For southern Michigan, we have three spring-like days and four almost-wintry days. For northern Michigan, we have a slight taste of spring temperatures Tuesday and Wednesday, with the rest of the days more like winter. It looks much warmer in the first week of April.
Julie took this shot of the Mighty Mac back in April of 2021. Here’s a photo of the ice at Tahquamenon Falls breaking free that she shared 10 years ago plus a shot of a classic spring skiing slush pond from the other day. Follow her on Flickr for the latest!
Beavers are primarily aquatic animals, and the largest rodents in North America. They have a waterproof, rich, glossy, reddish brown or blackish brown coat. The underhairs are much finer than the outer, protective, guard-hairs. The ears are short, round, and dark brown in coloration. A beaver’s hind legs are longer than its front legs, thus making the rear end to be higher than the front end while walking.
Beaver skulls and teeth are disproportionately large. This is crucial for cutting through hard woods like maple and oak. Most noteably, the upper incisors, bright orange in color, are at least 5 mm wide and 20-25 mm long. These teeth grow throughout the animal’s lifetime and are a necessity to survival, just as the animal’s closable nostrils, closable ears, and transparent eye membranes are for aquatic existence.
Beavers live in lodges, of which there are three types: those built on islands, those built on the banks of ponds, and those built on the shores of lakes. The island lodge consists of a central chamber, with its floor slightly above the water level, and with two entrances. One entrance opens up into the center of the hut floor, while the other is a more abrupt descent into the water.
Spring officially begins today with the vernal equinox at 10:46am, and the statewide forecast from NOAA looks like it will more or less cooperate with highs in the 60s in southern Michigan and the entire state expected to top freezing today – a welcome respite!
The photographer shared this way back in 2008, writing “MOMENTS after I took this shot, I balanced this egg on this nail. Unfortunately I didn’t “catch” that event but here is the lead-up to it. So, an egg CAN balance on the head of a nail on spring equinox.” So close!! For sure follow them on Flickr for the latest!
There’s lots more science on Michigan in Pictures, but to be strictly scientific, the equinox has no measurable effect on your ability to balance an egg! With that said, would love to see your egg balancing photos!!
Let me first wish a very happy 313 Day to the city of Detroit & all who love it! There is no city that I would rather be from, and none that I’d rather live in. Then let me also say that I think it’s kind of hilarious that I was looking for the perfect photo to celebrate the city and already had it queued up for a post!
While sunrise and sunset times are constantly on the move, sunlight rapidly increases in March (and rapidly decreases in September). During the month of March, some parts of the United States will add over an hour-and-a-half of sun by the end of the month.
…The increase in daylight, or the amount of time the sun spends above the horizon, will be most obvious in the northernmost parts of the U.S., which will face the sun more directly as the Northern Hemisphere tilts toward the sun on Earth’s axis at a 23.5-degree angle, according to Brandon Buckingham, a meteorologist at AccuWeather.
FYI, Michigan will pick up between 80 and 100 minutes of daylight this month.
Scott took this back in 2020 and he notes how 3-D it looks. You can see more in his massive Detroit gallery & for sure follow him on Flickr for the latest!
The mural was the 100th painted by Detroit artist Waleed Johnson which is pretty amazing when you consider how much work it is to paint a mural!
Yesterday the Gordie Howe International Bridge raised hopes that an opening is imminent when they shared the initial toll rates. Passenger vehicles will pay a standard flat toll rate of $8 CAD/$5.75 USD per crossing while commercial trucks, oversized vehicles, and larger passenger vehicles pay a standard per axle toll rate of $12 CAD/$8.75 USD. They also offer a Breakaway discount program.
While there are a number of unknowns that could impact opening, one thing to note is the date of Gordie Howe’s birthday: March 31st – 3/31 to the 313?
Michael took these photos and the awesome video below when they first lit the entire bridge on September 18, 2025. He wrote (in part) “For those fortunate enough to be in the area, the Gordie Howe International Bridge started testing their led lighting system and entire span of the Gordie Howe International Bridge was illuminated just in time for sunset. The testing actually began in late afternoon and by dusk the full spectacle of this magnificent structure could be seen for miles across Windsor and Detroit area.”
Fortunate indeed!! Check out a few more photos he shared to the Michigan in Pictures group and the video below. You can also view & purchase his work at Windsor Aerial Drone Photography.
