Goby by swatzo

Last year the National Park Service produced a series of short documentaries exploring invasive species in the Great Lakes. The series was funded by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative showing how invaders are changing the ecosystems in national parks and what’s being done to stop them.

All four of them are available through the Great Lakes Echo. Part 1: Aquatic Invasives is below and it explores how zebra mussel, quagga mussel, round goby and other invasive species are creating havoc in Lake Michigan, causing the food web to tilt out of balance. People can help, clean drain and dry all boating and fishing gear to stop aquatic hitch hikers. here's Part 2: Invasive Plants in our Parks, Part 3: Spotted Knapweed, and Part 4: Emerald Ash Borer!

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at Mackinac :: a composite from -3 and -43 by Emery Co Photo

Sea Monster of the Straits

The authorities tried hard to convince the public what they saw were only giant catfish, but even the oldest, orneriest cats would be hard-pressed to attain a length of forty-five feet! The owner of a resort along the Cheboygan lakefront reported seeing something of just that size, and two of them, frolicking in the Mackinac Straits on Lake Huron in front of his property, about 600 feet from shore, according to an article in the June 25, 1976 Grand Rapids Press. The day after the resort owner called authorities about it, Cheboygan County Sheriff Stanley McKervey stopped by to have a look for himself. To his surprise, he also was able to observe one of the creatures. "I went down to the beach, and sure enough, I'm looking at something 20, maybe 30 feet long, swimming just below the surface," he said in the article. "I was amazed. I didn't know what it was, but it sure wasn't a publicity stunt."

The sheriff continued watching the creature through binoculars. It only rose about an inch above water level, he said, but any disturbance on shore would cause it to dive deeper again. And that's exactly what happened when the sheriff ordered a couple of deputies to surveil the thing in a canoe. It was gone long before the pair got there. Unfortunately, rough water conditions set in the next few days and no one could go out for another look. It wasn't observed again, and other experts theorized that perhaps it was a giant eel or carp. But neither of those sound like what the sheriff and the resort owner saw!

Lake Leelanau Monster

The story of an early 20th Century sea monster sighting was sent to The Shadowlands Web site by a reader whose great-grandfather was the witness. The boy was fishing for perch one day in 1910 in the shallows of Lake Leelanau in Leelanau County. The lake had been dammed in the late 1800's to provide water power for the local mill and to enable logging. The dam also flooded much surrounding area, turning it into swamps and bogs punctuated by dead, standing trees.

On that particular day, the young great-grandfather, William Gauthier, rowed out to a new fishing spot near the town of Lake Leelanau. Looking for good perch habitat, he paddled up close to a tree that he estimated to stand about five feet tall above the water, with a six-inch trunk. He was in about seven feet of water, and after deciding this would be a good place to stop and cast a line, began tying the boat to the tree.

That's when young William discovered the tree had eyes. They were staring him dead in the face at about four feet above water level. The boy and serpent exchanged a long gaze, then the creature went, "Bloop" into the water. Gauthier said later that the creature's head passed one end of the boat while the tail was still at the other end, though it was undulating very quickly through the water. The writer noted that Gauthier always admitted to having been thoroughly frightened by his encounter, and that the event caused him to stay off that lake for many years.

The writer added that his great-grandfather came from a prominent area family and was very well-educated, and that he knew others who would admit privately but not publicly that they, too, had seen the creature. No sightings have been reported in recent times, but who knows how many people have believed they were passing by a rotting old cedar when in fact they had just grazed the Leelanau lake monster?

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The Rouge River is an urban river, and its urban character is nowhere better reflected than in its last few miles, after it passes through the campus of the University of Michigan-Dearborn and the Henry Ford Estate. As it approaches Michigan Avenue all sense of riverness ends: this is where the Rouge gets harnessed into its concrete straitjacket, and it remains shackled down to where it empties into the Detroit River.

The channel was built in the mid-1970s by the Army Corps of Engineers for flood control.

Click through for her photos & tour of the river bank and also for photos of the construction of the channel like the one attached from Wayne State University’s Virtual Motor City project. If you're interested in the preservation efforts on the river, check out Friends of the Rouge River.

Here's a neat video of a kayak tour of the Rouge and also a map.

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ABSOLUTE MICHIGAN: What prompted you to do this?

LOREEN NIEWENHUIS: I've always felt connected to Lake Michigan.   It has always been the place where I relax, walk, and recenter myself.   When I turned 45, I wanted to take on something large, something that would challenge me on many levels.   So, I pulled out my maps of Lake Michigan and plotted a 1000-mile route around it.

ABSOLUTE MICHIGAN: What was your favorite stretch of Michigan beach?

LOREEN NIEWENHUIS: I fell in love with the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and Leelanau Peninsula all over again.   The natural beauty is amazing, the towns are very connected to the lake along this stretch, and there are several excellent independent bookstores along the way.

