The official Edmund Fitzgerald puzzle — a lifer for us both
Today we were finally on our way to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Our stated objective was the Whitefish Point Bird Observatory to try to pick up some late migrants, but the unstated real objective was the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum, which is located at the exact same place.
Soft focus makes the Kirtland's sexy
After a long drive north, we made it to Gaylord, Michigan this morning at 1 am. We came to see the endangered Kirtland’s Warbler, one of the rarest birds in the States. It only breeds in a small area in northern Michigan, so if you want to see it, this is where you come. You can only view its breeding grounds on official tours run by rangers, and we met ours this morning at 11 am at a hotel in Grayling, a little south of Gaylord. We had two guides, the master (Chris) and the apprentice (Sean). The viewing season started today, so Sean was just learning the ropes. There was just one other birder on the tour, so we made a three-car convoy to the site.
Pole in Pelee, seeing no lifers
Today commemorates the First Little Year International Birding Expedition. We went to Point Pelee, Ontario, which is about an hour south of Detroit. We plan on going to northern Michigan tomorrow to see the rare Kirtland’s Warbler, so this trip is truly global in scope. We left yesterday and stayed overnight in Motown at my sister’s house. Even though we left Chicago kind of late, we couldn’t resist stopping at the Indiana Dunes. We drove around for about an hour, and all we got out of it was a CHIPPING SPARROW.
It was raining on and off as we drove to Pelee. It’s a spit of land that points south into Lake Erie and is reputed to be one of the best migrant traps on the continent. So we were pretty excited. It was crowded when we got there, and we saw dozens of crazy-looking people with dopey Tilley hats, expensive bins, and repulsive birding vests bulging with God-knows-what useless crap. We, on the other hand, travel pretty light. Or at least Pole does. Because of some vestigial sexism in her chromosomes, I have to carry the scope, the field guide, the notes, and the camera. Not a lot, really, but still more than nothing, which is what she carries. Today, though, I didn’t carry the scope because we were looking for warblers.
Today was our last day birding Texas. Once again, we started out at the Convention Center and were lucky enough to have some super birder point out a PRAIRIE WARBLER. This guy is a bird photographer, and he told us this was the worst season for birding Texas in the last 10 to 15 years. Dry dry dry. (He’s the one who came up with the name “Laguna del Morte,” which I appropriated for a previous post.) His recommendation: Arizona. So we’ve added to our list, and we shall see. Driving out, we once again took old Port Isabel Road and saw a CASSIN’S SPARROW and BEWICK’S WREN. Then onward to today’s main event, the Santa Ann NWR.
Today we made our first trip to Northerly Island, which was formerly Miegs Field, Chicago’s lakefront airport. I used to like Miegs because is was fun to watch airplanes landing only a few blocks from a skyscrapered downtown. But Mayor Daley loves his parks, so he used 9-11 as an excuse to plow over the runways and plant this greenery. I don’t want to sound like a nature hater, but I’m a friend to all birds, including the big silver ones. I’m not losing any sleep over it, mind you. My cube faces west so I can’t see the damn lake anyway, and hizzoner has given us another place to bird.