DUELING WOODPECKERS

In addition to Michigan being home to pileated woodpeckers, the largest woodpecker in North America, we are also home to the downy woodpecker, the smallest woodpecker on the continent. With winter weather taking firm hold, now is the time to watch for both species if...

Cooper’s Hawk: Nature’s air supremacy accipiter!

The F-22 Raptor fighter jet has a powerful array of weaponry for airborne interception as well as having the ability for devastating ground attacks and it’s almost invisible to radar. Speed and stealth are two of its lethal advantages when intercepting a target. The...

Merganser vs Herring Gull

Not with my ducklings, you don’t!   There are no good guys, and there are no bad guys in the world of nature, but there are moments of confusing, rapid-fire drama when species interact. Sometimes those moments occur so rapidly the encounter is best captured by a...

GRAY SQUIRRELS’ Superpower Exposed!

An unexpected encounter back in April while inspecting my screech owl nesting box served as a reminder that assumptions of any kind may be wrong, especially when it comes to less than attentive observations of nature’s way. I had assumed the nest box to be empty since...

False prophets of spring

Groundhog Day, the day we saluted that false prophet of spring’s approach, has passed. At this very moment, unless there is a sudden heatwave, most Michigan groundhogs are still in their burrows. During hibernation, their heartbeat slowed from 80 beats per minute to 5...