You can read what Loreen has to say about the Sleeping Bear Dunes Lakeshore on her blog, and here's a brief excerpt from the book.

Bobcat, dead deer, and cougars, OH MY!

North of Portage Lake, it soon gets rather remote and the shoreline becomes rugged with high, wooded dunes flanking me to my right, with the expanse of calm lake to my left. There are miles without any signs of civilization, and I pass curious tracks along a small stream that look like a bobcat made them. Not a mile from the stream, a severed foreleg of a deer rests, bloody, on the shore.

A bobcat couldn't take down a full-sized deer. To forestall the obvious conclusion that something even larger had killed it, I think up a "Clumsy Deer Scenario" where the deer trips, conks its head on a rock, and is eaten by the bobcat.

Oh, clumsy, clumsy deer!

Then I think about all the times that I have stumbled on the trek so far, over icy rocks, through roots grabbing at my feet, over piles of driftwood. I begin to feel little ravenous cat eyes on me, waiting for me to blunder, stumble, and conk my head. At home, I have a 15-pound housecat who has some rather feral moments, so I am sure I can fend off a bobcat – as long as I have my walking stick and my wits about me.

To allay my fears, though, I yell, "Venison is DELICIOUS!"

There are wild cats bigger than bobcats in Michigan: cougars. And I don't mean the Demi Moore type. These big carnivores – over 100 pounds – have been seen all over the state. Cougars are genetically programmed to jump on the back of their prey and clamp their jaws on the neck, working their incisors between the vertebrae to sever the spinal cord so their prey will stop struggling. Then: dinnertime.

My main consolation was that I'd probably not see a cougar come at me. It would be over before I had time to say, "Venison is DELICIOUS!" I hope that my larger pack would protect me, or somehow make me seem less of an option for a cougar dinner.

Or, maybe, the cougar would knock me over, pack and all, but I'd have time to pull out my pepper spray and spray the cat and not myself. And I wished for a big cat that did not think pepper spray would make me taste even more delicious.

Visit Loreen's website A 1,000-Mile Walk on the Beach for more including photos, excerpts, book signings and ordering information.

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This Chicago Tribune feature Lake invaders may be killing birds comes to us by way of The Chicagoist. It posits that the interactions of two invasive species are behind this year's record avian die-off numbers:

Zebra mussels and quagga mussels filter naturally occurring botulism and other toxins from the water. Round gobies, another problematic invasive species, eat the mussels, and birds, in turn, eat the gobies.

"The evidence is there to suggest this is happening, but it's circumstantial evidence because we haven't found any proof of it," said Tom Cooley, a biologist at the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. "All we can really do at this point is to continue to monitor what's happening and maybe something in the lakes will turn around."

Michigan's DNR and the Common Coast Research & Conservation are among the organizations, including the USGS and the National Wildlife Health Center, studying the deadly phenomena that this year is expected to kill as many or more birds than died in the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico last summer.

Scientists don't know how long botulism or similar toxins have been killing birds in the Great Lakes, but the first sizable counting came in 1999, when researchers recorded 311 birds off the shores of Lake Erie. The following year, they found 8,000 around the Great Lakes and the death counts have remained in the thousands every year since.

Thanks to for the tip! Speaking of the Chicagoist, earlier this summer they reported that there are now an estimated 4 quadrillion quagga mussels in Lake Michigan alone, more that the number of fish in all the world's seas! Here's a video of round gobies feeding on invasive zebra mussels in Lake Michigan.

Photo credit: Round Goby from Wikimedia Commons.

Photo credit: Round Goby from Wikimedia Commons.

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Long tailed duck from george desort on Vimeo.

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Black cats are everywhere this time of year as Michiganians start festooning their lawns with Halloween decorations. No respectable witch would be seen without her yowling companion. But parts of Michigan were seeing a different kind of black cat – one weighing over 100 pounds and with fangs like ivory daggers – starting around the mid-1950s.

The Gogomain Swamp south of Sault Ste. Marie – also known as the Forest of Doom – was where the ebon-furred creature started clawing its way into the Wolverine State's consciousness. The first report of a phantom-like, black great cat came from nearby Munuscong Bay in 1954.

In 1972, a deer hunter heard the sounds of a large animal kill in the woods near his camp; when he dared to go look three hours later, all the remained was the head and antlers of a ten-point buck. The mystery cat was blamed.

In 1984, citizens of Manchester near Ann Arbor saw a great black feline prowling around their homes, and in 1986, the black cat was believed to have ripped the throat out of a palomino horse in its pasture near Milford. Police saw and confirmed that it was a panther-sized black cat and tried to shoot it twice but missed. The owner of the palomino also got a shot off at a large black cat a year later. In 1990 a Muskegon area family saw the creature several times.

