Sunday Morning Storm 6/26/2016

   Quite a storm rolled in off of Lake Michigan this morning. I had been watching it on radar in the predawn hours as it was crossing Wisconsin. The storm front held together as it crossed the lake and arrived on the Michigan shore just after sunrise.

Woody Woodpecker shaped bolt

   I took over 1000 photos and only caught lightning on 5 or 6 shots.

Impressive strikes a little too far from the lighthouse

Crop of above photo

Now there's something I can work with.

Right-side crop of previous photo

Left-side crop of same

   The heavy rain held off as I was taking the photos as I only had to deal with sprinkles until the ominous cloud advanced toward the harbor.  

   I could handle getting a little wet as I hovered over my camera to keep it dry, but the wind associated with the fast approaching low-hanging cloud started pelting me (and more importantly my camera) with sand, so it was time to pack it up.

Putting January in the Rear-view Mirror

    Cold is relative.  

   One night in  April 1996 when I was putting my 4 year old daughter to bed, she asked what the weather was going to be the next day.  I told her it was going to be rainy with a high of 45 F.  Not yet familiar with the Fahrenheit scale she asked " Is that cold or warm?"  I told her" It's cold for April but it would be warm for January".  Her unforgettable response "I wish it was January"

   January on west coast of mid-Michigan can go one of two ways,  warm with lake-effect snow or cold with lake-effect snow.  The promised warmth of an El Nino winter mostly held true but we did have a chilly weekend a couple of weeks back that gave us 15-18" in a 4 day period.  I suspect for the month we had 24-30", which is analogous to getting off with a warning on a traffic stop.

  The relatively warm weather this month may have influenced one early migrant.  Early Saturday  I checked a voicemail that Dave Dister had left on my phone.  In the message he stated that on Friday afternoon Brian Mulherin, had noticed a out of season Sandhill Crane just off US-10 between Scottville and Custer.  Just after sunrise I left the house on a mission to refind the bird.

  I initially checked the original location but the bird was not there.  On that stretch of highway the speed limit is 55 mph so I turned north on the first road past the site to scan the fields from a safer location.  Just 100 yds up Tuttle Rd from US-10 I located the crane about 50 yds off the road.

Wishing it was April

   Other birds of interest.

Dark-morph Rough-legged Hawk

American Kestrel

Anti-crepuscular rays

  An explanation of anti-crepuscular rays is posted on one of my other blogs. Link below : http://mostlynerdbutnotalways.blogspot.com/2016/01/parallel-lines-meeting-at-infinity.html

Pied-Billed Grebe and Ducks in Ludington Harbor

   Dave Dister called and informed me that a Pied-Billed Grebe was mingling among the ducks in Ludington Harbor.

Pied-Billed Grebe

Common Golden-eye (female)

Greater Scaup (1st winter male)

   The Greater and Lesser Scaups can be hard to distinguish but there are a few diagnositic features that can aid in the identification process.

1) Round head - Check

Greater Scaup (adult male) 

2) Prominent jowly cheeks - check

 3)  Long white wing stripe - Check

Territorial Red-breasted Mergansers

Canvasback

Mute Swan

   Did I mention that the Lake-effect snow machine has been redistributing the relatively warm water of Lake Michigan onto the region.  We've had about 15" since Saturday evening.

Wind and Waves

Mostly Work (but not always)

     Here are some  birds I've been able to photograph after work in the past few days.  Most were taken at my work site, others were taken on my way home from work.

Female Common Goldeneye

Female Common Merganser

Tree Sparrow

Not at work

Different faces

Wounded Eye

Horned Grebe at work

Extravmerganza

  By now everyone has heard about the devastating two-inch snowfall that created gridlock in Atlanta last week.  In neighboring Alabama the storm was equally intense.  Here at Mostly Birds (but not always) we are fortunate to have access to a free-lance correspondent in Auburn, Alabama,  who was able to send some photos of the disaster.  WARNING: These photos are tough to look at.  But you have to see it to believe it.
  As I understand it Auburn University courageously reopened just 3 days after the storm (and there wasn't even a football game), clearly a symbolic gesture as the roads were still impassible (as shown in the lower photo).  

Snow covering the roots of full-sized trees

Sure you can clear your driveway , but then what?

    The storm's impact has been blamed on......1) The National Weather Service even though the storm delivered exactly what was predicted. and 2) Lack of leadership of State and Local Governments whose members, for the most part, were elected for promising to cut government.  There are no easy answers here, to the magic Yankee dust that pulls your car off the road.
 

When the seasons collide

  Yesterday afternoon, in the 5 o'clock hour, a steady light rain changed over to the first measurable snow of the fall.  This morning, the half inch of snow on lingering colorful leaves,  provided an opportunity to photograph the overlap of the winter and fall seasons. 

   The fall/winter overlap happens almost every year to a degree but rarely does a winter/summer juxtaposition  present itself.  Below are photos of my tomato plants that were not only still bearing fruit but also were still flowering when the snow arrived.