of trees and shrubs today.  This attracts birds that like open habitats such as this pair of eastern bluebirds (Sialis sialis) who claimed this nesting box along the old farm lane.  A pair of tree swallows was using a nesting box a few posts away.

Day 83 (10 June 2019) - Backroad, Tree and Clouds

Sometimes I take the gravel roads home just in case I find something worth photographing.  I love photographing clouds and on this day the cumulous clouds were perfect.  As I passed this tree I realized I had found something worth taking time to photograph.  This picture was taken from a low angle so the grass along the roadside would block a couple trees in the background.

Day 84 (11 June 2019) - Cirrocumulus Clouds

Another day, another cloud photograph.  This image of cirrocumulus clouds was taken from my driveway in Alma, MI.  Cirrocumulus clouds are often referred to as "mackerel scales" because the pattern of the clouds resemble the scales on a fish.

Day 85 (12 June 2019) - A Snake Called Fluffy

Until 2013 I had never seen a northern water snake (Nerodia sipedon) in Mt. Pleasant, despite working in the city parks from 2002 through 2010.  Now I see them every single year, sometimes several at a time.  I now know that if I want to see this species I can reliably find them at Chipp-A-Waters Park.  There is a small pond located near the southernmost parking area in the park.  This pond was originally dug as part of a wetland mitigation project.  It now is home to fish, tadpoles, and frogs.  In other words it's the perfect hunting ground for the northern water snake.  This particular snake did not appear to be actively hunting; instead it was basking in the sun in the middle of the pond.  The white fluff covering the surface of the water is composed of hundred (more like thousands) of fluffy cottonwood seeds.

Day 86 (13 June 2019) - Hairy Beardtongue

The native pollinator garden at the Saginaw Chippewa Academy was planted way back in 2011.   Other than the occasional weeding and trimming down old stalks each spring, the garden has been largely on its own since it was planted.  One of my favorite flowers in the garden is hairy beardtongue (Penstemon hirsutus).  This species doesn't flower profusely every year, but this was one of those years where it did.  I especially like how it contrasts with the surrounding lance-leaf coreopsis (Coreopsis lanceolata).

Day 87 (14 June 2019) - Sic semper Tyrannus tyrannus!

This photograph of an eastern kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus) was taken at the Ziibiwing Center.  Eastern kingbirds are a species of flycatcher.  As that association implies, they feed on flying insects.  This was one a pair of kingbirds I observed feeding in the open field behind the Ziibiwing Center.

Day 88 (15 June 2019) - Bombus ternarius

June 15th was a busy day for me.  I had to be in Tustin, MI at the Kettunen Center for a meeting of the Michigan Alliance for Environmental and Outdoor Education (MAEOE) board of directors at 1:00PM.  At 3:00PM I needed to be in Cadillac at William Mitchell State Park to give a presentation on Michigan's logging history.  When the presentation was over I had to return to the Kettunen Center for more MAEOE meetings.  Arriving back at the Kettunen Center I decided to take a few minutes to walk along the edge of the woods before going back into the meeting.  I photographed a few flowers and some fern.  Then I noticed a bumblebee buzzing around a bunch blackberry or raspberry plants.  Right away I could see that this was not the common eastern bumblebee (Bombus impatiens), instead its the orange-belted or tricolored bumblebee (Bombus ternarius).  I rarely see this species as it is not common in the southern half of the lower peninsula.

Day 89 (16 June 2019) - Emerald Spreadwing

This photograph was taken near Laingsburg, MI at my parent's home.  My parents own approximately 15 acres of land of which nearly half is part of the floodplain of the nearby Looking Glass River.  The floodplain has been consistently flooded for much of this year.  That much water should result in a mosquito problem, but the damselflies seem to be keeping populations under control.   I can honestly say that I have never seen so many damselflies in one place - at one point I was standing in a small clearing (maybe 20ft by 20ft) in a planted woodland and was surrounded by several hundred individual.  Most of them appeared to be emerald spreadwings (Lestes dryas) such as this one, but there were several other species mixed in.

Day 90 (17 June 2019) - You Talkin' to Me?

Another day, another damselfly.  This ebony jewelwing (Calopteryx maculata) was photographed at the Chippewa Watershed Conservancy's Audubon Woods Preserve.  When I first started approached this damselfly I began photographing it from the side, but it quickly turned to face me.  It didn't fly away.  It just seemed curious and allowed me to photograph it for several minutes.  This photo was cropped from a horizontal to a vertical format.

Day 91 (18 June 2019) - Hungry Hungry Caterpillar

As summer gets closer and closer more insects appear.  This monarch caterpillar (Danaus plexippus) was feeding on a common milkweed (Asclepia syriaca) at the Mt. Pleasant Discovery Museum's native pollinator garden.  This photograph was originally in a horizontal format, but has been cropped to a vertical format.

Day 92 (19 June 2019) - Hive Mentality

There are currently a pair of honeybee hives at the Forest Hill Nature Area.  When I visited on June 19th one of the hives had almost no activity while the other was literally abuzz with activity.  I took this photograph from about ten feet away.  The bees were completely unconcerned by my presence, but I would not recommend approaching the hive from the front.  I really like this picture because of the bees I captured in flight on the left of the image.