Since biologists claim the big cats native to North America known variously as cougars, panthers or mountain lions, are not likely to be black, the official opinion nationwide is that any loose, large black cat must be a South American jaguar or black Asian/African leopard, probably imported illegally. Some may be escapees of animal shows or preserves, but no one really knows where they come from. Perhaps they originate from the same place as their canine counterpart, the Michigan Dogman. And while a few have suggested that large black felines are actually phantoms from some other realm, the owner of that palomino would probably not agree.

Read the entire story in Weird Michigan, Your Travel Guide to Michigan's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets by Linda S. Godfrey.

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Zebra mussels by PhotoLab507

All week on Absolute Michigan & Michigan in Pictures we're looking at invasive species and their impact on Michigan. Zebra mussels and the more recent invader quagga mussels belong to the dreissenid mussel family and many contend that they have had a more serious impact on the Great Lakes than any other invader. Via an excellent feature in the Grand Rapids Press,   Zebra mussels' damage make them the worst of all Great Lakes exotic species, scientists say:

"In terms of the whole food web, I don't think there's any question that zebra and quagga mussels have had the largest impact on the biological communities of the Great Lakes," said Tom Nalepa, a research biologist at the federal government's Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor.

Sea lamprey only affected fish at the top of the food chain. Zebra and quagga mussels have caused profound changes at all levels of the food chain in every Great Lake except Superior, Nalepa said.

Zebra Mussel Shell by mybunnyrexie

These small but potent invaders have clogged water intakes at power plants and water treatment facilities (adding $2 billion to annual costs), decimated algae and other plankton including nearly 100% of diporeia in some areas, severely impacted prey fish fish populations and those of the predatory fish like whitefish, trout and salmon, created conditions for toxic algae blooms that have fouled beaches, killed fish and more than 70,000 fish-eating birds, including bald eagles and common loons. In short, they have come into the Great Lakes and hundreds of our lakes & rivers and radically changed them.

Now quagga mussels are supplanting zebra mussels and - like Wicked Witches - the second one is even worse than the first. The Christian Science Monitor ran a feature the other day with the dire headline Lake Michigan's ecosystem facing collapse that says that the mussels are consuming phytoplankton at a rate that's five to seven times greater than it is being produced.

While there's no way to put the zebra/quagga genie back in the bottle, we can slow their advance by following some simple steps when we move boats from lake to lake. In closing, here's an excellent video feature, Quagga & Zebra Mussels - What are they and where did they come from?, that was produced to make people in the west aware of the threat:

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66lbs asian big head carp by radcarper

It's Invasive Species Week on Absolute Michigan & Michigan in Pictures. For our first invader, we really have to look at the scariest guy in the room, Asian Carp. The Great Lakes EPA has a page on Asian Carp and the Great Lakes that's a solid account of how two species of carp, bighead and silver, were imported by catfish farmers in the 70s to remove algae from their ponds. Floods in the early 90s caused many catfish farm ponds to overflow, and the Asian carp were released into local waterways in the Mississippi River basin. Since then, they've moved up the Mississippi, becoming the dominant species in some areas of the River. (photos below via Life in Small Bites - more at that link!)

All that has stood between the carp horde and Lake Michigan has been the electric barriers in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal that connects the Mississippi by way of the Illinois River to the Great Lakes. If they get through? The picture is bleak:

Asian Carp are a significant threat to the Great Lakes because they are large, extremely prolific, and consume vast amounts of food. They can weigh up to 100 pounds, and can grow to a length of more than four feet. They are well-suited to the climate of the Great Lakes region, which is similar to their native Asian habitats.

Researchers expect that Asian carp would disrupt the food chain that supports the native fish of the Great Lakes. Due to their large size, ravenous appetites, and rapid rate of reproduction, these fish could pose a significant risk to the Great Lakes Ecosystem.

The Christian Science Monitor (where you can find a great account of how one fish could ruin the Great Lakes) reported that Asian carp may have made it through the barrier to Lake Calumet, but chemical markings suggest that it might have been planted. Whatever the case, these fish are basically the death warrant for the Great Lakes as we know them. Henry Henderson, director of the Midwest chapter of the Natural Resources Defense Council states it simply:

"Asian carp are like cockroaches: When you see one, you know it's accompanied by many more you don't see. Now we can stop arguing about whether the fish are in Chicago's canals and start moving as quickly as possible toward permanently separating the Great Lakes [from the Mississippi River]. We just cannot wait five to seven years for the Army Corps of Engineers to complete its own studies before deciding to solve this problem."

This is exactly what appears to be happening though. The former director of the Indiana DNR John Goss was finally appointed Asian Carp Czar last week, years after the threat became urgent. The Great Lakes fishery is worth billions, and that's just the tip of an iceberg that includes everyone who enjoys boating in the lakes (see AG Mike Cox's brief), unless the video below looks fun to you.

