Picturing Michigan’s Past: Transcribing Handwritten Postcards

Postcard depicting two white boat on the greenish-blue waters of the Saginaw River. Several people in canoes can be seen on the river. In the background are several homes and large green trees along the shoreline.

For the past few months, I’ve been looking for a volunteer opportunity. Something that I feel connected with and where I can contribute an hour or more at a time.

A project that doesn’t require huge blocks of time.

In the past, I would volunteer at a local school library. But I haven’t done any in-person volunteering since before the Covid pandemic.

What I wanted was a virtual volunteer opportunity. And my goal was to find something local to my community or state.

Which is what I found when I discovered Picturing Michigan’s Past, a Zooniverse volunteer project at the William L. Clements Library at the University of Michigan.

Given my background working at and volunteering at libraries since I was a teenager, I’m not surprised I found a research project at a library.

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Photo of the Week: Ring of Fire 2023 Annular Solar Eclipse

A large golden-orange ring against a black background. The black inside the ring is the moon; the outside ring is the Sun.

Like thousands of other folks this weekend, I couldn’t wait to see the annular solar eclipse and ring of fire. The solar eclipse would cross parts of the United States on October 14th, starting in Oregon on the west coast and arching down to Texas before heading to Central America and eventually Brazil. While Michigan… Continue reading Photo of the Week: Ring of Fire 2023 Annular Solar Eclipse

Get Answers to Your Bird Migration Questions

Screenshot of Cornell Migration Celebration home page highlighting their site navigation with a large image of a Blue-winged Teal, a brown and white patterned waterbird with its wings outstretched. The patch of blue on the wing can be seen along wit the characteristic white crescent moon shape behind its bill.

Thanks to Cornell Labs two-week online Migration Celebration, I learned a lot this year about bird migration.

  • While many birds make migration one long trip, some birds fly and stop somewhere for a few days before beginning their journey again
  • With the Canada wildfires in summer 2023, some people are wondering if eBird reports will detect early migration for birds where their breeding grounds in Canada burned down.
  • Some birds can take advantage of burned areas: Black-backed Woodpeckers and Three-toed Woodpeckers use burned stumps for nesting. With beetles taking over the burned stumps, woodpeckers have a ready food source.
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