New Year's Day 2019

Happy 2019!

As I have for the past two years (2017 and 2018), I greeted the new year by leading a hike at the Chippewa Watershed Conservancy's Bundy Hill Preserve.  This year I actually led two hikes, a "sunrise" hike at 7:30AM and a more leisurely hike at 10:00AM for the late-risers.

Despite an overnight storm that made roads treacherous (and contributed to many accidents overnight) I was joined by a crew of six hardy souls with the goal of being the first people to top Bundy Hill in 2019.

The trees at Bundy Hill were covered in a layer of ice and snow that created a beautiful backdrop for out hike.  Unfortunately, cloudy skies meant that we did not get to see the sunrise.  My record for new Year's Day sunrise hikes is now one-for-three (0.333 is a great batting average in baseball, but not so great for sunrise hikes).

No sunrise to see, but we made it to the summit!

After the first group of hikers departed, I had about an hour to kill before the second hike was scheduled to begin.  I had planned ahead - I brought a book to read and boiled a kettle of water for tea on the tailgate of my truck.

I was joined by eleven people for the second hike (including a family of 5). For the first hike, we had taken the most direct route (the McNeel Trail) up the hill so we could be on top before sunrise; for the second hike we took the more leisurely path (the Summit Trail) around the west side of the preserve.  Both trails climb approximately 170 feet from the parking area to the summit, but the second trail is a more gradual climb.  This is important when the climbers include young children and a dad carrying one of the kids most of the way up the hill!

The view from the top was worth the climb.  Bundy Hill has two summits; the main (east) summit has no view as it is surrounded by trees, but the west summit offers views facing south.  The sky was still clear as we approached the west summit, but there was enough light to make the view of snow-covered trees dazzling against a steel grey sky.  As with so many things in life, picture do not do it justice.

Love the brooding skies...

We snapped a couple of group photos in this location (with the gorgeous trees in the background) and then proceeded to the real summit for another group picture to prove that we made it to the top.

Near the false summit

On the summit

After reaching the summit, we took the McNeel trail back to our parked vehicles.  This trail is a little steeper and we had a couple of slip-and-fall incidents.  Fortunately the only thing injured was pride. Everyone seemed to enjoy the hike and it was a great way to kick off 2019!

Mark you calendar for Wednesday January 1st 2020 to join my for my 4th Annual New Year's Day hike - I'll be there for sunrise!  Until then, get outdoors and, if your schedule allows, join me for more hikes with the Chippewa Watershed Conservancy.  Keep an eye on the CWC website or facebook page for upcoming events.

Summer Solstice 2018

The sun rises through the trees about twenty minutes past official sunrise.

If you were to arise at dawn every day of the year and record the point on the horizon where the sun rises you would be able to track the progression from the Summer Solstice (in which the sun rises furthest North) to the Winter Solstice (in which the sun rises furthest South) and back again.  Tracking the position of the rising sun was one of the earliest astronomical observations.  Many ancient monuments were constructed to act as solar observatories, recording the longest and shortest days of the year.  These observations were used to plan planting dates for various agricultural crops.
Today the sun reached its northernmost point on the horizon.  Officially, at 6:07 AM EST Spring ended and Summer began in the Northern Hemisphere.  This moment of change is known as the Summer Solstice.  At the same time, the Southern Hemisphere was experiencing its Winter Solstice as their Fall ended and Winter began. The word solstice comes from the Latin words sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still).  On the days surrounding the solstice, the sun appears to "stand still" for several days as it progresses neither north nor south along the horizon. 

Dawn atop Bundy Hill

Today on the Summer Solstice, with the sun at its highest position in the northern sky, we celebrate our longest day of the year.  With the sunrise at 5:58 AM and sunset at 9:24 PM, mid-Michigan will experience approximately 15 hours 26 minutes of daylight today.  By comparison, Christchurch, New Zealand (which is approximately the same latitude south of the equator as Mid-Michigan is north of the equator), will have only 8 hours 56 minutes of sunlight today.

Why does the length of daylight vary at different locations on the globe? 

It has to do with three factors:  rotation, revolution, and a tilt of 23.5 degrees.  The Earth rotates around its axis approximately once every 24 hours.  However this axis is tilted at 23.5 degrees from the vertical.  The points on the globe that the axis rotates around are referred to as the North and South Poles.  The axis is always pointed toward the same location in the sky.  The North Pole points toward the "North Star" - Polaris.

At any given time, fifty percent of the earth is in sunlight (Day) and the other fifty percent is in darkness (Night).  However, as previously mentioned, the Earth is tilted on its axis.  Because of this tilt, sunlight does not always strike the Earth at the same angle.  This means that during different seasons different parts of the Earth will receive varying amounts of sunlight and darkness.
As the earth revolves around the sun, sometimes the North Pole is closer to the sun, sometimes the South Pole is closer to the sun. 