I don’t want you to miss the video below that was created by WOOD-TV Grand Rapids, so don’t miss it OK? WDIV Detroit shares that the UFO Wave that swept Michigan and the nation in March of 1966 was sparked by a rash of UFO sightings in Washtenaw County:
In 1966, a string of seemingly odd occurrences in Washtenaw County drew the attention of the entire country. The events centered on a sudden wave of UFO sightings, with reports by police and citizens in March 1966. The same lights were spotted by officers in Ohio, just across the Michigan border, and by observers at Selfridge Air Force Base. The sightings triggered investigations by the Civil Defense and U.S. Air Force.
On Sunday, March 20, 1966, the sheriff’s office received reports of a UFO landing in a wooded, swamp area of Dexter Township. Police spoke to Frank Mannor, a truck driver who had gone into the swamp with his son. Here’s what Mannor told police:
“We got to about 500 yards of the thing,” Mannor told interviewers. “It was sort of shaped like a pyramid, with a blue-green light on the right-hand side and on the left, a white light. I didn’t see no antenna or porthole. The body was like a yellowish coral rock and looked like it had holes in it—sort of like if you took a piece of cardboard box and split it open. You couldn’t see it too good because it was surrounded with heat waves, like you see on the desert. The white light turned to a blood red as we got close to it and Ron said, ‘Look at that horrible thing.’”
👀 Yikes!
Jamie specializes in otherworldly photos as demonstrated by his phenomenal Stormy Weather gallery . Here are a few more from that gallery, but for sure click through because the Florida clouds are unreal. Follow him on Flickr or @MacDonald_Photo on Instagram for his latest!
“Those UFOs… Do They Really Exist?” was a news program about UFOs originally aired on Grand Rapids’ WOOD-TV in 1966 that was submitted for a Peabody Award that year.
Sarah shares that Sometimes, the actual sunset itself isn’t terribly ‘earth shattering’….but the after burn sure is! Such as the case last evening, when the sky erupted into the most brilliant of vibrant color! I also hit the jackpot with the outer pier being beautifully covered in what remained of melted snow and ice!
Regrettably she learned too late something that any digital photographer fears – all of her images from last night had been inadvertently saved as JPEGs 🫤 Still, it’s a dynamite shot! Head over to her Facebook or Instagram for her latest, and view & purchase her work on her website.
Their latest post is one I have long wanted to make: The Seven Wonders of the (Michigan) World. I will add links to posts about these when/if I make them, and obviously you are encouraged to add your opinion on the wonders selected & missed in the comments here or on Pure Memeigan’s FB post!
…and a bonus 8th Wonder: The 20-foot Eiffel Tower (Paris (Michigan))
NOTE: I didn’t name the wonders in Sterling Heights & Ypsi – take that up with the locals! Also, I will be doing a Seven Natural Wonders of Michigan post, so save those for later.
…is not tall, only about 6′ tall. But it’s really cool and also easy to get to. The name of the falls comes from the color of the creek water. In the Upper Peninsula, many waterfalls like Tahquamenon Falls take on this color and it’s because of tannins, the chemical compounds that are also found in wine (especially red wine), tea, and coffee. Tannins give those and other things a bitter/astringent flavor or mouth-feel and different colors. (I’m a chemist, and I just think tannins are cool, so I felt like including it here!) The tannins here give the water a “root beer” color, hence the name.
The author adds that the directions to this waterfall off US-2 near Wakefield can be tricky so click through for more. Like many Michiganders, I grew up thinking that Tahquamenon Falls was “Rootbeer Falls”, so it was definitely a surprise to learn of the existence of an actual Root Beer Falls ten years ago this morning when searching for waterfall photos the Absolute Michigan group on Flickr.
Last Friday, my Absolute Michigan photo group on Flickr crossed a major milestone when Mark Smith added the 300,000th photo to the group! I created the group 20 years ago to support my Absolute Michigan supersite which was regrettably demolished by the Pure Michigan campaign. Regrets aside, the group remains an incredible place for seeing images from every corner of the Great Lakes State taken by nearly 4000 members (3,930 to be exact). From Alanson to Midland to Zeeland you can find photos of parks, parties, & people enjoying everything Michigan has to offer.
Michigan in Pictures 