The Hiawatha National Forest

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Hiawatha National Forest

Hiawatha National Forest, photo by Sean Depuydt.

Ever thicker, thicker, thicker
Froze the ice on lake and river,
Ever deeper, deeper, deeper
Fell the snow o’er all the landscape,
Fell the covering snow, and drifted
Through the forest, round the village.
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The Song of Hiawatha

The Hiawatha National Forest in the Upper Peninsula is known as “the Great Lakes National Forest” because nearly 1 million acre forest touches three Great Lakes: Superior, Huron and Michigan.

The landscape of sandstone and limestone includes the watersheds of the three Great Lakes, five National Wild & Scenic Rivers – the Carp, Indian, Sturgeon, Tahquamenon, and Whitefish.

Northern hardwood and mixed forest types are common on the Hiawatha National Forest. Tree species include sugar maple, red maple, American Beech, white pine, red pine, northern white cedar, eastern larch/tamarack, and balsam fir. Jackpine savannahs are also common in some areas. Much of the Hiawatha is covered in wetlands, and as a result there are many wetland plants.

Spring wildflowers bloom in May and June.
The Forest contains habitat for northwoods species like whitetail deer, gray wolf, and lynx. Kirtland’s warbler, an endangered species, relies on young jackpine stands for its nesting grounds, and piping plover nest along our pebbly Great Lakes beaches. Trout are native to coldwater streams, and our inland lakes support strong, diverse fisheries

In short, a wonderful place. Here’s hoping you get a chance to have fun as the covering snow piles deeper this winter.

Check the photo out on black and in Sean’s Upper Michigan slideshow.

Help the National Audubon Society with their Christmas Bird Count

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Out On A Limb

Out On A Limb, photo by Beth Crawford 65.

The Great Lakes Echo tipped us off to the National Audubon Society Christmas Bird Count. :

Each of the citizen scientists who annually braves snow, wind, or rain, to take part in the Christmas Bird Count makes an enormous contribution to conservation. Audubon and other organizations use data collected in this longest-running wildlife census to assess the health of bird populations – and to help guide conservation action.

From feeder-watchers and field observers to count compilers and regional editors, everyone who takes part in the Christmas Bird Count does it for love of birds and the excitement of friendly competition — and with the knowledge that their efforts are making a difference for science and bird conservation.

In years past, the Christmas Bird Count has helped the Society document species health and develop plans. Click to learn how to get involved!

See Beth’s photo of a pine siskin, a common finch, bigger and in her beautiful winter slideshow.

Many more Michigan birds on Michigan in Pictures.

Under the Gaze of an Owl

Posted on by farlane

Gaze 3903-11

Gaze 3903-11, photo by StacyN – MichiganMoments

This month has been pretty owl heavy. More about the Snowy Owl from November 2008 on Michigan in Pictures.

Stacy says that this was her first wild snowy owl sighting. She spent all afternoon watching it and is in LOVE. See it bigger and see all her shots from this encounter in her The Visitor slideshow.

Rigging

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Rigging

Rigging, photo by Elizabeth Glass.

The Spider’s Web

The spider, dropping down from twig,
Unfolds a plan of her devising,
A thin premeditated rig
To use in rising.

And all that journey down through space,
In cool descent and loyal hearted,
She spins a ladder to the place
From where she started.

Thus I, gone forth as spiders do
In spider’s web a truth discerning,
Attach one silken thread to you
For my returning.

~ E B White

Check this out really big in Fluidr (Elizabeth’s favorite new Flickr app) and in her slideshow.

Shaggy Mane Mushroom

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

DSC09529_tonemapped

DSC09529_tonemapped, photo by ansonredford.

Mushroom-collecting.com has this to say about the Shaggy Mane Mushroom:

The Shaggy Mane, also occasionally known as the Lawyers Wig, is a distinctive and easy to recognize mushroom. Its size, shape, and tendency to grow in tight groups make it easy to spot even from considerable distance. Shaggy Mane (Coprinus comatus) has an elongated bullet shaped, shaggy cap, with brownish upturned scales and a straight fairly smooth stem.

These grow in summer and fall in grass, wood chips, rocky, or hard packed soil often appearing shortly after a soaking rain. They may grow singly or scattered but often in large, tightly packed groups. Some years they are very common in city and suburban locations, pastures, lawns, gardens, along driveways, etc. Sometimes they are found in huge quantities presenting quite a dilemma since they require almost immediate preparation.

They are very common around this time of year along the roadside as well. Living Afield has a great pic of the Shaggy Mane and you can see a cool timelapse of its lifecycle too! You do need to be careful about a couple of similar mushrooms – see that page for details!

Donald found this beauty in his yard. Check it out background bigilicious and in his slideshow.

More Michigan mushrooms from Michigan in Pictures.

Loon and friends at Brown Bridge Pond

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Loon and friends at Brown Bridge Pond

Loon and friends at Brown Bridge Pond, photo by SBodjack.

Apparently sometimes we all can just get along. Hope your weekend is filled with fun and friends.

Check this out background big and see this and many more in her Brown Bridge Pond slideshow or see where she took it on her map.

The pond is in the 1300-acre Brown Bridge Quiet Area just south of Traverse City. They say that five known species of endangered, threatened, or special concern status have been documented at the Brown Bridge Quiet Area: bald eagles, osprey, red-shouldered hawks, common loons, and wood turtles.

