Day 63 -- Last Day on the Road. THE END!

Inasmuch as we were in West Branch, MI with family on Saturday and some of Sunday we will end this blog  at the end of this wonderful trip. I hope you have enjoyed reading at least some of the blogs and certainly the photos.

Saturday we had a chance to attend grandson Tavin's  soccer game in Saginaw where they won 10-0 on a very hot and sticky day for a game.  (They won their second game on Sunday 3-1) His team can qualify for the regional in the National Youth Soccer League  as they move to the semifinals in a few aweeks.

Tavin (#3) at Saginaw Soccer Complex

A little action in the 10-0 win.

Upon returning we had a visit with granddaughter Ella and her Dad.  There was a recital in which Ella received her five year certificate from her teacher. There were 15 participants in the Piano recital, and they performed wonderfully. Two in particular were high caliber pianists. It was a fun recital to watch the the youngsters perform. There was some classics as well as "Bumble Boogie" So it ran the gamt of music.

Ella and her Dad after the recital.

Later that eveing the family (all that were there) celebrated my great grandson Oliver's 2nd birthday. (It was that day). The pizza that we had took an extra longtrip to get here as it was ordered at a simialarly named  pizza store, but 25 miles away! (accidental misidentification). Oliver's Dad made his first cake and decorated it  all from scratch.  It was a good social evening wth lots of stories and exchanges.

Oliver, the 'birthday boy',  loves his garden tools

Many of the family celebrated their mother's (grandmother's) love of a DQ wth an 

Anniversary treat of sorts.

At the Birthday party were all the celebrants.

Sisters, Cousins, Aunts, Uncles, Brother in law, Sister in law, Grandchildren, Children, 

NIeces, Nephews, Grandchild, Great Grand Child,

Grandfather, Husbands and Wives.

Oliver loved his  birthday gifts especially the garden tools.

Ruth an I had breakfast with the family at the old Forward's Restaurant in West Branch, MI.  That building is a collection of logging artifacts and worth stopping to have  meal there if just to look over the logging tools all around the Motel and restaurant. Especially for the children it is a learning experience.

We hooked up the trailer and cleaned all the tanks and headed out, but before we did on the way out, Ruth said "Stop"! I did  easily, and there was a Pileated Woodpecker on a tree near the ground. It was beautiful! It lingered and, as we had not counted one during the entire trip, it was added to the list. I believe we are at 227 birds.  BUT....after the drive home  and backing into the yard, I hear the sound of another bird we had not seen all trip.  A Baltimore Oriole  as singing. 'Welcome home' it was saying!

That Pileated Woodpecker in the campground as we were leaving.

The Pileated Woodpecker didn't seem concerned with us as it ate.

All in all it was a terrific trip and worth the days away for awhile. Ruth is rested and even though she would have liked to "keep on going" we are back safe.  Thanks for following along, and here's looking to more new adventures in the future. We will be in PA for 10 days celebrating  a granddaughter's graduation early in June.

Day 62--Will post on Day 63 Stay tuned. (See pictures below)

Oliver's favorite birthday gift on Birthday #2

(AM)

Tavin's soccer game at Saginaw (won 9-0)

AM

A Black Capped Chickadee at the campground feeder 

PM

Oliver is happy about a gift.

PM

The cake his Dad made for Oliver. Dad's first cake from scratch

The Family at Oliver's 2nd Birthday party.

Day 61 Two to go! The Macknac Bridge, Feeder birds and last campground.

The trip from Newberry to West Branch (both in Michigan) was quite uneventful EXCEPT for the fog, Big Mac, Sandhill Cranes, Rain, and lunch in a Rest Area south of Mackinaw City (Notice the two spellings of Mackina(W)  C)  There is a reason and I will put it at the end of this Blog. See if you can figure it out if you don't already know.?

The drive to Mackinaw City over the Straits of Mackinac into Mackinaw County,  took us past Fort Michilimackinac. We stopped at Bells Fishery to buy some Chubs.  Yikes, when did you see them last? They were on sale at 1/2 price, originally $12.00 PER POUND.  We bought a pound , and also bought a tub of whitefish pate'. That is the first in 3-4 years.

Then it was easy sailing wth two stops , one for lunch at a rest area just south of the Straits and the other for gas at $2.69 at Gaylord. Wow, was it busy there!  Lots of traffic.  Summer is not far away I guess.

We arrived at West Branch County RV Park where Cary met us and gave us a nice site down in a corner by the woods  He said that  the morning  "din" of the bird music was the most he has heard in all the time he has been here.  We hope that is true and we see some birds We did hear some this evening.