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Untitled by flatgraphic

In the late 19th century, an interloper was committing thievery across Michigan.

Glimpsed now here, now there, the miscreant evaded capture, flitting away. Finally in the late 1880s the state responded to residents' outrage and levied a bounty on the culprit's head.

Its tiny, fluffy head: the offender was the English or house sparrow.

“This detestable bird is an imported resident,” said Charles Chapman in his 1881 “History of Washtenaw County.” The English sparrow had been introduced in Brooklyn in 1852 in the hope that it would eat harmful insects. It quickly spread across the continent. Wikipedia notes that today it is the world's most widely distributed wild bird.

Chapman continued: “A few pair first made their appearance here in 1873; the streets of Ann Arbor are now overrun with them, and they are gradually making their way to the country. Wherever they locate they drive out the martin, blue-bird, swallows … They are a seed-eating bird, and in portions of Europe do great damage to the crops of the farmer.”

Read on at the Ann Arbor Chronicle!

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heinrick05 (heinrick ingenson) writes:

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The first-ever Traverse Colantha Walker Dairy Festival takes place on the grounds of The Village at Grand Traverse Commons on Sunday, June 13th. Why a festival for a cow, and why this cow? It seems that Traverse Colantha Walker was not your ordinary heifer.

Some Cow: The Story of Traverse Colantha Walker

Of the 96 Holstein-Friesian cows that comprised the former Traverse City State Hospital's herd, Colantha was by far the most prolific. In 1926, she produced 22,918 pounds of milk in a single year, making her the highest producer in the world! In her lifetime, from 1916 to 1932, her total production was 200,114.9 pounds of milk. According to a Federal census during that same year, Michigan's average production was 3,918 lbs. of milk per cow per year!

Colantha was so revered by hospital staff and patients that upon her death in 1932, a banquet was held in her honor, and a beautifully carved memorial stone was placed at her gravesite near the south end of the Commons property.

The First Annual Traverse Colantha Walker Dairy Festival will celebrate Colantha's historic accomplishments along with the preservation and urban renewal of The Village at Grand Traverse Commons, a Traverse City landmark. This Village-wide, family-festive, day-long festivity features a Pancake Breakfast, Farmers Market, Great Grilled Cheese Grill-off, food, art & merchandise vendors, a public parade to Colantha's Headstone at the Barns, live music featuring Sister Wilene all day and a Street Dance from 5-7 PM. There will also be Food Demonstrations, Wagon Rides, Kid's Activities, Wine & Cheese Pairings along with Milk & Cookie Pairings for the kids, thoughout the day!

Also check out Michigan milk, dairy & cheese links on Absolute Michigan!

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Struttin' by Terry Doyle

The Pere Marquette Chapter of the Michigan Wild Turkey Hunters Association will host the 29th Annual Wild Turkey Hunters Rendezvous and State Calling Championships on Saturday, March 27, 2010 at Baldwin High School (map). The doors open at 8 AM and the program begins at 9 with $5 for adults and children 16 and under free. In addition to the Calling Championships, there will be vendor exhibits, raffles & door prizes and calling and hunting clinics.

These turkeys were captured by Terry last week. You can see more wild turkeys in the Absolute Michigan pool and learn more about these game birds which were hunted out of Michigan by 1900 at the link above or from the Michigan DNR's Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) page.

I'm guessing that this guy won't be at the medal podium, but you never know...

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Yes, I'm a toad with a bug on
my nose by firechicktick

Yesterday on Michigan in Pictures, I featured the Northern Green Frog (Rana clamitans). A scant hour later, I got an email from Laura Bien of the Ann Arbor Chronicle letting me know about her article, In the Archives: The Toad Survey of 1910. Her piece is a delightful ramble through the history and present day of frogs & toads in Ypsilanti. In addition to the survey of 1910, she looks at Michigan's 13 species of anuran (frogs & toads) including:

...Blanchard's Cricket Frog (whose name) honors University of Michigan herpetologist and zoology professor Frank Nelson Blanchard, a onetime student of Museum of Natural History director Alexander Ruthven, who also served as UM president from 1929 to 1951.

Regarded in his time as the nation's leading snake expert, Blanchard identified several new species – and named one for Ruthven, the king snake Lampropeltis ruthveni. After one collecting trip that netted 457 snakes from Lake Michigan's Hog Island, near the tip of the lower peninsula, a colleague dubbed Blanchard “The St. Patrick of Hog Island.”

Blanchard died in 1937. He did not name his own frog; naturalist Francis Harper did that when identifying it a decade later. Presumably the naming was a tribute, though the criteria Harper listed as identifiers of the animal included a warty head, a fat snout, and a bulky, mottled underbelly.

