Where the Buffalo Roam

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Where the Buffalo Roam

Where the Buffalo Roam, photo by DaddyNewt.

DaddyNewt says that this buffalo roams at the Detroit Zoo

When I saw it, I asked him if it had been extensively photoshopped. He replied:

I don’t have photoshop but I did manipulate it digitally, then I printed it on regular copy paper. Then I stained it , spattered it, crumpled it, broiled it, smeared it with dirt, ironed it and then scanned it back in and manipulated it some more. Sometimes I get kind of obsessed.

He’s uploaded it huge size and yes, it makes a ridiculously cool computer background!

Dream

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Dream

Dream, photo by rckrawczykjr.

Ralph writes: 59°F + Sunny + Mid-November = Photo Safari.

A Herd of Turkeys

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

A Herd of Turkeys

A Herd of Turkeys, photo by curlyson.

The thought of two guys in the woods chasing turkeys around for a photo is pretty funny.

You can learn more about Michigan turkeys (both wild & plattered) at Absolute Michigan.

Happy Thanksgiving folks.

Envision Michigan

Posted on by farlane

Deep Thoughts and Work Comps by CAVE CANEM

Deep Thoughts and Work Comps, photo by CAVE CANEM

The Center for Michigan is an organization I work with that I very much admire. They are dedicated to helping to transform Michigan’s business, economic, political and cultural climate. One of their efforts to help us get our arms around what we have and to visualize what we could become is their Envision Michigan Competition.

You can see the weekly winners on their web site like Michigan is richer than we think, It’s all about the water and Walking the trails, in which Norma Wolf writes:

My home is in a wooded subdivision in Haslett, a suburb really, of East Lansing. A daily trek down my tree lined street will take me into the woods on a trail that twists and turns through five miles of beauty. I pass through deciduous trees and pine forest. I travel literally through the wetlands and up and over flowing streams. In the Spring I watch as the skunk cabbage makes its appearance and later I delight in the snake dozing in the sun along my path. In the fall the wind through the leaves of maple and oak remind me of the true beauty of this state of Hiawatha.

Entering your photo, essay or video is easy and you can win a part of $30,000 in prizes including weekly Meijer shopping sprees, college scholarships and Michigan vacations. Check it out.

I picked this photo because the photographer is one of too many talented folks who left our state for economic reasons. It seems clear to me that Michigan can’t afford to continue to allow our best to leave and our brightest bulbs to never shine to their full brightness.

In my opinion, that means that we as a state need to commit our efforts, intellects and hard-earned dollars to rebuilding our state as a place that operates with its eyes wide open to the realities of the modern world. I think that the last decade demonstrates that it’s not enough to talk about our commitment to our children, our future and our state and draft plan after underfunded plan. Sooner or later, you actually have to roll up your sleeves and get to work.

I don’t know what your opinion or vision is, but I do know where you could share it…

Opening Day

Posted on by farlane

8 Point White Tail Buck by trekguy

8 Point White Tail Buck, photo by trekguy

November 15 is opening day of deer season in Michigan – follow that link over lots more from Absolute Michigan.

History of the Michigan State Fair

Posted on by farlane

State Fair, 1974

State Fair, 1974, photo courtesy Archives of Michigan

The Image of the Month for August 2007 from the Archives of Michigan:

In this 1974 photo, six year-old Jennifer Weise tugs on a Holstein cow’s ear. The animal was one of 8,000 displayed at the Michigan State Fair that year.

Michigan’s first State Fair was held in Detroit in 1849. The Michigan Agricultural Society sponsored and organized the event. The fair moved to Ann Arbor in 1850 and then back to Detroit from 1851-1862. From 1863-1904, it rotated amongst different Michigan cities.

Read the rest of the history of the Michigan State Fairs (there’s also a UP fair) and click for the official sites for the Michigan State Fair (Wednesday, August 22nd through Labor Day, September 3rd, 2007) and the Upper Peninsula State Fair (held August 13th – 19, 2007).

Buzzy Morning … for how long?

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Buzzy Morning

Buzzy Morning, photo by CaptPiper.

