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To hold the line, people like Kara Ermatinger and Grant Trukowski spend their winter walking. And walking. Up and down dunes, dodging melting snow and ice puddles.
“This week has been pretty nice though with the warming up, says Trukowksi. We’re not really trudging through snow, but still kind of battling the elements and the wind especially the last few days.”
Trukowski and Ermatinger work for the Mason-Lake Conservation District. Their full-time job from December through March is looking for the hemlock woolly adelgid or HWA.
The invasive bug from Japan can kill a tree within four years. It does this by sucking nutrients from the host tree.
Winter Wonderlands: The 5 Best Places in the US to Celebrate the Cold
We’re getting close to the end of winter snowy and white, bright and festive, full of wonderful reasons to get outside, on snowshoes and skis and snowboards, amidst the snap of a cold, sunny day. But for some? They don’t love it so much. Because winter also means slippery roads and difficult commutes, and too much shoveling out the driveway.
But the cold months, long as they can be in some parts of the country, reward those who embrace the weather. And with travel to tropical locales still a little uncertain, now’s the time to get away on a late-winter trip to a town that absolutely celebrates the season. Here are some of the best places in the United States to do just that, where the snow (and the cold) are very good things.
9 & 10 News
February 19, 2021
It is an insect that can devastate forests of trees.
Invasive species specialist, Robert Miller says, “Hemlock woolly adelgid is a small aphid like insect that uses its long siphoning mouth parts to extract sap from Hemlock trees, ultimately damaging and killing the trees.”
Over the last few years, Miller says new discoveries have led to more investigations.
“Unfortunately Hemlock woolly adelgid has become established in Allegan, Ottawa, Muskegon, Oceana, and Mason County and we’re working to respond to those infestations,” said Miller.
Most recently, they found a case at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.
“It was found at the Platte River Campground. So far, just in one tree. Our [vegetation] crew has been doing surveys as recommended by Michigan DNR in a radius around the original location,” said Vince Cavalieri, wildlife biologist for the park.
9 Michigan birding trails for seeing rare winter birds
Updated Jan 25, 2021;
Don’t put down your birdwatching binoculars just because winter has arrived.
While many of our summer birds have flown south to warmer places this time of year, Michigan is, in fact, a balmy winter destination for birds who usually spend their summers much father north.
So when winter wraps its chilly arms around our state, it ushers in its own special season for birdwatching, starring birds like the enchanting snowy owl and boisterous winter finches who arrive from the boreal forests in search of food and fairer weather.
Depending on the bird, don’t necessarily expect to see these beauties at your backyard feeder. Rarities might require a special trip to the kind of places they prefer but in that way, birding can become a sort of treasure hunt, and a wonderful reason to plan a winter escape.