Day 93 (20 June 2019) - Last Day of Spring

With this photograph we've reached the end of spring.  This image of a pair of flies on a buttercup (Ranunculus sp.) flower was taken at Picken's Field in Mt. Pleasant.  For some reason, I find yellow flowers really difficult to photograph.  They always seem to be over exposed and the highlights completely blow out the details.  Because of this I did adjust the brightness of this image on the computer to tone down the highlights.  I also cropped this to a vertical image from the original horizontal.

I may have reached the end of spring, but the photography hasn't stopped.  As I type this on July 3rd, I'm thirteen days into an as-yet-unnamed summer photography project.  I'll start posting those photographs soon.  Hopefully I will be able to catch up on that project fairly quickly.

The Days of Summer - Day Eighty-seven through Day Ninety-four

This is the final installment of my Days of Summer photography project.  I began the summer with the plan to photograph something in nature every single day and share one image from each day on this site.  The first image taken on June 21st showed trees lit by the sunrise of the Summer Solstice.  Starting with that first image I have photographed outdoors for 94 consecutive days.  I've photographed the sun and the moon, insects, birds, wildflowers, trees, and more.  I've shared photos from local parks, nature preserves, a national monument, and my own yard.  At times it has been a challenge to pick a single photo to represent each day.  Some days it was a challenge just to take a photograph. 

I think that I had become stagnant in my photography over the past few years and this project gave me a new challenge to embrace.  I do know that if I had to pick my top twenty-five photographs, several of them would come from this project.

Here are the final eight images from the project.  If you would like to see the other pictures, you can start with this link to the previous set of images.

Day 87 (15 September) - Turkey Vulture

This image was take at Forest Hill Nature Area.  A deer had been struck and killed by a car in the road on the east side of the property.  This carcass attracted several Turkey Vultures.  MY hope was to get images of one or more birds feeding on the deer, but the vultures took off when I approached.  I did manage to get several pictures of them on trees and utility poles near the carcass, but this image of one in flight was my favorite picture of the day.

Day 88 (16 September) - Give me some sugar, little honey bee...

This picture was taken in the native pollinator garden at our home in Alma.  The goldenrods and New England Aster are attracting hundreds of bees at a time, including this worker honeybee.  This image has been cropped from a horizontal to a vertical format.

If you recognize the title of this picture comes from a Tom Petty song, good for you!  If you don't, click here to learn more about one of my favorite albums.


Day 89 (17 September) - Waxing gibbous moon

This image of the moon was taken from our driveway in Alma.  The word waxing in the title means that the moon is getting larger.  The word gibbous means that more than fifty percent of the face of the moon is visible.  in other words, the moon has passed the "first quarter" phase and is nearing its "full moon" phase.

This image has been cropped as a square.  This picture is best viewed at full size to see all possible details.

Day 90 (18 September) - Milkweed seeds

I took this photograph in the field next to the Conservation District Office.  I like the contrast between the bright green of the grass, the white fluff of the milkweed, and the brown seeds.

Day 91 (19 September) - Late summer creek

This picture was taken at Chippewa Watershed Conservancy's Alyce J. Peterson Natural Area near Big Rapids.  This small creek flows through the property before emptying into the nearby Muskegon River.  I was visiting Peterson Natural Area to complete an annual monitoring visit for the CWC.  During this visit I walked through the entire property and crossed this creek several times.  Most of the preserve is old field habitat, but part of the land along the creek is shaded by mature hardwood trees.

Day 92 (20 September) - Late summer colors

This picture is all about color and light.  I photographed these flowers in the native pollinator garden on the south side of our house.  If you look just above the center of the image there is Monarch butterfly.  This is one of more than sixty that we raised from caterpillars.

Day 93 (21 September) - Sunset and soybeans

This is my favorite photo of the week.  It was taken in Clinton County between DeWitt and St. Johns.  I hadn't taken a photograph all day and lucked out with a beautiful sunset as we were returning home from dinner in Lansing.  As the sunset started we pulled off the highway and began searching for a backroad with good views of the horizon.  I love how the setting sun lights up all the soybeans in the foreground and the clouds in the sky.


Day 94 (22 September) - Equinox bees

This is the final picture of the summer and again it comes from our native pollinator garden.  As summer ends our garden is more alive than at any other time of the year.  Three species of goldenrod light up the garden with approximately one million tiny flowers (maybe a slight exaggeration). New England Aster adds thousands of purple and yellow flowers of its own.  These flowers are drawing hundreds of honeybees and bumble bees that buzz from the time the sun warms them enough to fly until dark.

That's it.  One photograph for each day of the summer.  I hope you have enjoyed the journey as much as I have.  Someday soon I plan to create a slideshow of all the images and share it here in one post.

Late summer pollinator bonanza

With the first day of fall occurring this Friday (22 SEP), insects that feed on pollen and nectar have limited food sources available.  Those plants that are still in bloom are covered with bees, wasps, flies, beetles, moths, ants, and more. 

Here is a short video of some of the Showy Goldenrod growing in our yard.   This is just one plant, every goldenrod in our garden was seeing this level of pollinator activity.