It has been just under a year since The Highlands, a partnership project with Blandford Nature Center, was turned toward a new future as a natural area. Already the landscape has experienced some significant changes. The manicured greens, fairways, and tee boxes that could be...
The following post is from Preserved! artist Justin Kellner. You can see more of his work at justinkellner.com. Learn more about the Preserved! art program here. My intention going into Preserved! this year was to focus exclusively on the Prairie Warbler, a species with niche habitat requirements...
The following post is from Preserved! artist Kathy Mohl. The post was originally posted at https://kathymohl.com/blog where you can see more of her work. Learn more about the Preserved! art program and purchase tickets to the Grand Rapids gallery opening here. The first step of plein air painting is...
If you’re lucky enough, you’ve seen Virginia snakeroot in bloom. If you’re like me, you almost passed it by. You may have bent down to part the goldenrod and geranium to find the little nondescript plant there on the ground, its curvy tubular flower hidden beneath...
The following post is from guest blogger Jill Henemyer. Jill is an avid birder and long time member and volunteer for the Land Conservancy of West Michigan. *** Here in West Michigan we are privileged to live next to the Lake Michigan shoreline, an important link along...
Early Emergent Recently I was on the banks of the Pere Marquette River and noticed a familiar plant crawling from the earth – skunk cabbage. It’s one of the early risers from the banks of rivers and wetlands in West Michigan and beyond. The plant actually...
This morning I stopped by Saul Lake Bog Nature Preserve to prep for some upcoming fieldwork (we’re restoring more than 7 acres of prairie and savanna this year). As I stepped out of the truck, a primordial squawk from just overhead led me to pick...
In the game “Six Degrees of Separation” players are challenged to find the links between two seemingly unrelated people or things with the fewest steps possible. [caption id="attachment_5140" align="alignright" width="225"] A piping plover at the mouth of the Kalamazoo River. (Photo credit: Rick Brigham)[/caption] In west Michigan,...
[caption id="attachment_5109" align="alignright" width="200"] Barred Owl (Source: www.outdoor-michigan.com)[/caption] “Who cooks for you?” This was the sound I heard last week when I was out in my backyard. (It was somewhat ironic since I was grilling at the time!) The question was actually coming from a Barred Owl. Of...
[caption id="attachment_5024" align="alignright" width="300"] Jim Mogen / U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service[/caption] Have you ever heard of the Arctic Grayling? Before the abundance of brown trout and steelhead in Michigan’s rivers, this fish with the large dorsal fin is the one that anglers dreamt about. And it’s...