The January 2010 issue of The Auk published my review of the Atlas of Breeding Birds of Ontario, 2001-2005. It’s a fine book. It may be a little heavy for some readers–it weighs more than seven pounds.
The next (April) issue of The Auk published a Letter to the Editor that made reference to the review. [...]
Last week I finished my annual American columbo census. Every year in June, I check up on a marked population of American columbo (Frasera caroliniensis) plants in the oak woods near where my wife and I live in Oshtemo Township. Here in southwest Michigan, columbo was an oak savanna plant. I suspect that today this [...]
A Yellow-headed Blackbird, a rare bird in Michigan, was seen near the end of April at Wolf Lake Fish Hatchery. The Fish Hatchery is west of Kalamazoo, a few miles over the Kalamazoo-Van Buren County line. The bird was first reported on 30 April. I drove out Sunday morning, 2 May, to try to get [...]
Saturday 24 April I’m leading a field trip to the Big Island Woods, also referred to as Cooper’s Island. It’s a trip for the Kalamazoo Wild Ones chapter.
“Big Island Woods” refers to an “island” of forest in the middle of Prairie Ronde, southwest Michigan’s largest mesic (tall-grass) prairie. The village of Schoolcraft was founded just [...]
Spring began in southwest Michigan in the past few days. One sign has been the Sandhill Cranes overhead, giving their loud rattle. They could be on their way north or they could be local birds; several pairs now nest in Kalamazoo County.
Because snow cover was so continuous, and thick, some birds that are usually here [...]
Katy and I just returned from two weeks in Costa Rica. As part of an Elderhostel–though the program is now called Exploritas–we visited five sites ranging from mangrove forest along the Pacific Coast to the rather chaparral-like vegetation called paramo around 11,000 feet above sea level on Cerro de la Muerte. Included were visits to [...]
The following is approximately what I said in my brief remarks at the Save the Colony Farm Orchard Rally last Tuesday night, 8 December 2009. I have, however, expanded on my thoughts under point 3, adding a consideration of conservation easements.
We need to recognize three aspects to the conservation value of this piece of land. [...]
As we all know, HB 5207 put forth by Representative Bob Jones (D–Kalamazoo) is designed to strip the conservation/public use restrictions from the Colony Farm Orchard as a first step in turning the 54 acres into an Annex to Western Michigan University’s BTR Park. Here are the stated restrictions: “The conveyance shall provide that Western [...]
Mid-morning I looked out the window and saw a small bird in the shrubs, moving about pretty actively. It was an American Redstart, not in the black and orange adult male plumage, but rather the olive-backed, gray-headed plumage with yellow wing and tail patches that at this time of year could be a female or [...]
From statements by Western Michigan University’s PR guy, we know what WMU thinks the Colony Farm Orchard is good for–expansion of the University’s business park.
The motivation for such an action is unclear, as are the need for it and what the expansion would involve. But none of these needs to concern us here. We want [...]
