You hear her before you can see her as she rumbles through your spring garden. A bumblebee queen has risen from her winter hibernation and is seeking a safe place to rear her young. She would prefer an abandoned rodent burrow in some quiet spot. There, she will gather nectar and pollen in an enclosure of wax, where she will lay her first brood of eggs.

She must work hard and alone to provide for these first daughters, but once they begin to forage she can focus much of her time on laying eggs and rearing more brood. Her large body size and hairy abdomen allows her to fly early and late, even when temperatures near 30 F, a time when most other insects are chilled into immobility. This gives her a great advantage over other insects in alpine meadows, and in northern Michigan gardens.

At its peak, a bumblebee nest will number around 350 members. The worker bumbles are noticeably smaller than their queen. Starting in mid summer the nest will switch from rearing worker brood to focus on raising new queens and drones (male bumbles). The drones will leave the nest and establish flight territories which they mark with pheromones that will attract virgin queens. The drones spend their days traveling from marker to marker checking for interest.

The new queens will remain with the nest, but spend much of their time visiting drone markers and stroring a large amount of energy as fat in their abdomen. While the colony will fade as winter draws near, it is these new queens that will then find suitable hibernation burrows late in the fall in which they will sleep away the winter, dreaming of next spring's flowers.

The Common Loon, Voice of the North, by Arlene Westhoven, GRNA Naturalist

It's hard to imagine a northern lake without the haunting song and elegant precense of the symbol of the wilderness, the Common Loon.

Loons are strictly water birds, their legs and large webbed feet set far back on the body, provide excellent propulsion under water. Common Loons eat mainly small fish which they catch by diving. To escape when threatened, it is easier for loons to dive than to fly because take-off reqires up to one-quarter of a mile runway.

Common Loons always nest at the shoreline or on an island. The female usually lays two eggs, then both male and female share incubation for 28 days. During this critical time, the boat wake or wave action can swamp the nest. Close approaches may cause adults to leave the nest, exposing eggs to overheating and cooling, or to predators such as raccoons and gulls.

Chicks leave the nest immediately after hatching. At this time the chicks cannot dive or fly to escape threats. If they are separated from their parents, they cannot fish for themselves. It will be about eight weeks before the chicks learn the skills to dive, fish, and fly. When they leave their northern lake, for the winter waters, they do not return until they are four years old.

Help us protect loons by learning more about them. Grass River Natural Area has programs about loons. You can also visit the Michigan Loon Preservation Association website. Help keep the "Voices of the North" returning to our northern Michigan lakes.

Solstice by Chuck Bauer, GRNA Naturalist

The Northern and Southern Solstice come about as a result of a variety of astronomical factors. The most important of these are:

1. The Earth's axis is tilted at a 23.44 angle.

2. The Earth moves around the Sun in a roughly circular orbit in about 365 days.

On or about June 21 the Northern Hemisphere is tilted as far toward the Sun as it is going to be. In our Hemisphere we refer to this as the Summer Solstice. Conversely in the Southern Hemisphere June 21 is the Winter Solstice.

Several events are associated with the June date. In the North it marks the first day of Summer and is the longest day and shortest night of the year. A careful observer would also note the Sun at noon appears to stand still overhead (e.g., the word Solstice is from Latin and means "Sun stands still"). At this time in the North above the 66.65 degree latitude it is the time of the Midnight Sun. Because of the tilt of the earth the sun there never drops below the horizon. Simultaneously at South 66.56 degree latitude in the Southern Hemisphere it is 24 hours of darkness referred to as Polar Night.

Many people believe that the Smmer Solstice should mark the hottest day of the year because the rays of the sun heat the atmosphere most directly and it is the longest day of the year. In fact the hottest days routinely don't occur for another month or more. It takes that long for the atmosphere to heat up to its maximum extent. Similarly the coldest days of the year are not on the date of our Winter Solstice - about December 22, but apprximately a month later.

As The Sun Sets, Try Sky Watching, by Anne Drake, GRNA Naturalist

Spending a night in the outdoors with your family can create memories that will last a life-time. As the sun sets, try sky watching!

Sky Watching Tips (Getting Started):

Create a comfortable and enjoyable stargazing experience in your own backyard.

Gather a few simple items :

1. Strong beamed flashlight. Cover the flashlight with red cellophane to preserve your night vision.
2. Mats or blankets, or reclining lawn chair. Lay down and look up. Save yourself a stiff neck.
3. Binoculars (fun but optional)
4. Star Chart
5. Go to www.earthsky.org for information on what’s up there on the night you camp out.
6. Snacks or hot chocolate for those hungry campers.

Sky Watching Activities:

Family Hero Activity

(adapted from “Should Uncle Fred Be in the Sky?” by Andrew Fraknoi, AFGU Astronomer)

Ancient cultures named the patterns of bright stars in the sky after their mythological heroes and monsters. What if we could start over and rename the constellations (the star patterns ) today? What if a person from your family could get to be in the sky and have a constellation named after them?

