The Chickadee and the Apple Tree by Michigan Nut Photography
Some gorgeous springtime pics from John along with a reminder to enjoy it while it’s here! See his latest on Facebook or Instagram and for sure view & purchase his work on his website.
Cherry Blossom Time by Mark Smith
While a lot of cherries in the lower half of the Lower Peninsula have already bloomed, cherry blossoms in Michigan’s Cherry Capital of Northwest Lower Michigan are just getting going!
Mark Smith shared the first picture below with me last Thursday from the western side of the Leelanau Peninsula along with a couple recent pics & several more from years past. Cherry blossoms should be great up there for a few weeks at least – follow Leelanau.com for the latest and for sure check out Mark’s Leelanau Landscapes website to view & purchase his work!
More cherries & cherry blossoms on Michigan in Pictures!
“It is always safe to dream of spring. For it is sure to come; and if it be not just as we have pictured it, it will be infinitely sweeter.” ― L.M. Montgomery
Paul has been a member of the Absolute Michigan group on Flickr for a long time. He shared this incredible photo from May 2024 that makes me long for spring a few weeks ago. He took it in , so in the interests of being seasonally balanced, here’s one of his most popular photos on Flickr from way back in 2013 at the Grand Haven Lighthouse. Head over to his Flickr for lots more!
Grand Haven State Park Lighthouse by paulh192
Woody the Woodchuck by Howell Nature Center
The Howell Nature Center shares: Groundhog Day 2025 is a wrap! Woody has predicted EARLY SPRING! 🌷🪻☀️ Thank you to everyone who came out to help us celebrate with Michigan’s official woodchuck. This was Woody’s 27th prediction, and her accuracy rate is about 65%!
So keep your Punxsutawney Phil forecast of 6 more weeks of winter, I’m going with Michigan’s official groundhog! Last year the Howell Nature Center shared why the event is so meaningful to them, education:
Groundhogs are often villified because of their digging habits, and it is easy to forget about their neat adaptations and their role in the ecosystem. We love sharing information about them to increase understanding, and this event gives Woody the opportunity to serve as an ambassador for her species to help people live in harmony with woodchucks.
DID YOU KNOW…
🐾 Woodchucks dig burrows that can be 50 ft long and include several different chambers for different purposes like raising young, hibernating, and toileting? Other species will even move into abandoned chambers!
🐾 With all that digging, woodchucks help aerate soil and recycle nutrients to increase soil health.
🐾 Woodchucks help disperse seeds, which promotes plant growth and diversity.
🐾 Woodchucks sometimes eat insects, which helps eliminate garden pests like grubs.
🐾 Woodchucks are an important part of the ecosytem and provide food for predators.
🐾 Woodchucks, also known as “whistle pigs”. are one of our only true hibernators in MI.
🐾 Their body temperatures can drop to 40 F and their heart rates to 4 beats per minute during hibernation.
Our wildlife helpline is available to help solve conflict with groundhogs that are living in undesirable places. We have lots of tips and tricks to humanely evict them and encourage them to move to a different location. Trapping and relocating is never a good idea, since it often results in death of groundhogs that are not able to find resources in a new location or of babies that have been orphaned by the removal of their mother.
I hope that you are able to make a donation on their website. Here are some of the injured and orphaned chucks they have cared for in their rehabilitation clinic.
“The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.”
-Albert Einstein
Julie shared this photo back in April of 2021, but I wanted to make sure everybody saw these sweet little fox babies. She has more great photos of these foxes & others having fun on Flickr.
Have a great weekend everyone, and if you have an extra dollar or three & enjoy Michigan in Pictures, consider clicking the Patreon button below to help me reach my current goal, an asiago bacon croissant at Cannelle Detroit! 😋
Dutchman’s breeches by William Dolak
William shared this pic to our Michigan in Pictures Group on Facebook back in April of 2021, writing Dicentra cucullaria, or Dutchman’s breeches, is a perennial herbaceous plant, native to rich woods of eastern North America, with a disjunct population in the Columbia Basin. The common name Dutchman’s breeches derives from their white flowers that look like white breeches.
He is one of the leading participants in the group, sharing great updates from Kalamazoo & southwest Michigan. He has also been featured lots through the years on Michigan in Pictures – check him out and for sure share your photos with us there or to the Michigan in Pictures Facebook (where we just added one of his new pics as the cover!)
As you can see from the photo above, the 2024 Michigan Morel Season is now underway! Every year I try & kick off Michigan morel season by sharing some tips so here goes:
My friend Rick lives in Southwest Michigan and shared this last week. If you’re a fan of cannabis & golf, check out the Cannabis Golfers Association which is getting ready to host the Hazy Holes Classic!
Tigers Win (the Home Opener) by Dave Lorenz
In nearly 30 years of doing Michigan in Pictures, I’ve had a lot of firsts, but this is the first time I’ve shared a photo from the VP of Travel Michigan aka Pure Michigan! Dave has been an absolute champion for Michigan over the years. He was at the Detroit Tigers home opener that they won 5-4 and writes:
It was sunny.
It was cloudy.
It was windy.
It was cold.
It actually…snowed.
The Tiger’s won their ’24 opening home game.
A perfect day.
Agreed & let’s go Tigers!!
Eastern Redbud Blooming in Michigan by Lee Rentz
A Michpics reader shared that the blooming of redbuds was one of her favorite signs of Spring & I heartily agree!
Lee got this shot of Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis) in bloom last week. For sure check out his blog for some great travel stories including a Michigan bear encounter & view and purchase his work on his website.
Cherry Jubilation by Mark Smith
Along with everything else, cherry blossoms exploded across Michigan in the last week or two as warm weather released pent-up energy. Up in northwest lower Michigan where Mark got this shot over the weekend, they are going strong. What are you seeing in your next of the woods?
See his latest including some sweet orchard shots on his Flickr & definitely view and purchase Mark’s work at Leelanau Landscapes!
More blossoms, cherry & otherwise on Michigan in Pictures.
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