Photo of the Week: Red Admiral Butterfly

Sitting on a fallen curled up brown leaf on the green grass sits a black and red butterfly with white spots with its wings open completely.

The fluttering dark and red colors about four feet off the ground caught my attention as I walked away from the Detroit River Hawk Watch at Lake Erie Metropark.

I watched as it landed on a fallen brown leaf on the green grass, walked up slowly and discovered it was a beautiful Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) butterfly.

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Fall 2025 Southeast Michigan Plant Swaps and Sales

Spiky cylindrical flowers comprised of small violet-blue florets rise from whorls of long serrated green leaves on several upright plants. The violet-blue flowers are in different sizes, one appears to be almost three inches in size.

It’s that time of year again. The higher summer temperatures have given way to cool mornings and, in my opinion, better sleeping weather.

Which has me considering plants I want to add to my garden.

While many nurseries have fewer plants (or have closed for the season), local fall plant sales and swaps are happening all over southeast Michigan.

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Photo of the Week: Semipalmated Sandpiper at Erie Marsh Preserve

A small brown and white shorebird with white underbelly, small head, short neck, and dark bill pauses in the shallow water as it forages.

We were into our second hour of birding this week at Erie Marsh Preserve before we found a Semipalmated Sandpiper.

Once my birding friend and I found one, we discovered another two dozen (and possibly more!) Semipalmated Sandpipers foraging in an adjacent mudflat at the marsh.

Continue reading Photo of the Week: Semipalmated Sandpiper at Erie Marsh Preserve