Except for the Ring Billed Gulls, which numbered in the hundreds, the
Eagles out numbered all other birds today. They were flying over like it
was their home. It was! What a treat to see a half dozen of them.
Wisconsin
Point is a peninsula that lies adjacent to the town of Superior and is a
spit of land that parallels the mainland. It is one of two parts of
that spit that the St Louis River splits and makes a natural channel to
Lake Superior. It has been that way for over 1,000 years. In the 1800’s
the Corps of Engineers (are they that old?) reduced the size from 1500
feet wide to 500 feet wide, but maintain it for ships to get in and out
of the ports of Superior, WI and Duluth, MN. That means that the
boundary between the two states runs through the channel and the two
spits .The one on the north side belongs to MN. and the tip is called
Minnesota Point. (naturally!). Iron ore, grain and oil are three of
the chief substances that are shipped from here to ports all over the
world.
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| The inner bay called Ineuez |
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| Looking across from Wisconsin Point to the west (mainland) |
The Point is natural “trap” for birds that hug the land as they travel along Lake Superior shore heading either north in the spring or south on the fall, The hawk watch north of Duluth is world famous for species count especially in the fall. These spits are wonderful bird sites. They incorporate warblers in the large pine forest, shorebirds along both shores, and sea birds that hug the coast in their journey north and south.
Slow driving and many stops usually gets good results on the road, which is affectionately known as “Moccasin Mike’s Road”. Its is rough until it meets the Wisconsin Point road and turns north.
We stopped dozens of times and picked up a few sparrows, warblers and Kingbirds. When we got to the Point itself we were treated to hundreds of gulls resting on one of the sea walls on the MN side.They were resting that is until… the Peregrine Falcon showed up. It was so fast! Only the flying gulls would escape, but he was not successful that we noted. I did video of it at a distance, but it is not clear enough to show. That was a thrill to see the acceleration that this bird has in contrast to the rather slow moving gulls. At one time one of the gulls took after it, but to was no contest. The Falcon outsped the gull in a short distance.
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| Blue bell species |
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| Wisconsin Point Lighthouse |
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| Indian (Chppewa) Burial site where families honor ancesters |
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| The ore loading docks at Superior. |
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| Storm coming. Only a few drops. |
Tomorrow we will cross over to Duluth (the St.Louis River separates the two cities) and drive the Minnesota Point side of the channel.
We will see what is different. Already we know that the traffic will be heavier on that side.
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