A golden glow...

When the North Pole is at its closest, the sun lights a larger portion of the Northern Hemisphere than it does the Southern Hemisphere.  When this happens, we experience Summer in Mid-Michigan and the Southern Hemisphere experiences Winter.  During our Northern Summer, not only does the sun light more of the Northern Hemisphere, but the sun also lights every Northern Hemisphere location for a higher percentage of the day than a comparable Southern Hemisphere location. 

When the North Pole is at its furthest from the sun, we experience Winter and the Southern Hemisphere experiences Summer.  During our Northern Winter, the sun is striking a larger portion of the Southern Hemisphere than it is the Northern Hemisphere, and consequently the sun lights every Southern Hemisphere location for a higher percentage of the day than a comparable Northern Hemisphere location.  On two days of the year, the Spring and Fall Equinoxes, the sun lights the Northern and Southern Hemispheres equally and the length of day for will be the same for both. 

Waiting for the sunrise atop Bundy Hill

So how did I celebrate the Summer Solstice?  In the oldest way possible, by greeting the rising sun!  I led a sunrise hike to the top of the tallest hill around.  At 1276 feet above sea level, Bundy Hill is the tallest point in Isabella County.  It is has been protected as a nature preserve by the Chippewa Watershed Conservancy since 2016.  Unfortunately, the surrounding forest made it impossible to see the actual sunrise from atop Bundy Hill, but the trip to the top is always worth it.  When the sun finally did get above the trees I was able to capture the photos seen above.

IMG_0115 for 01/15 (A random collection of photos that all have the same name)

The following photographs have nothing in common, except their file names.  Each of these photos is titled IMG_0115.  I don't do a good job of labeling photos as I add them to my computer.  Each of the pictures goes into a separate file according to the date that the picture was taken, but the individual pictures all have the name that the camera assigned to them.

I actually thought of this idea of posting several of the pictures a few months ago while I was searching for an image on my computer.  I was writing a new blog post and wanted to use a certain photograph, but I couldn't remember which file it was saved in.  Fortunately I had used the file previously in another blog post.  When I use an image on this blog the link to the image contains the name of the file so I was able to look at that link and then do a search on my computer for the original file.  I found the file that I wanted, but I also found several dozen more images with the same name.

With that experience, I decided that I would share several photos that share the same name.  Why did I pick IMG_0115 as the title to share?  Today's date is January 15th, or if you are expressing it as a number in the format MM/DD it is 01/15.  So IMG_0115 it is.

IMG_0115 - Devil's Tower as seen from the base of its boulder field (July 2017)

IMG_0115 - Mt. Rushmore (July 2017)

IMG_0115 - Red Admiral butterfly  (May 2017)

IMG_0115 - Yellow Trout Lily (April 2017)

IMG_0115 - Trail clearance at Audubon Woods Preserve (April 2017)

 

IMG_0115 - Rural sunrise (January 2017)

The rest of the photos can be found below the break.

Sunrise (05 April 2017)

In case you missed it...

Sunrise - Alma, MI (05 April 2017)

Favorite Photos of 2016

We've reached the end of another year.  Every year I post a sort of year-in-review of my favorite photographs from the year.  This is the 2016 edition.  My favorite photos from past years can be found here, here, and here.

The first photograph comes from a post I made back on January 13th.  It shows a miniature forest of Wild Leek stalks and tree seedlings poking up through snow at Chipp-A-Waters Park in Mt. Pleasant.  I like the stark, almost abstract quality that this image has.

 

The second photograph come from February 25th.  The night before saw about 8 inches of snow dumped on Mid-Michigan and caused all local schools to be cancelled.  I paused for a moment while shoveling out to take this photo of the sun trying to cut through the overcast sky.  The snow covered branches belong to a large Honey Locust tree right outside my back door. 

 

Some of my favorite photographs are a bit more abstract than others.  This picture was taken at Dow Gardens in Midland on March 30th.  Every year Dow Gardens hosts an exhibit called Butterflies in Bloom in their conservatory - the 2017 Butterflies in Bloom exhibit is scheduled for 03 March through 16 April.  Shara and I attend every year to see and photograph the butterflies.  There are often so many people packed into the conservatory that it is almost impossible to get good pictures of the butterflies.  I often find myself spending more time taking pictures of the tropical plants than I do of the butterflies.  I especially liked the fan-like leaves of this plant.

The next picture comes from Mill Pond Park on April 14th.  I don't spend a lot of time photographing birds.  I generally lack the patience required to be a birder (and frankly most birds don't excite me all that much) so I spend very little time looking for birds.  However, there are times a bird shows up that just demands to be photographed.  Although not a rare bird, and becoming quite a nuisance in many places, the Canada Goose is an attractive bird.  This goose was casually swimming around the pond and approached quite close, which allowed my to take a large number of portraits of it.

