Not too much to report on. Between work and teaching there just isn’t the time for the fun stuff. Which is kind of a shame since we are heading into fall to be quickly followed by winter.
Migration is in full swing. The Detroit River hawk watch reported over 14,000 broad-winged hawks just for today and over 55,000 for the month. Our neighbor had a bird kill itself hitting his window. He asked Lise to ID it and it turned out to be a gray-cheeked thrush. Which neither of us have for the year. Unfortunately you are only supposed to count birds you see alive. No amount of CPR was going to help this one and we still don’t have a gray-cheeked thrush.
Colors are turning and fall plants are coming into their own. Lise’s New England aster is blooming in its full purple glory. We had a migrating monarch butterfly spend a good hour nectaring in the patch. It’s kind of nice when you get some colors opposite each other on the color wheel together. In your own yard no less.
Monarch butterfly on New England aster.
Monarch butterfly on New England aster.
We did get out a little this week. Lise has a project at the Pierce Cedar Creek Institute. This is a private foundation, endowed to do environmental research and education. They have 650 acres of various habitat types, including prairie fens and some fragments older forests. Molly and I helped with Massasauga rattlesnake surveys there the past couple years. Lise and I spent beautiful a day at there, scoping out the place for her project. Lovely way to spend a near fall day. And for a bonus, we did a leisurely kayak trip down the Grand River with Molly and Mitchell. Lovely way to spend a near fall Sunday afternoon.
Cedar Creek.
Pierce Cedar Creek prairie.
Pierce Cedar Creek wetlands.
Lise and some stately oaks on at Pierce Cedar Creek.
Molly and Mitchell.
Molly and Mitchell with Lise in the background.
Ed's and Lise's Biggish Years 