Stromboli's Rolling Log: 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.