Blanchard's Frog is currently a “species of concern” in Michigan, and the state is especially interested in survey volunteers' reports of its cricket-like call.

You can learn more about Frank Nelson Blanchard on Wikipedia, explore Michigan's Frogs & Toads at the Michigan DNR and help out with the Michigan Frog & Toad Survey!

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Daryl says that he took this photo in a marshy part of Lake Erie in Monroe County. You can see it and a few other shots on his map and check it out larger in his Colorful Skies slideshow.

His other sets include Barns and Outbuildings and Autumn.

Check out his Flickriver.

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Conservationists and government biologists, stunned by new indications of the advance of Asian carp toward Lake Michigan, are trading ideas for poisoning Chicago-area rivers, conducting emergency electrofishing or chemically neutering the wily fish.

On Friday, sophisticated genetic testing near Chicago found evidence of the carp within 7 miles of Lake Michigan after apparently leaping an electrical barrier once called the last line of defense for the Great Lakes.

The prospect of the voracious, prolific Asian carp reaching the Great Lakes -- a fragile ecosystem reeling from other invasive species -- has been the greatest fear of the lakes coalition.

Tests for Asian carp DNA have been conducted since August. The findings, available only in recent days, indicate that the pernicious plankton eaters are only one lock and dam away from the Great Lakes, said Army Corps of Engineers Maj. Gen. John W. Peabody, commander of the corps' Great Lakes and Ohio River Division.

NPR adds that Asian Carp in the Great Lakes would threaten the existence of the multi-billion dollar sports fishing business:

The carp grow to large sizes (50-110 lbs.) and quickly become some of the most abundant fish captured from an area, possibly out competing native species for food or habitat resources. They have become so abundant in the Missouri River that there have been reports of commercial fishermen abandoning fishing sites due to the large catch of Asian carp.

Learn more about the Asian Carp from the US Fish & Wildlife Service and also see this video:

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The Michigan Wildlife Conservancy has released results of an investigation that appears to validate a cougar presence in Michigan. The apparent cougar was photographed near the south shore of Glen Lake in Leelanau County:

On Labor Day, September 7, 2009 Dr. Jerome Wiater and his adult son, Christian, observed what they believed to be a cougar (mountain lion) at about 3:30 p.m. on a clear, sunny day. The sighting was along County Road 675 near its intersection with County Road 616. Dr. Wiater, an orthopedic surgeon (MD) residing in Bingham Farms, Michigan, was walking to Glen Lake with a camera in hand, planning to water ski. He and Christian (who was nearby) were startled to see a large, long-tailed cat they believed was about the size of a big dog. Dr. Wiater snapped two photos of the animal—one when it was in shade and the other when the animal was walking in a shallow roadside depression through a more sunny spot approximately 209 feet away.

The site is adjacent to the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore where the National Park Service has had “cougar warning” signs at its trailheads since fall of 2003. Dr. Patrick Rusz, director of wildlife programs for the Wildlife Conservancy, took measurements and photos of objects of known size at the site and analyzed the photos in consultation with forensic photography experts. His conclusion is that the animal had the profile (llikely more than 30 inches long) and coloration of a cougar and was too large to be a house cat.

"Both Jerome and Christian Wiater stated that the animal they observed was about the same size as their pet hound," noted Dr. Rusz. "Based on my analysis, it may have been slightly smaller than the dog, but was definitely the size of a small cougar. The Wiater photos, along with decades of sighting reports and tracks found in the same general area during the past 9 years, provide compelling evidence of the presence of cougars in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore area."

Click the photo above to see it bigger or head over to Flickr. You can also see Rusz's full report and see the larger photos at the Michigan Wildlife Conservancy and read more about Michigan cougars at Absolute Michigan.

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So we present to you:

Be A Tourist In Your Own Town brought to you by the fine folks at the Greater Lansing Convention and Visitors Bureau. Consider organizing one in your area!

About Be A Tourist In Your Own Town

Fifteen years ago, the Greater Lansing Convention and Visitors Bureau created this event to increase community awareness of it's attractions and the tourism industry's impact on the area. So once again the doors are open for you to explore culture and creativity in mid-Michigan.

As Lansing celebrates its 150th anniversary, take this opportunity to enjoy attractions that highlight both Lansing's unique history as well as its innovative and progressive future. This year they have included old favorites such as Impression 5 Science Center, Potter Park Zoo and the Michigan Historical Museum, and added new hot spots like the FRAG Center, MSU's Breslin Center, WKAR Studios and taste the new “Capital City Sundae” ice cream flavor at the MSU Dairy Store. You can view a complete list of the participating places to go and things right here.