Tomorrow will be a busy day with a soccer game in Saginaw (Tavin) that  Ruth and I will attend.  and sit with Margaret there. In the afternoon is Ella's piano recital, and in the evening a Birthday Party for Oliver Ardell  here in West Branch at the old Forward's Motel.   Sunday some of the family will attend a "second" memorial service at the cemetery. They wanted to do it in the nicer weather rather than the cold days of winter when it was done inside.

So here are a few photos from the activites and I will post a few tomorrow especially this wonderful campsite.

The "Big Mac"

This hummer (Ruby Throated) stayed 30 minutes at the feeder last night

Here is  The R T Hummingbird in the "up"position, watching for predators.

                                 This is a female Purple Finch , compare to the Grosbeak below.

A female Rose Breasted Grosbeak

Lots of action with six Purple Finches and two Goldfinches.

Day 60 --three to go!--Tahquamenon River and more of Whitefish Point

Yes it is getting "crunch time" and if you asked Ruth she would say, "Let's keep traveling". It has been a very good respite for her to get away this long. The care receiver obligations were put on hold for 8 weeks and that has been a big help. We will stop in West Branch for two nights to see the Wards and I heard maybe attend a 2nd birthday party for a great grandson. (Is that a rumor?).

Today started out with a visit to the "other" part of Tahquamenon Falls ,the Upper Falls (We saw the Lower Falls yesterday) to find a few birds and photograph the falls.  We accomplished the latter but found few birds there. Actually the total today was down to 20 birds but we did see THREE new species. They were; the Veery, Least Flycatcher, and the Redstart. Also four Bald Eagles, three of them young ones, and some Sandhill Cranes flying over. Ruth said our total bird species is now at 224 birds.

Veery --a seldom seen bird although heard more often.

The Sandhill Cran. These were around in numbers.

 The trip to the falls in the AM was a good one and it was very  quiet even if a few school tours were there for Science outings. One group from Saginaw was on a three day trip for 4-5 graders.
Then to the Point after a stop at the bakery in Paradise to pick up some baked goods for a treat. (Would you call that a "Bakery in Paradise". (I guess I just did?)

Then Ruth stayed on the bench behnd the gift shop (which was open)   where we ate our picnic lunch in the sun by the feeders.  I went up to the Hawk Platform expecting Brett to be there again, but "Joe" was there so he got the danish that Brett would have had, that I brought.

Not as many types of raptors today but more Bald Eagles (three immature) and many more Sharp Shinned Hawks (Sharpies) . Yesterday they set another daily record for Sharpies.

The day warmed up to 65F and little wind.

Ruth located that Veery ( a new bird)  and we headed for Vermillion Road where in previous years we have found good birding by a large pond  (Shelldrake) where there is a State campground. Well ...surprise , surprise! They were logging the entire area and more, and there was no campground there anymore . It looked like a campground was never there.

The Upper Tahquamenn Falls on the River of the same name.

 In the morning, at the falls we had heard a Black Throated Green Warlbler but could not locate it visibly (Have to see the bird to count it!) So we went back to the falls to try to locate it, but in the afternoon the birding is seldom good and we did not find it, We did find however, Two Engkishmen from central England who were birding and we exchanged the days birding highlights (Neither of us had seen many birds) . We recommended Camp 33 fish to them for a fne meal. (They knew what "fish and chips" are.)

That ended the day and at the trailer we had more hummers (one who stayed 30 minutes att he feeder ths evening) and 7 Purple Finches who were quite aggressive with each other. An American Gold finch also came to feed.

So tomorrow we head south (for the first time in 7 weeks) and will spend a few days with some of the family and then head for home on Sunday. Thanks, for reading and looking, and hang in there for two more days of blog.

The Ruby Throated Hummingbird at our trailer feeder

Spring Beauty

Trout Lily, an early, woodland, spring flower

Is there still ice on Whitefish Bay?

                                            A type of cirrus cloud still forming called 'cirrus uncinus'.
                                                            Or, 'with pointed hook'.

Day 59-- Whitefish Point Bird Observatory (WPBO)

The visitors were few  as the air was cold yet, but the sun was shining all day and felt good after the rain and miserable weather of Tuesday.  We returned to WPBO  and added to the birds we observed, as there were counters and observers both at the Point by the water where the birds "round the corner" on the way to Canada (17 miles ) and points north. The other place to watch was the Hawk Platform at thend of many stairs  where the spotter records the hawks (and other birds ) that fly over, or around the Point.

