Wednesday, 11 November 2026
Off strolling in the park, we sat and watched the pond for quite a while, discussing that the Great Blue wasn’t visibile…then, with an elegant swoop from way off to the south, in soared our “friend.”
BTW, this photo and yesterday’s lily were both with the 8x magnification on my new phone-cam. Unlike the lily, this one is cropped much tighter…and, gee whiz, the resolution holds. Techno-win!
Friday, 23 October 2026
The last few days I’ve noticed that the morning temps here and at our UP locations are nearly the same. Afternoons diverge, but the morning chills are very similar, and sometimes identical. Here’s a bee stunned from the morning chill.
Wednesday, 30 September 2026
In the wee hours, we had some wind and a little rain. Leaves fell. Many leaves.
MaNachur made this still-life atop the stump, including that most of the leaves are colorful side up.
Meanwhile, the lake stayed quiet, although with white foam stripes on the surface.
Walking back from the lake, I heard airborne sandhill crane calls, then this group flew overhead. I was in the right place at the right time.
We had overcast all day, but very little rain considering how dry it is.
Tuesday, 28 July 2026
The sun appears.
Sometime later, I watched a busy bee.
I took a beach walk, and ventured beyond the point.
On my return and strolling the beach, I heard squawking above, looked up and saw no branches and caught the sound of departing birds. When my head was tipped back, I heard a plop at my feet. Looking down, I saw this critter scramble into the water, swim a meter or so away from me, then pause, I assumed to catch his/her breath, or whatever frogs do. After a moment, the critter kicked twice to reach the shallows, shown here. Did I startle the bird enough that it dropped the frog? That’s my hypothesis.
Wednesday, 22 July 2026
True, it was low-light (although it doesn’t look like it), but that bee was SPEEDY!
Tuesday, 14 July 2026
This has nothing to do with the picture or my personal events of the day, but recently I discovered (or, probably, was reminded) that the loons of North America are called divers in the British Isles. [This is another example of common name confusion.]
Monday, 13 July 2026
Surprise (sarcastically): these milkweed pods are infested with…milkweed bugs.
Monday, 6 July 2026
Swans and the old fire tower, closed to the public the last time I walked by it several years ago.
Reflections on still water….
Sunday, 5 July 2026
I hypothesize that these are the same two fawns we saw yesterday, here visiting in the early afternoon. And I saw them again several hours later in the same spot.
We’ve been seeing these distinctive footprints on the beach by the dozen…finally figured out they’re made by wild turkeys…which I have neither seen nor heard around the property.
Friday, 3 July 2026
I visited the beach early enough that I sent Mama Loon and at least eight offspring zipping into the safety of deep water. Always love to hear loon calls and to see the birds.