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Ring-necked Pheasant: Territorial Crowing
Leonard Weber May 27, 2024 Native to Asia, the Ring-necked Pheasant was introduced into the United States in the late 1800s and became a popular game species in many parts of the country. The male (usually called cock) is distinctive, with a red “face” and a long tail. This is the third straight May that…
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Ruby-throated Hummingbird Nest: Short-lived Excitement
Leonard Weber May 19, 2024 Ruby-throated Hummingbirds nest in Eliza Howell Park, probably every year, but finding a hummingbird nest is not easy and happens rarely. Earlier this month of May, as we were preparing for the next session of the BIRDS NESTING field course, one of my colleagues spotted a female hummingbird in an…
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Red-winged Blackbirds: Now Nesting
Leonard Weber May 12, 2024 The Red-winged Blackbird is a common and well-known bird in southern Michigan that is usually found near water. It arrives annually in Eliza Howell Park in March. It is a short-distance migrant, spending the winter as far north as Ohio. The males arrive first and establish their breeding territories. The…
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Blue-gray Gnatcatcher: Tiny Bird, Fascinating Nest
Leonard Weber May 6, 2024 One of my May bird-watching goals each year in Eliza Howell Park is observing nesting activities of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers. For each of the past 13 years, this goal has been achieved. Two nests in process have already been located in 2024. The Blue-gray Gnatcatcher is a very small bird that…
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Red Admiral: Why So Abundant in April This Year?
Leonard Weber April 28, 2024 Nature is usually predictable in terms of the annual sequence — what animals are visible and active at specific times of the year. Every once in a while, there is something unusual enough to raise the question: “Why is this happening?” This year, there has been an unusually large number…
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Bloodroot: A Spring Ephemeral at Eliza Howell Park
Kathleen Garrett April 20, 2024 Like other woodland spring ephemerals, Bloodroot appears in the woods in early spring, beforethe trees leaf out, and lasts only a couple of weeks, and sometimes less. At Eliza Howell Park, there is a group of Bloodroot in the woods just off the side of the road loop, but there…
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An April Morning Walk: Toads, Trees, Flowers, Birds
Leonard Weber April 15, 2024 It was a warm, sunny mid-April morning today, one of those days when it is evident that spring is progressing rapidly. Mating time for American Toads lasts just a few days. During this time, males call loudly in the meadow pond at any time during the day. This was the…
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Spring Beauty: The Ephemeral Wildflower Season Begins
Leonard Weber April 9, 2024 The early woodland wildflowers are often referred to as “ephemerals” because they bloom for only a short time in early spring. They take advantage of the few weeks before the large trees have leafed out and shaded the forest floor where they live. On April 9 this year, a warm…
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Nesting Mourning Doves: No Insects Needed to Feed Young
Leonard Weber March 31, 2024 It is not unusual that the first (non-raptor) bird species that can be observed nest building in the spring in Eliza Howell Park is the Mourning Dove. Since March 21, I have been checking regularly on one of their nests. We were in the midst of a cold spell when…
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Focus on Tree Buds
Leonard Weber March 26, 2024 The buds have been present at the ends of the tree branches since last fall but have been dormant for months. Now, dormancy has ended and the buds are growing. This is a great time to take a careful look and to note how the buds of different species vary.…
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Eliza Howell Nature Walk 