How it Works:

For only $1 you can purchase a “passport” which allows you FREE admission to more than 60 area attractions, local businesses, and special activities on May 30, 2009 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. **Ages 3 and under do not require a passport. Get from place to place with CATA. For only 50 cents you will receive a stamp which will allow you to ride the Be A Tourist routes for the rest of the day for no extra charge.

Check out a slideshow of the Lansing area from the Absolute Michigan Flickr pool!

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The photo featured today shows a cluster of nests at a Michigan heronry and was shot by Sentrawoods.

Sentrawoods. adds:

This location was shown to me by my local flickr friend gerrybuckel. If you enlarge this you'll see seven maybe eight heron's nesting. I plan on getting much closer in the days to come.

The Department of Natural Resources tells us:

Sometimes confused with the sandhill crane; the heron is smaller and flies with its neck folded back, while cranes fly with their neck extended. Great blue herons are commonly seen in small suburban wetlands (cranes are generally less tolerant of close presence). Herons feed on fish, frogs, and other small animals, captured by a quick jab of the beak. They nest in colonies, usually building their stick platform nests in trees in lowland hardwood swamps. In recent years many rookeries have been displaced by shoreline development or timber cutting. Every attempt must be made to preserve known nesting sites if these beautiful birds are to remain common in Michigan's wetlands.

This photo is part of his Nature & Woods set (slideshow). His other sets include Holloway Reservoir, Mushrooms & Fungi, Technical & Engineering and Animals & Things. Here's his Flickriver.

For more pictures of blue herons check out the Flickr group Citizen Science: Great Blue Heron.

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In Flight, photo by Mi Bob.

As yesterday's Traverse City Record-Eagle reported:

The bald eagle is now off both state and federal endangered species lists for Michigan. But the federal Bald Eagle Protection Act of 1940 makes it a crime to hunt, kill or otherwise harm them.

Fewer than 100 nests existed in the state in 1969, DNR officials said. In 2006, there were nearly 500 occupied nests, and the number is growing.

The Michigan DNR page on the Bald Eagle in Michigan has lots of information about their seasonal behavior (they are beginning to hatch their eggs right now) and documents the history of the bald eagle in Michigan:

Before European settlement, bald eagles probably nested in all regions of Michigan where food was available. In the early 1900s they were described as being "generally distributed," but "nowhere abundant." A decline through the early and mid-1900s was probably related to slow but consistent loss of suitable habitat and available food, and predator control by humans. These eagles are so disturbed by the presence of humans near their nest that they may be induced to abandon the nest, or even chicks that have already hatched. By 1959, the species was considered, "largely restricted to the northern half of the state."

Through the 1950s, the slow decline accelerated dramatically, until suddenly, bald eagles were on the brink of extinction in the lower 48 states. The population crash was due to several factors that had reduced reproductive success of nesting pairs, but was mostly the result of increased use of pesticides with chemicals such as PCB and DDT. These chemicals affected the eagles in many ways, including causing them to delay their breeding until it was too late in the season, or even to not breed at all. Eggs that were laid often had thin shells, causing them to break in the nest. At its worst in 1967, only 38 percent of the Michigan population of bald eagles were able to raise at least a single chick. Productivity must be at least 70 percent for a bald eagle population to remain stable.

Recognition of the plight of bald eagles in the US and its cause finally occurred in the 1960s. By the 1970s DDT had been banned in the US. Intensive monitoring of eagles in Michigan began in 1961. Although bald eagles had been protected at federal and state levels since 1940 and 1954, respectively, they received much greater protection after the ratification of the Endangered Species Act in 1973, and the Michigan endangered species act in 1974.

Reproductive success began to improve and in 1975, the 70 percent productivity mark was reached, although it dropped off again soon after. The population remained at around 86 nesting pairs through the 1970s. In 1981, the population at last began to increase. The 1999 survey found 343 nests that produced 321 young. The productivity was calculated as 96% (young per nests with known outcomes). But some problems still exist. Eagles nesting along the Great Lakes coasts have higher contaminant levels in their blood than inland nesting pairs.

The American Bald Eagle information site has all kinds of sighting information from Michigan and will help you find places to see bald eagles.

If you'd like to check them out from your computer, you can see the above photo background big or in Bob's Eagles set (slideshow, check out the Bald Eagle slideshow in the Absolute Michigan pool and/or Michigan Bald Eagles on Flickr.

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Lori Larson (Daylily18) has some of the most amazing bird photography I've seen. As an added bonus, she uploads photos like this "biggee-sized"!

In addition to a great set of Bluebird photos, her sets include Woodpeckers, Warblers and Finches, Redpolls and Sparrows. It's not just birds though - be sure to check out her Nature, Macro and Explored set (slideshow).

Here's her Flickriver.

PS: For more about bluebirds, head over to Michigan Bluebird on Michigan in Pictures!

