Today was devoted to Hiawatha National Forest, which is on the east side of the peninsula. The forest is laced with dirt and sand roads, and it’s also supposed to be laced with birds. We found the roads all right — they had beautiful names like FR3344 and FR3145 — but the birds were no shows. It was a pretty place all the same, especially since we were the only people there. We didn’t leave the car very often, though, because of the bugs. So I guess today was a typical Little Year day: beautiful scenery empty of birds. If we want lifers, maybe we need to go somewhere butt ugly, like Texas. The highlight for me, though, was the abandoned Raco Airport.

The airport was built during WWII to protect the locks at Sault St. Marie from the Luftwaffe, and the army kept it open through the Cold War because of the Russkies. When the political situation thawed out, the army abandoned it, and it was opened to the public. Some part of it is leased to a company that does vehicle testing, but they ain’t allowed to interfere with the People enjoying their Rights (i.e, drunken teens laying patches).

It was an absolute riot driving along these runways. There are three of them, each a mile long (I measured), forming a cement triangle. It’s hard to explain why it was so much fun, and Pole obviously thought I was a little crazy. It’s not that I went very fast, it’s just that they were so expansive . . . and so abandoned. I had a real omega man thing going on. It was one of the most fun times I’ve ever had.

We went there because Sharp-tailed Grouse — who do their courtship displays in open areas called “leks” — have adopted the runways as concrete substitutes for these here leks. But, of course, we didn’t see no stinking grouse. It was probably too late in the year (and the day) to see their rituals, but Pole did spot a snapping turtle disporting itself upon the runway. What it was doing there, I don’t know. I thought it might have been sick because it seemed a little slow, even for a turtle, and there didn’t seem to be any water nearby. Maybe it was just sunning itself. Or maybe it just want to screw a grouse.

I did see one lifer today. There was a mating pair of Red Crossbills that we scoped in a sparse pine forest along a winding ridge. So I finally caught up with Pole, who saw the bird in January. The wind made the forest bug free, so it was nice to step out of the car for a little bit.