I was inspired this year to to save a few Monarch Butterflies, partially because they got in the way of a project (See the previous post). It’s surprising how something as minuscule as a butterfly egg can change a persons plans. After watching where the Monarchs laid eggs and checking back on them occasionally I…
I had a garden project in mind a few days ago. We have a fenced-in veggie garden and one area has remained incomplete for years. It needed some work done that required the back blade on my garden tractor. There is only one gate large enough to allow the tractor into the garden if I…
I enjoy finding animal sign. I have a very long “unimproved” driveway through the woods which gives me the opportunity to determine who has been out-and-about during the night and sometimes what they’ve been up to. I frequent a large, remote area north of us where I often have a trail camera set up and have…
People often tell me that they enjoy seeing my photography and I appreciate the comments. Not to get more flattery but to thank those who tune in to my website, watershedwildlife.com and blog occasionally, I created a video slide show by pulling images out of the archives that were taken in the vicinity of the…
A fox looking for a midnight snack. It’s probably a mouse or shrew. It’s difficult to see but the potential meal gets away. It is just a small blur in the IR illumination. Full screen helps. It’s not easy being a predator.
I recently got a little more “footage” of the Barrier Dune Sanctuary and combined it with video I took in 2015 for a fund drive to save the dunes from development. (More about that at the end of the video). With the success of the fund drive this year the previous version is now obsolete, It is…
We live on a small creek (crick, stream,,,?) surrounded on our side by a swampy area with areas of standing water, yet we rarely have a bloom of mosquitoes to come close to what some suburban areas have. The creek is in a gully that to my knowledge hasn’t been invaded by lawns up stream.…
I don’t go down the hill to our creek every day, or every week for that matter, but in the spring it seems like it undergoes a complete transformation overnight. The plants and the cinnamon ferns in particular appear over a relatively short period and I thought I’d try to catch them developing this year…
Perhaps it’s getting crowded on the other side of Lake Michigan or maybe it is easier migrating here on the eastern side, I don’t know but I’m seeing an increasing number of Pelicans on White Lake. I photographed a group of eleven near Mill Point on May fourth. I certainly don’t see everything that happens on White…
Tuesday I got a call from another conservation minded friend who had seen what appeared to be a non-Mute Swan on our lake. He indicated that it was large and had a black bill. Tundra swans have visited the lake in large numbers but I had yet to see a Trumpeter swan here. He had a…
Since early December of 2015 I’ve been involved in an effort to document the presence of flying squirrels here in northern Muskegon County, Michigan. I have a bucket list of critters I’d like to catch on my trail cameras before they die, (the cameras, not the critters) and have recently expanded the area of my efforts…
I’m excited to report that the fund drive to save the White River Barrier Dune Sanctuary has been successful! The $970k has been raised and the deal will be complete this spring to purchase the privately owned parcel to protect what will now become a 14 acre site from thoughtless development. The barrier dunes are located…