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In cooperation with ShowSpan, Absolute Michigan is giving away 10 pair of tickets to the Ultimate Sport Show on March 19-22, 2009 at Devos Place in Grand Rapids, MI. Check out all of the Features & Attractions and Speakers & Events that await you!

About the Ultimate Sport Show
Michigan's finest tradition for the avid fisherman, hunter or outdoor loving family! Over 350 exhibitors will be at the show with the latest outdoor gear, travel information and fishing boats.

The Features are Famous
World Class Taxidermy, Antique Lures, Trout Pond, Woodcarvers, Pellet Range, Fishing Simulator, Rock Wall and Fly Casting Instruction. Nearly 100 fishing and hunting seminars will be held on 4 stages, including "Lake Ultimate," the 110,000 gallon indoor lake. Michigan sportsmen never miss it!

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Dog sled races, UP200, 2007 by e.rabior

Eric says that this photo shows a team arriving in Grand Marais, halfway point of the 240 mile race, amidst unrelenting lake effect snow.

This year is the 20th running of the U.P. 200 and Midnight Run sled dog races and Over 15,000 visitors come to Michigan's Upper Peninsula for one of the nation's premier weekends of sled dog racing. The U.P. 200 is a competitive, 12 dog, mid-distance sled dog race that is always held on the third weekend of February (Feb 20-22). The race is about 240 miles in length and is a qualifying race for the Iditarod.

You can get a look at what it's all about courtesy Wild Weekend TV if you click over to the UP 200 web site!

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Matt (iraceonpedals) says he's a guy who loves to travel, ride bikes, take pictures, be with his dog, girl and finds most things generally interesting.

In addition to his sets like A-Deuce (slideshow) and his collection of photos from Northern Ireland (which I of course can't link to it being all Michigan, all the time and all), I think you'll find The Adventures of Ripley Rockwilder (and friends) interesting, including her latest in Dotbama's Secret Service.

View this photo large to see the crazy duck explosion and check out Matt's Flickriver!

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...and all I have are bad jokes and this cool photo of a camel at the Detroit Zoo by diana.vermeulen.

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The Chick Inn Triptych by jnhkrawczyk

Brawn beats brains - Michigan's Headless Chicken

The small town of Fruita, Colorado, holds a yearly festival dedicated to a bird that defied the laws of biology by staying alive after being decapitated for a farmer's dinner. In 1945, 'Mike' the headless chicken lived for eighteen months with only a brain stem and one ear to guide him, and became the star of a national sideshow tour. But he wasn't the first headless chicken to survive the chopping block. Michigan's Sault St. Marie boasted a crowd-pleasing, black leghorn decades earlier, in 1903. The headless chicken of the 'Soo' didn't live as long as Mike, nor did she match Mike's dizzying heights of fame and glory (Mike even has his own web site - miketheheadlesschicken.org), but she caused plenty of amazement in her day.

The natural wonder was created by one of the cooks at the Belvidere Hotel, who removed the hen's noggin and tossed her body into a barrel to be prepared for that night's roast chicken special. But when the cook pulled the hen's body out to be plucked, she flew away and began strolling around the hotel's basement floor.

Too amused to end the hen's life again, the hotel employees began feeding her oatmeal gruel from a syringe and claimed that she seemed to enjoy her meals, although, as the Sault Ste. Marie Evening News noted, 'she has no brains and no tongue to taste it with.' Some of the Belvidere workers, in fact, made a small fortune by betting patrons a dollar that they had a live, headless chicken in the basement, then escorting their dupes to the basement to prove their claim and collect. The stalwart hen did make national newspaper headlines.

Unlike Colorado's Mike, however, the Soo's headless black leghorn was not awarded the dignity of a recorded name, and she lived only seventeen days before she finally succumbed. Rumor around town has it she was stuffed not with bread crumbs but a taxidermist's form, and was displayed at various places. No one seems to know where she ended up. But she was seen by hundreds during those seventeen amazing days, and is remembered now as a testimonial to life and its occasional ability to survive against all conceivable odds.

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Bat by reddeviltj

In Michigan bats - featuring the Iron Mountain Bat Mine, Edward Vielmetti introduces us to the Millie Mine, a critical hibernating and breeding location for up to 50,000 bats - one of the largest known concentrations of bats in the Midwest. He writes that the little brown bat is especially abundant throughout Michigan and is the most seen species. Bats are of course very beneficial due to their propensity for bug eating, but we can't blame folks for being a little wary. Click through to Edward's blog for more about bats and learn much more about bats including how to build a bat house from The Bat Zone at the Cranbrook Institute of Science.