Some of the steps to the counting hawk platform

The bird counter at the Point. Brr!

There were many hawks today as  this week seemed to be a "peak week"of sorts. One day this week the spotter counted 940 Sharp shinned Hawks and they were still around today but not in those numbers. There were Bald Eagles (the Golden Eagles have already gone north ) , and Rough Legged, Broad Winged, Sharp Shinned Hawks  and , Northern Harrers, Red Tailed Hawks, Turkey Vultures, Kestrels, Merlin, and I did see one Perigrine Falcon. That was a real treat.  

Ruth watched the birds near the feeder and was treated to a Sharp Shinned Hawk that came in close twice to try to get a bird at the feeder. (Missed two times). I didt the walking to both the Point and talked with the spotter there and also to the Hawk Platform where the spotter was "Brett" from Montana. This was his first time at the Point to do the. He has been a spotter before.

All in all it was a good day with more than 40 bird species counted, including the Great Blue Hernthat flew over this evening in the campground.

Tomorrow will be our last full day here as we transition to the Southern Peninsula and West Branch for two nights.  More on that later as we visit our family, the Ward's in West Branch.  Some photos follow about today.

 A Broad Winged Hawk was one of the birds that flew over and around.

One half of the Lower falls at Tacquamenon State Park

                                          The other half of Lower Falls at Tacquamenon State Park

A blooming Trout Lily, They have just blossomed

White Crowned Sparrow

Ya all know the Blue Jay, eh?

Drift wood on the Lake Superior beach.

A freighter downbound with possibly Iron ore.

The path to the Point counting station.

The path again  to the Point with all those sand washed stones

The Whitefish Point lighthouse and plaque.

Day 58-- Moved closer to Whitefish Point... ICE, BIRDS, and FISH (for dinner).

There is usually a "silver lining" in dark clouds and this day was no exception to that rule. Moving our campsite on short note to another one worked out fine and got us a closer drive to Whitefish Point in the long run (No pun intended) . We are at North Country Campground north of Newberry on M 123. It is a large "In the round" type campgrund with all sites pointing to the middle of the campground. We are one of two trailers in the 100 sites so it is VERY QUIET. We love that of course. There is some bird life and that is encouraging as well.

We moved at about 9:30 in the morning and made the 85 mile drive by 11:30. Our campground owners had just signed the papers yesterday to purchase the Campground and the former   owners were to move out today. It was a warm greeting that they gave and in doing so we found that they are learning as they go even though they had been in "apprenticeship" for the last two weeks.

We set up camp , and decided to get at least a half day at Whitefish Point so packed a lunch  (No cafeteria or food at Whitefish Point) and away we went. On the way we saw a large snow drift from the winter (the only snow we saw) near Taquamennon Falls  State Park , That was  a surprise but not as mich as what we saw when we got to Lake Superior near Paradise. There were packs of ice in the lake right up against the shore and windrows of ice out in the lake where the freighters go by. It is  cold yet in the north. Today was 38 F for the highest temp.

Snow drift on M 123  (May 12, 2015)

Ice at the State Harbor (Whitefish Point)
with ice out on Lake Superior

When we arrived at Whitefish Point , it was pretty serious weather at 39 F , raning ('heavy mist' as the Scots would say) and the wind blowing in from the west. We decded to dig out our winter jackets (We are from Michigan, right?) and hats and mittens and scarves. and head for the back of the gift shop where the bird feeders are operating and attract many kinds and numbers of birds. (The gift shop is not open yet).Actuall that is quite funny as we started ut in Texas wearing  shorts.

EXPLANATION: Whitefish Point has been run by the National Audubon Society, Miichgan and this year was transferred to the Seney HQ of the NWR. So it is now a unit of Seney with their HQ at Seney NWR. That only changes the adminsitration and all else continues as it was. Bird counting of Raptors and other birds goes on from April until June and then agan in Sept-October. Professional counters come here to work  and donors pay for them through their contributions. Records are kept for use in data analysis. It operates as a non-profit, affiliate education and research facility of the Naional  Audubon Society. Thousands of birds use Whitefish Point as critical stopover habitat to replenish energy reserves before venturing across Lake Superior during spring and fall migrations. A WPBO study found the highest density of migrant landbirds within 1.5 kilometres (4,900 ft) of Whitefish Point, with higher densities along the shore than at inland locations. 

Today we did count 15 bird speies there and thirty in all, which was so much better than  the last few days. We will travel there on Wed and Thirsday to explore the raptors lookout and platform as well as the "Point" where there also are counters.. Here are some addirtional photos from today .

