June 2023

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A recent spotting of the world’s oldest loon has calmed concerns over the health and safety of the bird after he split from his longtime mate and lost his preferred nesting location. According to Damon McCormick of Common Coast Research & Conservation: ABJ, who turns 36 this month, was last seen over a month ago, idling alone on H Pool after breaking the tip of his upper mandible. But on Sunday a visitor to the Refuge, Louis Good of Northern Michigan University, spotted him along the Marshland Wildlife Drive, superficially looking none the worse for wear, and suggesting that in his foraging strategies he has adapted to life with a damaged bill. Surprisingly, he was observed with a second loon, and in a location - the western end of E Pool that this spring was the established territory of another color-marked Seney male, a 16-year-old known as Blue Nevada. It is possible that, against expectation, ABJ has designs on more than just solitary feeding this season; we hope to know more soon.

In survey results reported to the Michigan Natural Resources Commission in Roscommon today, the moose population estimate for the western Upper Peninsula was not statistically different from the last moose survey conducted in 2019.

The forum on threatened and endangered species, TNEs for short, has multiple dimensions. At the surface is the noble effort to conserve and retain as many elements of diversity as possible.

It’s finally here, the long awaited spring in the U.P. has arrived, it may be the end of May but who’s counting? This month, I am going to change up the newsletter to something a little more personal rather than focus on a certain topic. For me, spring means getting out on my property and observing the changes from last season. I always look forward to seeing what plants are filling in the forest floor, which trees and shrubs survived our 219 inches of snowfall (for this year anyway), and any signs of wildlife. The robins and blue jays are back, I saw a yellow bellied sapsucker last week, the chipmunks are busy scurrying around and I heard a wood thrush in the woods last night as the sun was setting.

Michigan Beef Industry Commission (MBIC) Executive Director George Quackenbush has seen a lot of change in the landscape during his 18 years representing Michigan cattle producers. From farming techniques to technological changes in how the public gets information to rising pressure from anti-beef groups around the state and nation, very little of the landscape looks familiar since the day he went to work for Michigan’s beef producers back in 2005.