This beautiful photo of a bee and poppy reminded me about honey bees and Colony Collapse Disorder.

Despite the fact that the story has faded from the news, MSU prof Zachary Huang’s cyberbee.net says that Colony Collapse Disorder is still a mystery. Be sure to check out Zach’s Bee Photos and this amazing resource for information about Michigan bees (and bees in general).

For more about Michigan bees, check out the Michigan Beekeepers Association and Michigan bee plants. You might also have a look at Wikipedia’s bee entry and their entry on Colony Collapse Disorder.

Little Foxes

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Little Foxes

Little Foxes, photo by curlyson.

Red fox cubs exploring the world near their den.

The Michigan DNR’s red fox (Vulpes vulpes fulva) page says that a large fox (14 inches high) will weigh only 12-15 pounds and be able to easily pass through a four inch hole.

The Red fox pages at the UM Animal Diversity web are sleeping late this morning but doubtless have great info, photos and fox barks. Wikipedia’s red fox entry has a lot more about foxes and shows their range as covering most of the northern hemisphere.

Michigan Shoreline Tour: Grand Mere State Park (and a flying dog)

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

My dog can fly

My dog can fly, photo by J. Star.

J Star writes:

The boy, the dog and I went to Lake Michigan yesterday, planning to stay until tonight. The forecast called for clear skies and eighty degrees for today…last night at about midnight the storms started. By morning, the thunder was deafening, the tent was afloat in three inches of water, and hail was pounding down everywhere. Needless to say, we packed it in early and headed home.

We did have fun on the beach for about two hours yesterday. Steve seems to think it was worth the drive. You can tell by the sand being joyously flung everywhere, and by the huge gob of it he left stuck to my polarizer.

The DNR page on Grand Mere State Park near Stevensville says that the 985 acre park features magnificent sand dunes, deep blowouts, one mile of Lake Michigan shoreline and three inland lakes behind the dunes in the undeveloped natural area. Both the DNR page and Wikipedia entry for Grand Mere State Park are remarkably scant on information, leading me to believe that with a 1/2 mile hike to the beach, it’s a pretty good place to avoid the crowds. Here’s a Google map to Grand Mere State Park.

Been there? Done that? Tell us or show us what it was like in the comments!

Brood XIII Cicadas in SW Michigan?

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

After 17 years?

After 17 years?, photo by mfophotos.

The Magicicada are the genus of the 13- and 17- year periodical cicadas of eastern North America who display a unique combination of long life cycles, periodicity, and mass emergences. They are classified according to “Brood” and 2007 is the year of Brood XIII, on a 17-year cycle and also known as the Northern Illinois Brood. Wikipedia’s Brood XIII page has a nice picture of the cicadas of this brood.

While Wikipedia and the U-M’s Museum of Zoology cicada page say that Brood XIII has a presence in southwest Michigan, retired University of Michigan entomologist and cicada expert Thomas Moore says (Freep article) that overeager graduate students and sloppy work by a 19th-Century government scientist and irresponsible replication are responsible for the erroneous perception that Brood XIII may make an appearance in Michigan.

Mark O’Brien comments that it’s unfortunate that Tom Moore was quoted as dismissing the work by former UMMZ graduate students John Cooley and David Marshall (who created the useful pages and did state that the maps are “approximate”). On his blog, Six-legged Wonders, Mark has a post about Brood XIII in Michigan where he says:

What needs to be done is to get modern records. Researchers tend to go to where previous records show emergences. So, if you know that Lake County, Illinois has 17-yr cicadas, that’s where you go if you have limited time to do experiments, etc. I don’t doubt that there may have been 17-yr cicadas at some point in SW Michigan — especially inland away from the sand dunes. However, the area has been heavily agriculturized over the past 100 years, and some areas have also gone back to woods. Have small pockets of Magicicada survived? The only way to know is to go and traverse the area and listen. Lacking that… if you live in that area of the state, tell me that you have them and show me the specimens. It would be nice to know, either way. The next emergence would be in 2024. I’m going to be an old man by then.

You can get a ton more information about the cicadas of Brood XIII (and others) including lots of photos and video and all your Brood XIII gear at Cicada Mania.