 

This next picture might be my favorite image from the entire year.  I frequently take students out into the woods to study trees and learn about forestry.  Although I have been bringing students from Winn Elementary to the Chippewa Watershed Conservancy's Audubon Woods Preserve for several years, this was the first year that I have ever brought students from the Saginaw Chippewa Academy to this location.  While measuring tree diameters, some of the students found this Grey Tree Frog hanging out on the bark of one of the trees.  I love how this frog just disappears on the bark - camouflage is an awesome adaptation!  This images dates from May 17th and appeared in a post the next day.

I take thousands of photographs every year.  Most of them never make it onto this blog.  That doesn't mean that I don't like them or that they aren't good photographs.  Sometimes I just don't have time to write about everything I want to.  This year a disproportionate number of my posts were about wildflowers so other subjects often went untouched.  Back on June I spent several days meeting students at various ponds and rivers to sample aquatic invertebrates.  None of the photos ever showed up on this blog.  One of my favorite pictures was this one from June 7th of a student from Shepherd Elementary holding a small Wood Frog that she found along the Little Salt River.  Why do I like this photo?  The contrast of the pink sweatshirt with the greens and browns of the frog - girls rock at science!

I spend a significant part of July away from Mid-Michigan.  I attended the Michigan Department of Natural Resources 2016 Academy of Natural Resources.  Later in the month, Shara and I traveled through parts of four states while on vacation.  My favorite photo from the month isn't necessarily a great picture, but it documents my favorite place that we visited during our travels - Great Serpent Mound.

Great Serpent Mound is what is known as an effigy mound - this means it is an earthen mound created in the shape of a person, animal, or symbol.  It is the largest effigy mound in the world.  It measures approximately just over a 1/4 mile long (1348 feet) and is several feet tall.  When you remember that this was constructed entirely by hand using wood, stone, and bone tools the achievement of its construction becomes even more remarkable.  The exact age of Great Serpent Mound is unknown.  Several burial mounds on the site date from Fort Ancient Culture (1000 - 1500 AD) and the earlier Adena Culture (800 BC - 100 AD).  Great Serpent Mound probably dates to one (or both) of these cultures as it was likely rebuilt several times over its history.

The next photograph was taken the morning of  August 22nd.  It shows a band of low clouds rolling across the landscape.  This unusual cloud formation is known as an arcus cloud and is usually associated with thunderstorms, but can also occur when a cold front passes through.  This specific type of arcus cloud is known as a roll cloud, because it appears to be rolling through the sky completely detached from all other clouds.

 

If you haven't figured it out by now, I am sharing one photograph from each month of the year.  September is the time that the school gardens really their stride.  Almost everything is in bloom and many pants are starting to develop their seeds.  Back on September 14th and 15th I spent some time photographing the native pollinator gardens at the Saginaw Chippewa Academy and Winn Elementary.  This picture of Butterflyweed s my favorite garden photograph of the year and a strong contender for my favorite photo of 2016.  I love the full exploding fluffiness of the ripe seeds bursting from the pod to the right and how it contrasts with the still closed pods to the left of the photo.

October was one of the toughest months to pick a favorite.  I had lots of images of fall color to choose from.  Instead I picked this picture of the sunrise from October 26th.  I often lament the fact that Mid-Michigan does not have any dramatic landscapes, but if you look hard enough there is still drama to be found.

November was one of the most difficult months from which to choose a favorite photograph - photos of leaves and tree trunks, the full moon, Lake Michigan, etc..  The photograph I chose was an instant favorite.  It shows three fourth-grade students from Vowles Elementary posing during a woodland ecology activity at the school.  Why do I like this photo?  It reminds me of the painting The Son of Man by René Magritte.  It shows the students, but the leaves hide their identities.  As soon as one of the students picked up a large leaf I thought of posing them like this.  I rarely ask people to pose in photos, but I like the results in this image.

December was probably my lightest month of the year for photography.  I hardly took any photographs - I know the month isn't over so I have a few more chances.  My favorite picture of the month is sort of an abstract one - it shows ice pans covering the surface of the Chippewa River at Mill Pond Park on December 14th.  Although I shared several photos from this date, this picture was not one of them.  Is it s great photograph?  No.  Is it even a good photograph?  Probably not, but I like how it shows how small pans of ice come together to eventually cover the river with a layer of ice.   I started this list with a winter scene and bookended the year with another winter scene.

Sunrise (26 OCT 2016)

In case you missed it, the sunrise this morning was lovely...

Although the clouds barely shifted, the colors intensified as the sun rose higher toward the horizon.

Mid-Michigan may not known for its scenery, but there are times when it does quite well for itself.

Red sky in morning...

An approaching storm front meant that this morning's sunrise was tinted in shades of red and orange.