Oyster mushrooms

Posted on by farlane

Fungi stacks

Fungi stacks, photo by ETCphoto

Mushroom guru Wildman Steve Brill says that the Oyster mushroom is a mushroom that lives up to its name – it looks, smells, and tastes like oysters! Not surprisingly, the Michigan Mushroom Hunter’s Club has great info on oyster mushroom hunting in Michigan that begins:

Oysters (Pleurotus ostreatus complex) are the mushroom of the month for June. The delicious oysters can be found in many environments as they are a prime wood recycler. Oysters can be found on dead and dying trees especially hardwoods like poplars (a.k.a. aspen), cottonwoods, elms, box elders, etc. though they also can occur on conifers.

The gills of the oysters are white, branched fanning out toward the cap edge and are very decurrent (running down the stalk). Oysters tend to grow in dense clusters of caps, crowded and overlapping. It is not unusual to find oyster in such quantity that a mushroom hunter ends up measuring her find in pounds.

They says that oysters grow throughout the year but are best in the Spring and Fall when they tend to be less buggy. Read on for much more. As a personal note, we filled a shopping bag in about an hour the weekend before last!

Terry found these beauties on a walk at Pyramid Point. Check them out bigger and in Terry’s slideshow.

Blackberries … the taste of summer

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

The taste of summer.. The taste of summer.., photo by Blondieyooper.

Our feature on blackberries on Absolute Michigan has some blackberry facts courtesy Taste the Local Difference says:

Blackberries are very high in Vitamin C and K and manganese and a good source of Vitamin E, folate, magnesium, potassium, and copper. They have one of the highest levels of the antioxidant antocyanin, which may help fight cancer, aging, and improve vision. Some fun facts:

  • Blackberries are also known as “black caps”
  • Blackberry tea was considered a cure for dysentery during the Civil War
  • The blackberry leaf was used as a hair dye
  • Blackberries are one of the easiest fruits to grow

Get more including some tasty blackberry recipes like Blackberry and Peach Buttermilk Cobbler! The article also features another photo by April, who I’m guessing really likes blackberries! She shot these wild Michigan blackberries late last August in the U.P. – check this one out background bigilicious and see more in her Nature (Upper Michigan) slideshow!

It ain’t easy being a frog…

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

It ain't easy...

It ain’t easy…, photo by stevedontsurf.

Steven writes that: Actually, on this day, it seemed pretty easy being green. This guy was eating fly after fly as I snapped away. Must’ve had 5-6 flies in about as many minutes. He looked like lack of food was not an issue. Check it out background big and in his slideshow.

Coincidentally, I came across an article this morning about a nasty fungus called chytrid that has been the culprit of 94 out of 122 frog extinctions since 1980 and that can also affect some toads and salamanders. Brian Gratwicke of the Smithsonian’s National Zoo says:

“There’s frogs all around the world being affected. There’s amphibians that have gone extinct in Australia, in the Caribbean, in North America, in South America, in Central America.”

…There is also a real cost to humans from the frog extinctions. Frogs’ skins are anti-microbial factories. They’ve produced compounds that kill superbugs in hospitals.

“There’s a species of frog in Australia that produces a chemical called caerin, which blocks HIV transmission to T-cells,” Gratwicke says. “The untapped resources of our amphibian biodiversity are virtually unknown.”

Click through to read much more and also check out the Gray Tree Frog (Hyla versicolor) on Michigan in Pictures.

You can build a home for little raptors like the Northern Saw Whet Owl!

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

saw whet owl

saw whet owl, photo by Sherri & Dan.

My friend Michael told me about Ned the Saw Whet Owl, an avian ambassador that Rebecca Lessard of the nonprofit Wings of Wonder is using to tell folks about nest boxes that you can build for small raptors (pdf). Ned is just 7″ tall and belongs to the smallest species of owl native to Michigan. Click Ned’s link above to see just how tiny he is!

This home will also house a screech owl and another bird recently featured – the American Kestrel (Michigan’s smallest raptor).

The Owl Pages have this to say about the Northern Saw-whet Owl – Aegolius acadicus:

European explorers first discovered this Owl in a North American colony called Acadia (now Nova Scotia). The Latinised word “acadius” refers to this territory. The common name “Saw-whet” comes from these Owls unique calls described below. The Saw-whet Owl is also called Acadian Owl, blind Owl, Kirkland’s Owl, the saw-filer, the sawyer, sparrow Owl, white-fronted Owl, Farmland Owl, Little Nightbird, Queen Charlotte Owl, and even the Whet-saw Owl.

The Northern Saw-whet Owl is a very small, short-bodied, Owl with a relatively short tail. The overly large head has no ear tufts and may appear distorted due to an asymmetrical skull. They look small when perched and tend to shuffle their feet, but in flight appear larger because of their broad wings.

…Northern Saw-whet Owls are strictly Nocturnal, with activity beginning at late dusk. During the day, they depend on plumage for camouflage when roosting in foliage, usually close to the ground.

You can hear their call at the link above and learn more at Wikipedia and All About Birds who explain that their defense upon discovery is to sit still and not fly, leading people to perceive them as “tame.”

Check this out way bigger than a saw whet owl and in Sherri & Dan’s slideshow. They took the shot at Whitefish Point Bird Observatory – read more at that link!

Many more Michigan birds on Michigan in Pictures.