Uncategorized – frsnaturalist

What makes you nervous? Situations that are not familiar that I have no control over

What Olympic sports do you enjoy watching the most? Downhill skiing

Nature Journal: 31 July 2020 – A visit to Dryer Lake

In the year 2020, during the pandemic, I decided to spend my time learning about nature. I had a lot of time on my hands and no place to go so I started a Michigan Master Naturalists Course through Michigan State University Extension. It included a lot of information and lesson plans. Enough to fillContinue reading “Nature Journal: 31 July 2020 – A visit to Dryer Lake”

Crossing Lake Michigan: Sailing on the Inland Seas

When I arrive in Suttons Bay at 7:15 am on July 24, 2019, I find the crew already preparing the two boats for a planned 8:00 am departure. The Inland Seas and the Utopia will be making the 2-day trip together to Green Bay Wisconsin for the 2019 tall ships celebration but are now raftedContinue reading “Crossing Lake Michigan: Sailing on the Inland Seas”

Below the Mackinaw Bridge: Sailing on the Inland Seas

The date is July 6, 2016 and I’m standing at the helm of the tall ship Inland Seas, a two-masted, gaff rigged schooner like the ones that sailed the Great Lakes back in the 1800’s and early 1900’s. I’m guiding her through the Straits of Mackinaw in northern Lake Michigan towards the bridge, into LakeContinue reading “Below the Mackinaw Bridge: Sailing on the Inland Seas”

Fly Fishing Rapid City’s Spring Creek

The Black Hills is an island of mountains surrounded by prairie. Home to cold trout streams fed by spring flows. The Black Hills provide ideal conditions for trout. The majority of streams contain self-sustaining wild populations of brown and brook trout. Brown trout management in the Black Hills focuses on development of wild fisheries.Continue reading “Fly Fishing Rapid City’s Spring Creek”

The Schoolship and The Challenger

There is something nostalgic and even romantic about the Great Lakes and the big boats that come and go each day carrying their heavy loads to unknown ports. Maybe it’s because of the many stories we’ve heard of violent storms and shipwrecks, or maybe it’s because the big freighters seem to stay in service and our memories a long time. For itContinue reading “The Schoolship and The Challenger”

The Bowfin

I was standing by the aquariums at the Inland Seas Education Center waiting to do my weekly aquarium maintenance, but not wanting to begin until the morning’s class had left for the boat and their great adventure out on the lake. I was watching the Bowfin swim lazily about the tank when the students fromContinue reading “The Bowfin”