The Backyard Campout is a great time to tell family stories and pick a family hero to name a star pattern after. (Especially if younger members of the family don’t know some of the family history, this is a good time to tell those stories.) Next, decide what star picture will represent your family hero as a constellation. Example: If you pick Uncle Fred, and he loves to take everyone fishing, maybe you could find a group of stars that looks like a fishing pole. You may also draw out your new constellation on a star map. (connecting the dots)

A constellation picture usually has a story to go with it. Some stories were true, and some were exaggerated versions of the real story. Your family might want to put together and write down the story of what your hero did to earn a place in the sky. Exaggeration is part of the fun.

Sky Watch Scavenger Hunt

Turn your eyes on the skies. Play your own version of Sky Watch Scavenger Hunt. Keep a tally sheet and give yourself points for objects spotted in the night sky. Suggested objects to look for: satellites, airplanes, shooting stars, the Big Dipper, Polaris, points for locating a new constellation you’ve never seen before, the moon, a star that looks orange, a star that looks, blue, use binoculars and look for a moon crater. To avoid individual competition, work together as a family to collect your points. The next time you play, see if you can surpass your own family record. Have fun!!

For A Cloudy Night

Walk The Solar System: (Adapted from “The Earth As A Peppercorn”, AFGU)

Materials: Paper plates with the sun and planet names written on them. Plates may be decorated as the planets they represent.

• Begin in the center of your backyard and end up out into the neighborhood.
• Place a paper plate in the center of your backyard to represent the sun.
• Walk 10 paces and place a plate for Mercury.
• Walk another 9 paces and place a plate for Venus.
• Walk another 7 paces and place a plate for Earth.
• Another 14 to Mars.
• Now hold on to your hats and walk another 95 paces to Jupiter.
• Another 112 paces to Saturn.
• Another 249 to Uranus.
• Another 281 to Neptune.
• Another 241 to Pluto.
• You will have marched a little over half a mile.

The calm waters of our northern lakes hide a seasonal cycle that occurs because of a unique property of water. Ice weighs less than water, so it floats. Water also expands as it warms, therefore it also floats above colder water. The "heaviest" water is found at about 39 F. What does this have to do with our lakes?

In late fall, the surface waters of a lake cool and begin to sink, until the whole lake reaches 39F, at which point the surface waters continue to cool to 32F, when a layer of ice forms. This colder ice sitting on top of warmer deep water is called winter stratification.

In the spring, after the ice melts, the surface water (which was 32F) begins to warm and sink. Spring winds act like a giant spoon stirring these warmer waters causing them to mix with deeper waters, known as spring turnover. Virtually all the water in the lake reaches 39F. Nutrients are stirred up from the sediments, while oxygen is delivered to the deeper waters.

As the sun continues to warm the surface waters, and the winds diminish, they exceed the critical temp of 39F and begin to float above the colder heavier water below. A very dense layer of water (39F) forms (metalimnion)between the warmer surface waters (epilimnion), which continues to mix, and the cold, still depths (hypolimnion). This prevents the mixing of oxygen with deeper waters and the delivery of nutrients to surface waters. The lake is in summer stratification.

In the fall the waters cool, the whole lake again reaches 39F, the winds mix the waters, allowing a flush of nutrients to rise and oxygen to reach the depths recharging the lake before the onset of winter.

Every spring bird lovers all over northern Michigan put out feeders to tempt our most favorite backyard bird, the ruby throated hummingbird. Everybody knows that flower nectar is a favorite food source of hummingbirds. After all, why else would hummers have long thin bills and feather-edged tongues? However, what may come as a surprise is that himmingbirds aren't just nectarivores--they're also insectivores that dine on miniscule invertebrates. Nectar, while containing small amounts of amino acids, cannot provide the protein these little birds need for their survival. But insects are tremendous sources of fat, protein, nitrogen, and amino acids--the very things hummingbirds need to build strong bodies,make baby hummingbirds, and zip to far-off tropical areas to spend the winter. The demand for protein is especially high during breeding season, which explains why we see fewer hummers at our feeders during early summer. They are almost exclusively hunting insects for their young.

Hummers are actually very proficient at hunting insects. Studies have shown that a funnel of air pulled back by their wings actually draws insects int the waiting beak. By flying through a cloud of gnats or dislodging an unwary beetle from a branch, hummers can literally pull insects toward their mouths. They have a habit of stealing insects from spider webs, sometimes eating the spider too. They are also very adept at using spider webs to weave their cozy nests.

In the early spring, when flowers and insects are scarce in our northern areas hummers will sip tree sap from holes made by sapsuckers, and on their fall migration may stop to lick sap from acorn caps in southern oak groaves. So this year, along with your feeders, consider what else your favorite hummers need to thrive so they can continue to delight our northern summers.