The Whitefish Point Lighthouse

                                                                             We ate dinner here tonight, Fish (Trout and Whitefish) Appropriate ,eh?

This is Camp 33 , an old CCC camp converted to a Restaurant and gift shop. Great History on Website.

A Pileated Woodepecker had a field day with this tree. Note the chips pile.

                                                 Our campsite at North Country RV

Day 57- Seney, a thriving lumber town...long ago.

Today and a few days back.

Marsh Marigolds were common along M 28 yesterday.

Our campground that we will cut short  tomrrow (See below) 

The Laundry was finished today,Last time on the road.

Grocery shopping at Rahilly's in Newberry.

Today was to be a trip to Seney  NWR  at least in the afternoon. The rain was quite steady so we did laundry first, some gracery shopping, and then headed to the trailer to get ready to get to Seney for a few hours. It is only 4 miles from the campground.

When we headed for Seney it was still raining so we though we might do some of the auto tour route before supper. But alas, they were not open until Friday this week. The staff was friendly and explained the situation,  but we could not walk or drive into the Refuge. BUMMER!

That meant a switch in the progrm, and we will move tomorrow from where we are at Germfask (4 miles from Seney) , to a RV Park 1/2 way to Whtefish Point from there.  We will have free acces to the birds, trails and lakeshore where birds are counted each day, especially the raptors.  So stick with us a few more days as we wrap up this trip, even though the unexpected happens. On this 8 week trip we have been very blessed to have good days all the way, a litte setback will not deter us  for a few more days, Here are a few background facts about Seney and the area.

A little history.
Seney, MI started out as a little settlement located by the tracks of the Duluth, South Shore, and Atlantic railroad,  that ran from St. Ignace, MI to Marquette, MI in about 1881. The train stopped at Seney to load and unload passengers who wanted to travel the footpath north to the harbor town of Grand Marais, MI, located on Lake Superior.  (24 miles)  Some say the town was named for one of the contractors on the railroad as were some of the nearby villages.

                                                   

The Upper Peninsula was a vast forest of white pine, so in 1882 the Alger, Smith Company began logging and other companies soon followed. Seney was suddenly the center of the logging industry and this little hamlet abruptly grew to become a thriving town of around 3000 people, and many more when the lumberjacks came in from the 15 or more nearby camps. 

Much of the town was built up on 6 foot cedar posts because of the swampy land and the depth of the snow. There were about 21 saloons, 10 hotels, a church, drug stores, meat markets, general merchandise stores, a jewelry store, other businesses, and several hundred houses. One church I see!

Seney NWR on the other hand is a vast tract of bog and fen and at 45,000 acres one of the largest in the country. Sorting out what is there would take days to explain, but this paragraph might help. In the early days an attempt to make an agricultural area of ts place was attempted and draining the water by canals was one of the techniques attempted (It was not successful)

Nearly one hundred years of modifications to the hydrology of Seney National Wildlife Refuge have changed the way water flows through C-3 watershed.  (THE PROBLEM) The area known as the spreads on Walsh Ditch below C-3 Dike has experienced erosion and peat subsidence. The water table near C-3 Pool has been altered, and creeks have been diverted from their natural courses. Beaver populations have become dependent upon the flow of water in man-made channels, but have also remained active in abandoned natural channels that carry ground-water discharge. Wildlife populations have come to depend on artificial pools. (THE SOLUTION)  Proposed changes to the hydrology in C-3 watershed include restoring creeks to their natural channels, restoring the flow of water in channels where blocked by artificial methods, and reducing or eliminating the flow of water in man-made channels. So we can see it is a complicated process, dependent upon humans to restore it to its original condition if at all.

Seney is mostly all fen.
A fen is one of the four main types of wetland, the others being grassy marshes, forested swamps, and peaty bogs. Along with bogs, fens are a kind of mire. Fens are usually fed by mineral-rich surface water or groundwater. They are characterised by their water chemistry, which is alkaline, with relatively high dissolved mineral levels but few other plant nutrients. The principal challenges are to restore natural water flow regimes, to maintain the quality of water, and to prevent invasion by woody plants.
There are websites that show some of the pictures of Seney NWR and I hope you would be able to bring them up to look at. I am disappointed that we didn't capture it in photos for  you.
Hopefully when we get to Whitefish Point we can make up for it somewhat.

P.S. I should have mentioned it yesterday, that we saw, about 6 feet from the side of the road, a Bald Eagle standing on the carcass of a deer eating its meal. What a glorious sight that was.