Outdoors

The recent “warm” wave afforded a rare opportunity: the sighting of a Massasauga rattlesnake. Smaller than an adult’s length of two feet, it was most likely a juvenile. The blotchy coloration is similar to a young rat snake. However, there was no mistaking the presence of the tiny rattle. The little guy was probably trying to get in one last sunbath before entering his hibernaculum (formerly a crayfish or rodent burrow). If he survives, he will return to this spot year after

As we ease into autumn, the temperatures are dropping, days are getting shorter and nature prepares for winter. Soon we will see the leaves change colors on the trees and fall to the ground. The preparations are most easily observed in our deciduous trees, the ones that lose their leaves each year. What the trees are preparing for is a drought, when groundwater will be unavailable for the roots to absorb because it is frozen. The trees drop leaves which waste the precious wa

As we ease into autumn, the temperatures are dropping, days are getting shorter and nature prepares for winter. Soon we will see the leaves change colors on the trees and fall to the ground. The preparations are most easily observed in our deciduous trees, the ones that lose their leaves each year. What the trees are preparing for is a drought, when groundwater will be unavailable for the roots to absorb because it is frozen. The trees drop leaves which waste the precious wa

Fall is nature’s winter preparation time. The trees are storing food in their roots, the future hibernators are storing food in their fat layers and many herbaceous plants (those without woody stems) are storing food around their seeds. However, this food is not for the seeds; it is intended for animals.

Gesundeit!! And pass the tissues, please. Late summer allergy season is in full bloom (pun intended). Plant allergies are caused when the body overreacts to the presence of pollen in the nasal cavity. So how does the pollen get in the nose? You inhale it, of course. So how does the pollen get in the air? Plants release it. However, not all plants release their pollen into the air… only the wind-pollinated plants spread their pollen far and wide.

The best sinks to wash dishes in are ones with windows close by. This week I observed two northern flickers for about ten minutes foraging on the ground around an old stump and a grassy area while scrubbing plates.

Nature’s summer concert series now features the songs of the cicadas. Everyone is familiar with the incessant buzzing that, at times, can drown out conversations. In the natural world, it seems that the boys make the majority of the noise and so it is with cicadas. The male vibrates a membrane over hollow segments in his thorax to produce the sound, which then echoes in his mostly empty abdomen.

What looked like tiny pieces of a black and white shag rug covered the Butterfly House door. The caterpillars of a milkweed tussock moth had just finished another molt and were in search of more milkweed.

The prairie is a great place to observe insects in July. One group of bugs easily seen on prairie flowers but not commonly identified is long-horned beetles, in the family cerambycidae. These small to large, sturdy-looking beetles have long antennae, usually over half the length of their bodies, and distinct markings, allowing for easy identification.

The wetland floral show continues with the swamp rose. It is the only native rose to grow in wetlands. Swamp rose is the last of the rose species to bloom each year, perhaps because of the relatively cooler microclimate of the wetlands.

Through the culmination of 30 years of hard work from many partners, the day finally came last week to release a group of captive-reared Mitchell’s Satyr Butterflies in Sarett’s fen habitat!

The aerobatic display of a hunting bat is another of the many summer wonders. Every schoolchild knows that bats hunt by echolocation of their prey.

June is the month to see the evidence of spittlebugs. Children are most likely to notice these creatures as the perching spots are at a child’s eye level. They may ask why somebody spit on the plants as they view a tiny pile of bubbles. Spittlebugs are the nymph stage of an insect that looks like a leafhopper as an adult. They hang onto a plant, usually a tall grass, upside down and feed on the plant’s sap. Extra sap, which is excreted through the abdomen, drips over tiny h

I knew it was possible, but it’s quite surprising to see a woodchuck in a sassafras tree next to the building. He stood up on his hind legs to bend down a branch. When he finished munching those leaves, he moved to another part before returning to forage on the ground.

The developing green frog chorus at Sarett is being enhanced by another voice. The gray treefrog breeds from now into the summer. The males are advertising from the shrubs or trees where they usually “hang out.” The call is a short, melodic trill that can be confused with a bird or insect call. Usually they call in the evenings, but an overcast day can lead to a daytime concert. The frogs will continue to call after the breeding season ends especially during humid or rainy we

It’s May… time for the mayapples to bloom. Known as the umbrella plant by our students, the mayapple grows in moist, rich soil in shadier areas. In its first year of growth, it has a single leaf. This leaf is divided into sections so it looks like several leaves growing on one stalk. During the second growth year, two leaves emerge with a single flower bud hanging beneath them.

Published February 27, 1964

Spring means the arrival of many migratory birds and one species that can be seen while driving around or hiking locally is the eastern meadowlark. The robin-sized species can commonly be found singing from fence posts and powerlines in pastures, grasslands and agricultural areas from mid-March to mid-November.

The bright white flowers of large-flowered trillium are currently brightening the hillsides of mature forests in southwest Michigan. The most common of ten species in Michigan, large-flowered trillium, also called white or common trillium or trillium grandiflorum, is a wildflower that grows 7 – 16 inches high and will spend about six or more years producing one to three leaf forms before flowering for the first time. The white flowers typically last for two weeks before fad

Tree buds demonstrate that nature is not a procrastinator. Last summer, when the tree completed its growth for that year, it started preparing for the following year by producing new leaves and flowers. Because these leaves and flowers wouldn’t be needed until spring, they were tightly folded and specialized scales grew over them.