Pure Michigan’s Fall Color Forecast for October 11 (see below) shows that the Upper Peninsula will be at or passing peak this weekend while most of the Lower Peninsula will be in the 20-60% range. Remember that leaf color can vary significantly even locally, and in addition to producing different colors when they turn, trees change at different times. Typical patterns have more color change the further you are from the Great Lakes. You can see this in the graphic below where much of the UP’s Lake Superior shore hasn’t hit peak yet.
Julie shares the story behind this gorgeous shot: Luckily I got up early this particular morning and the water was like glass! I was able to catch this awesome autumn reflection shot at Mirror Lake in the village of Fife Lake, Michigan. The nice mist coming off the water was definitely a bonus making it a truly serene and beautiful experience.
… “the comet of the century.” They say it will outshine everything but the Moon in the night sky and that it will stretch its tail over a huge portion of the sky. In that case, people around the world would be able to see the comet without trying at all. On the other hand, some people, like astronomer Dr. Zdeněk Sekanina, have predicted that the comet will break apart around the closest point in its orbit to the Sun, or “perihelion.” Comet Tsuchinshan-Atlas shows no clear signs of fragmenting right now, but that could always change.
…During late September and the first few days of October, you can find Comet Tsuchinshan-Atlas in the constellation Sextans. Look to the east, where the comet will rise about an hour before the Sun if you’re in the Northern Hemisphere. If you’re in a Southern Hemisphere, the comet will rise a bit earlier and be easier to see.
For most of early October, Tsuchinshan-Atlas will be too close to the Sun to be easily visible. Then, starting around Oct. 10 — if all goes well — the comet should be visible after sunset near the horizon in the west. With every passing day, Tsuchinshan-Atlas will start the evening higher in the sky and be easier to spot, unless it gets too dim.
Ethan shares that he captures this sweet shot of Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS rising over Lake Leelanau early morning on Sunday. For more follow him on Facebook. View & purchase his work at capturesbyethan.com.
I’ve been having a lot of fun with Michpics lately, especially seeing all the photos in the Facebook group which I encourage you to join. As we head into October, some upcoming features for spooky season on Michigan in Pictures include weird tales, haunted destinations, and general Halloween fun from across the Great Lakes State. I’d really like for all of you to be a part of it, so please share your favorite mysteries of Michigan in the comments or on the Michigan in Pictures Facebook!
The newly discovered asteroid, named 2024 PT5, will temporarily be captured by Earth’s gravity and orbit our world from September 29 to November 25, according to astronomers. Then, the space rock will return to a heliocentric orbit, which is an orbit around the sun.
…The space rock could be anywhere between 16 and 138 feet (5 and 42 meters) in diameter, potentially larger than the asteroid that entered Earth’s atmosphere over Chelyabinsk, Russia in 2013 … But as a mini-moon, Asteroid 2024 PT5 isn’t in any danger of colliding with Earth now or over the next few decades, de la Fuente Marcos said. The space rock will orbit about 2.6 million miles (4.2 million kilometers) away, or about 10 times the distance between Earth and the moon.
Kathie shares that Thumb Lake in Charlevoix County was foggy and lovely when she took this back in October of 2009. See more in her Top 40 gallery on Flickr. Also I get that we’re all worked up about AI, but please look at the 2009 date of the photo ;)
All About Birds says that Common Merganser are large, long-bodied ducks with thin, pointed wings. Their bills are straight and narrow, unlike the wide, flat bill of a “typical” duck, and the females have shaggy crests on the backs of their heads. Although these ducks look pretty punk & cool, the Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council reminds us that Merganser ducks are the main culprit in the spread of swimmers itch:
Swimmer’s itch (cercarial dermatitis) is a skin irritation caused by a larval form of certain flatworms from the family Schistosomatidae. Schistosome flatworms are parasites with complex life cycles usually involving certain species of snails and waterfowl. Upon hatching, free swimming Schistosomatidae larvae seek out an intermediary host, usually snails, to continue the life cycle. The larvae, known as cercariae, are only 1/32 of an inch long and generally invisible to the naked eye. Since humans are not the proper host, the larvae soon die upon mistakenly burrowing into the skin. The resulting skin condition and itching sensation is caused by an immune response to the dead larvae under the skin and symptoms vary by person. In many Michigan lakes, the common merganser duck is the primary or sole vertebrate host.
I am for sure NOT calling for the killing of mergansers, but as someone who has spent a lot of time on lakes with swimmers itch, I encourage you to practice safe swimming where you see these ducks:
Don’t swim first thing in the morning
Swim offshore and away from downwind areas
Rinse your body with clean water and towel off thoroughly after swimming!
Mike took these on Bear Lake a couple weeks ago. See more in his Bear Lake 2024 gallery on Flickr.
As you can see from the weather radar, a powerful summer storm has been rocking & rolling its way across the state this morning leaving cooler temps in its wake. Hoping you’re staying safe & dry!
Ethan got this double stroke of lightning on Sunday just before a storm dumped buckets of rain. Follow him on Facebook at Captures By Ethan and view & purchase his work on his website.
Back in the day, I used to feature excerpts by Linda S. Godfrey from the definitive book of Michigan mysteries: Weird Michigan. A good story to share when you’re floating around this weekend is the tale of the Lake Leelanau Monster.
The story of an early 20th Century sea monster sighting was sent to The Shadowlands Web site by a reader whose great-grandfather was the witness. The boy was fishing for perch one day in 1910 in the shallows of Lake Leelanau in Leelanau County. The lake had been dammed in the late 1800’s to provide water power for the local mill and to enable logging. The dam also flooded much surrounding area, turning it into swamps and bogs punctuated by dead, standing trees.
On that particular day, the young great-grandfather, William Gauthier, rowed out to a new fishing spot near the town of Lake Leelanau. Looking for good perch habitat, he paddled up close to a tree that he estimated to stand about five feet tall above the water, with a six-inch trunk. He was in about seven feet of water, and after deciding this would be a good place to stop and cast a line, began tying the boat to the tree.
That’s when young William discovered the tree had eyes. They were staring him dead in the face at about four feet above water level. The boy and serpent exchanged a long gaze, then the creature went, “Bloop” into the water. Gauthier said later that the creature’s head passed one end of the boat while the tail was still at the other end, though it was undulating very quickly through the water. The writer noted that Gauthier always admitted to having been thoroughly frightened by his encounter, and that the event caused him to stay off that lake for many years.
The writer added that his great-grandfather came from a prominent area family and was very well-educated, and that he knew others who would admit privately but not publicly that they, too, had seen the creature. No sightings have been reported in recent times, but who knows how many people have believed they were passing by a rotting old cedar when in fact they had just grazed the Leelanau lake monster?
This morning I saw this fantastic pic shared without attribution for probably the 100th time. I knew the attribution because I had shared it from Instagram back in 2017.
I know that a million bots building social media using AI will only make things worse, so I really (really) want to make a plea to all of you to FOLLOW THE PHOTOGRAPHER. Every time you do, even if you don’t purchase their work, you build their following which makes it more likely that their work is credited and profitable because making pretty pictures is hard and takes lots of glass & gas!!
Here’s a sweet shot I shared 5 years ago on June 3rd of a boat in the mist on Lake Leelanau in the northwestern Lower Peninsula. See more in Francios’ Michigan Journey’s gallery on Flickr and have a great weekend everyone!
