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Nature in November: Eliza Howell Park 2022
Leonard Weber November 30, 2022 In Detroit, November marks the transition from Fall to Winter. Now, at the end of November, Eliza Howell Park looks and feels like Winter. Below are a number of photos, all taken during November nature walks in the park this year. Hopefully, they will provide a sense of what can…
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American Bladdernut: From May to November
Though it is the middke of Nivember, It is starting to look and feel a lot like Winter in Eliza Howell Park. One tree species that is more noticeable in Winter, because it retains its seeds, is a small tree known as American Bladdernut. The seed capsules are perhaps the most distinctive aspect of this…
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Pileated Woodpecker: Juvenile Searching for a Territory of its Own?
Today, November 14, 2022, after almost 18 years of nature walks here, I saw a Pileated Woodpecker in Eliza Howell Park for the first time. The Pileated Woodpecker is the largest woodpecker in North America — unless the Ivory-billed Woodpecker still exists somewhere in a southern swamp. It is 16 – 19 inches in length…
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A Walk in the Woods: An Invitation and a Preview
November 17 is National “Take a Hike” Day. This seems like a good occasion to offer a Walk in the Woods in Eliza Howell Park. Our “hike” will be a leisurely nature walk. A mid-November walk provides an opportunity to observe things that often get missed or ignored when the leaves are on the trees.…
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A Frosty Blackberry Morning
On cold sunny mornings in the Fall, I look forward to the first hour in Eliza Howell Park. I try to get there before the frost melts. Recently I have been trying to learn more about Blackberry Knot Galls (where wasp larvae are developing — more on this in a forthcoming post), so today I…
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Red Oaks and White Oaks — and a Halloween Reminder
During the second half of October, my attention is often on tree leaves during my walks in Detroit’s Eliza Howell Park. Recently I collected a leaf each from some of the oak trees that grow in the park and made a small photo collection. Oak leaves rarely have brilliant Fall colors. My attention is, instead,…
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Greenbrier: The Vine and the Red-seeded Fruit
The leaves of most plants in Eliza Howell Park are changing color and falling now that we getting deeper into October. One of the exceptions is Greenbrier, a native vine, uncommon in the park. The leaves will remain green until winter — and many of the stems stay green throughout the winter. Greenbrier chatches my…
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Seasonal Change: October
The arrival of October signals the beginning of Fall in Eliza Howell Park in Detroit. Early in the month, tree leaves are slowly beginning to change color and one can easily anticipate the major transition that will be occurring soon. For years I have been taking a photo from the footbridge over the Rouge River,…
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Monarch Butterflies in September: The Amazing Migration Begins
Each year I tend to pay more careful attention to Monarch Butterflies in September than I do in August or July. I am curious about when I will see the last one of the year and I am fascinated by the very long migration they are undertaking. Those that are present in Eliza Howell Park…
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Banded Argiope: September Spider Watching
On September mornings, as soon as I complete a check of migrating warblers, I walk through the prairie wildflowers looking for spider webs. When there has been rain during the night or the plants are wet with morning dew, the moisture-covered webs are quite visible, especially when one walks toward the sun. My favorite webs…
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Eliza Howell Nature Walk 