On the last Wednesday of every month, Absolute Michigan has a "Weird Wednesday" - a celebration of the scary and the strange in Michigan. The woman who inspired us and who provides most of the content is Linda S. Godfrey, author of one of the best Michigan books ever: Weird Michigan. She's joined with Michigander Linda Shiel for a new book Strange Michigan: More Wolverine Weirdness - click that link for info on the book and upcoming signings!

High Ground by Ross Sandelius

Probably the scariest thing we have for you today is news that investor Kirk Kerkorian is starting to sell his $1 billion stake in Ford Motor Company. David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor observes "It's reaching a point where we'll have to decide if we're willing to let the U.S. auto industry fail. It depends on the urgency that the government feels to save these companies." With a total employment of 200,000, a web of many more businesses that they feed and retirment committments to over a million Americans, you have to wonder how the government could not come to their rescue. Still, there are limits to what the US will be able to spend on our economic woes.

That's a tough note to end on, so instead, how about we remind you of our massive Michigan Haunted Houses, Mazes & Attractions page that features all kinds of haunted houses, corn mazes and scary attractions from all across Michigan.

Have something spooky to share? Post it in the comments!

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Untitled by Sara Behm

Today is the autumn equinox and fall starts in about 15 minutes (11:44 am), so I hope everyone has a chance pay their official respects to summer 2008.

After last week's Event-a-palooza, this weekend's Four Flags Area Apple Festival in Niles (Sep 25-28) and the American Heritage Festival in Lansing (Sep 27 & 28) might seem like something of an anti-climax.

However, our Absolute Michigan Event Calendar lists a bunch more including the West Michigan Oktoberfest in Grand Rapids (Sep 26-27), the Northern Michigan Lamb & Wool Festival in West Branch (Sep 27-28) which is not to be confused with the Mt. Bruce Station Sheep & Wool Festival in Romeo (Sep 27-28).

Dueling sheep festivals? You can't make this stuff up.

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Released in 1955 by Warner Brothers, the first Michigan J. Frog cartoon is about a member of a wrecking crew who finds a time capsule in the cornerstone of a large building he is razing. When he opens the old box, he awakens Michigan J. Frog, who emerges from his confined home with a top hat, cane, dancing feet and an Al Jolson-like voice that belts out popular tunes.

The demolition man quits his job and devotes all his time to promoting his amazing discovery. But the frog will only perform for the man who rescued him. Frustrated by his lack of success, the man puts the talented frog back into the cornerstone of a nearby building undergoing construction in 1956. The film fast-forwards to the year 2056. Another worker finds Michigan J. Frog and the story repeats itself-with the same results.

For years, Michigan J. Frog served as the symbol for Warner Brothers television, until he was retired in 2005. However, Michigan J. Frog has entertained Americans in a variety of different ways. To find out how (and why he has J. for a middle initial), look for the July/August 2008 issue of Michigan History. For more information visit www.michiganhistorymagazine.com or call (800) 366-3703.

For more on this amphibious crooner, check out the Michigan J Frog entry on Wikipedia and also the entry for One Froggy Evening (the cartoon it was based on). Of course, we can't really talk about Michigan J Frog without showing a video, so here's a video:

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detroit zoo by ercy

Polar bears frolicking in a glass tunnel surrounded by 300,000 gallons of crystal-clear water; kangaroos bouncing about in a simulated Australian Outback; or hundreds of amphibians living in the world's only amphibian conservation center--a place the Wall Street Journal described as "Disneyland for toads." These are some of the experiences visitors can enjoy at the Detroit Zoo.

Celebrating its eightieth anniversary this year, the 125-acre Detroit Zoo is located in the Detroit suburb of Royal Oak and draws one million visitors annually. Special events are planned to celebrate this milestone in August.

When established, it was the one of the first zoological parks in the nation to have bar-free animal exhibit areas. Over the years, it has maintained the same location, while preserving some of its architecturally significant buildings and original exhibits.

Visitors will experience a free-flight aviary, featuring exotic hummingbirds and butterflies; eighteen-foot-tall giraffes against a backdrop of ancient Egypt; two 4,000-pound white rhinoceroses hanging out together; a Kenyan native and a former safari guide who roams the African Veldt exhibit area telling children African tales. Add to that bald eagles, camels, prairie dogs, trumpeter swans and even warthogs.

Meanwhile, parents can feel good about the zoo's mission today. According to Ron Kagen, director of the Detroit Zoological Society, which owns the Detroit Zoo, "Years ago, [zoos] were just places of entertainment. Now, they're wonderful sanctuaries for animals. For all of us, the challenge is to make a visit to the zoo something that is wonderfully enriching and healthy for people as well as animals."

For a visual tour of the Detroit Zoo check out this slideshow from the Detroit Zoo flickr pool.

The Detroit Zoo is one of a many great Michigan attractions featured in Michigan History magazine. For information call (800) 366-3703 or visit www.michiganhistorymagazine.com.

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