A Sign of Spring? - American Robin

Every year, someone will call the local newspaper to declare that Spring has arrived - they have seen the first American Robin!

But, is the American Robin (Turdus migratorius) really a good indicator of the arrival of Spring?

The answer is maybe.  It depends on where you live.

Upcoming Event - World Migratory Bird Day Celebration (12 May 2018)

Bineshiyag n'ganawaabmaanaanig! (We watch the Birds!)


Join the Isabella Conservation District, Ziibiwing Center of AnishinabeCulture & Lifeways, and Chippewa Valley Audubon Club on Saturday 12 MAY 2018 for our 7th annual World Migratory Bird Day Celebration.  Begin the day at 9:00AM with a Bird Walk at the Soaring Eagle RV Park (5514 E. Airport Rd, Mt. Pleasant, MI) for a bird walk hosted by the Chippewa Valley Audubon Club.  Later at 1:00PM join us at the Ziibiwing Center (6650 E. Broadway, Mt. Pleasant, MI) for an afternoon of educational activiites, arts and crafts, and give-aways.  Cap the day off with a live raptor presentation by Wings of Wonder from 3:30PM to 4:30PM.  This a great family friendly event!

There's a hole, there's a hole...

The photo above shows a small section of our yard.  The grass is starting to become green and grow, but what is really interesting to me are the hundreds of holes spaced every few inches throughout the entire lawn.

Here's a closer look.

So what's making these holes?

Skunk Cabbage is blooming

 
On the first full day of Spring (Wednesday March 21st), I found my first wildflower of 2018 at Mill Pond Park.  It should be no surprise that my first flower of the year was my favorite wildflower - Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus). This species blooms as early as February in Mid-Michigan.  This flower has the unique property of being thermogenic.  This means that its metabolic processes generate enough heat that the flowers can melt snow!


May 21st is the latest date for my first Skunk Cabbage of the year since 2014.  In each of the past two years I found my first Skunk Cabbage blooms around the end of the first week of March.  My failure to find a Skunk Cabbage before now has nothing to do with timing of the bloom.  The more time I spend in schools doing classroom programs, the less time I have to spend in the woods.  Many of my programs involve photos that I have taken in the woods and wetlands around Mid-Michigan.  It's a balancing act between learning more myself and teaching what I already know.

Nesting box mice

All of the local schools are on Spring Break right now.  What does that mean for me?  It means that I have a few days of schedule-free time available.  I am using that time to do spring maintenance on pollinator gardens and bluebird nesting boxes. 

One of the hazards of doing maintenance on nesting boxes...

Oh, hello!  Sorry, but this space is occupied!

Mice like to take up residence in the boxes during the winter months.  This is especially true in the boxes that we have at Winn Elementary.  The boxes are in a fencerow and are easy for mice to access.  I think the mouse total this year was only ten (spread between a dozen nest boxes); last years total was fifteen mice.   I expect the mice here, but sometimes a teacher from Winn Elementary cleans out the boxes... 

The mice that take up residence are one of two species, the Deer Mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus) or the the White-footed Mouse (P. leucopus).  The two species are very similar, but I think this one might be a White-footed based on its orange-brown fur - Deer Mice are generally grey-brown.

The sad evictee must now find a new residence...

Schoolyard Waxwing

On Wednesday (21 March), after completing a program at Pullen Elementary School, I noticed a flock of Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum) flitting through the trees along the parking lot.  There are several ornamental crab apples along the north side of the school building; earlier in the day I had noticed several Waxwings feeding on fruit in those trees.  Now those birds were just feet from my truck.  Most of the birds were flitting around too much for me to have any hope of getting a picture.  However, there was one bird sitting still.  I was able to switch lenses on my camera and move into position to get several photos before the bird flew away.  This vertical image was my favorite of the bunch.

World Water Day (22 March 2018)

Today is World Water Day!  The goal of World Water Day is to focus attention on the importance water.

Here in Michigan we should celebrate water every single day.  We are surrounded by one of the greatest resources in the world - the Great Lakes.  The Great Lakes contain 21% of the world's available fresh surface water!  The name Michigan even comes from the Ojibwe word mishigamaa which mean "big water" or "big lake".

Because of their size, we often take the Great Lakes for granted.  However they face many threats such as invasive species, chemical spills, industrial runoff and more.  The biggest threat to the Great Lakes may be on the horizon as drought and depletion of aquifers in other parts of North America cause for increased cries to divert water from the Great Lakes Basin to other regions.  This could completely destroy the Great Lakes ecosystem.

One of my favorite animated films is about water diversion.  I wish every upper elementary, middle school, high school, and college science class in the Great Lakes Basin would watch this.  Please enjoy The Incident at Tower 37 by Chris Perry and Bitfilms.