Day 5 Friday October 3, 2014 No birding today, just an inside day.

   I heard that remark…"Jim's a whimp". And, you may very well be partially right, but with the wind whipping at an average of 27 mph and gusting to 40 mph all night, the morning did not present itself as a day to greet the birds.  Besides, if they had any sense they, too would be hunkered down in some bush out of the wind and cold.  It was 47 F and with that wind fet like 35 F I am sure.

   An alternate plan had to be forthcoming, so Ruth and I looked over the possibiitoes and came up with a ride into Omaha (just across the river some 20 miles or so) and take a visit to the IMAX theatre that was showing "Where the Wild Things Live".  In order to get onto the IMAX, a twin ticket for the Omaha Zoo must be included so we will do some of that too.  Now, zoos are not Jim's favorite place to visit although he has been to many, but if it meant seeing movie, then we included it.

   The morning in the trailer did give us a chance to do some sorting of the pictures we have taken, as each day some 150-200 are added to the stock. Sorting, labeling and otherwise organizing them helps later when looking for certain ones. Ruth also has kept track of every bird we have seen on every trip that we have taken for the 21 years we have been married.  She updated that as well.    So after lunch we headed out , this time staying on I-80 into Omaha just across the Missouri River . (Whoops I thought I saw Lewis and Clarks pirogue, for a moment there. No, it was just a barge ). The zoo and IMAX are on the first exit and first street across the bridge .  

                                                                    

                                                                                             We got off at 30th St. (exit 13)

The entry to the Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo and IMAX

   The tickets (seniors) included both venues so the priceas more than just the IMAX.  $17.00 each. I do think, however, that after the day was finished, we did get our money's worth. It appears that the Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo (its official name) has more than 30 individual animal outdoor exhibits, and thirteen buildings holding exhibits indoors. Some, like the Orangutan and Gorilla exhibits, have both indoor and outdoor habitats for the animals. The zoo is open every day but Christmas. It has a train that covers all of the outdoor exhibits, and many ponds with different shows featuring the animals at different times of the day.  As we only spent 4 hours there, we zeroed in on the Ourangatangs and the gorillas. excellent plexiglass? separations kept the charging animals from the predtators as the young animals love see the people shriek and pullback when they come charging at them saying "THIS IS MY TERRITORY"! A few other exhibits centering on night animals were visited.

This guy was just yawning, not screaming!
 
   There was time also for a visit to the Desert Dome, a very large structure with glassed ceiling and many desert environments inside. I was amazed at the endless paths that they could insert inside that dome. It seemed like there was no end to the exhibits of flora and fauna as well. Some wild birds, and animals never see in North America, and a few pictures will give examples.

 
                                                                                                           
                                                                                                    These guys are Kipspringers

   Then before 3:00 we lined up for the IMX movie and were impressed with the story of two  women who in two separate countries (Sumatra and Kenya) each cared for, all of their lives , Orangutans and Elephants, all of whom had been either abandoned in the wild or parents (mother's especially) killed for meat or hides. Each woman has developed a precise way to rehabilitate the animasl so by the time they were adults (as long as six years) they could move back into the wild . The elephants (about 25 of them)  were placed in a "camp" with other older orphaned elephants who took them in as family and cultured them in the wild ways (behind a large protective  secure area, until three years passed and they could join other herds as a normal elephant once again. The Orangutans were treated the same by handlers (each had one handler) who nursed (bottle fed)  them, and slept with them, until they were ready to go out on their own. a beautiful story and a great contribution to rehabilitation of species we, as people of the world are destroying with poor stewardship of the land, and resources in those areas of the world. ( I think we do that here as well.)

                                                            South African Crown Cranes


   All in all it was a fine day and we ended it with a short country tour to get some pictures of the fields of corn and beans. Then  a trip to a new local restaurant just bult, It looks like a barn but inside is both a store and a restaurant, We got  there just in time to beat the Friday evening local "country band" that was to play 1 hour later. They were queing up for that one at 5:00 PM. Seems the members of the band were all in there 70's or so, and they came in carrying their guitars, banjos and assorted instruments.  o to play "country songs"  that many will enjoy during the evening. We ordered our hamburger and pulled pork sandwich (excellent), conversed with two veterans of WW2 who sat with us (family style round tables).  We learned much about an event held in Des Moines last month to honor the Korean Veterans  who served.  They had just dedicated a memorial there that day. I did ask one question of the one Navy man, and that was… was he in on the Invasion of Inchon Harbor ? He said he was on an air craft carrier  down on the engine room and very seldom knew where the ship was.  He was in from 1950-1955

   Time for bed, and tomorrow's activities will depend on the weather as the wind is still blowing. We will visit the  Loess Hills  that run along the Missouri  River the length of the state.  Besides windblown soil of ancient times (glacial age) ,I understand there is an ice cream factory up there somewhere that makes real ice cream sodas!
Catch you tomorrow.

Day 4 Iowa Thursday October 2, 2014 Foggy, Wet, Rainy and then… cold northern wind.

   When it is foggy in the morning and rainy all day, it gets to be difficult to write about things that are happy and joyous. We will, however put together some thoughts about the day as I posted just the squirrel story on Wed).

   We had planned to travel the 50 miles to the Boyer Chutes NWR even though we were told at DeSoto that it had been damaged by the floods on the Missouri River in 2011. The infrastructure was destroyed so there was no more visitor center or information booth at all.

   The morning was very foggy so we delayed a little while to allow the air to heat some before starting out on the highway with all the trucks. I-80 is still a mainline out here. We packed a lunch so if we did see some things of interest and the weather held, we would be ready. In the National Wildlife Reserves (NWR) there are no fast food places, let alone any kind of food distribution or sales at all.  Thank God for that! But then you might have known that. We always take a lunch unless we plan ahead not to need one.  It is carried in a small but reliable, red,  hard sided cooler that holds one ice pack nicely and enough room for an adequate lunch. Ruth likes a lot of fruit and I love a sandwich and fruit with drinks that works well for the cooler. Hey, last night we had  DQ, as the Dairy Queeen is just at the end of the campground!  But, I digress!

                                                         Boyer Chutes NWR.The "chutes"
                                                         is the channel across the peninsula.

   The fog, by the time we drove down off the Loess Hills* (see later note), had pretty much stretched out to 2 miles or so. When we crossed the Missouri River (Boyer Chutes is in Nebraska)  there was no fog at all. The route to the Reserve was in a circle if you will, as we went west, south, west, north, east and finally south again to get there.  The closer we got to the Reserve  the more we could see that there was a lot of residual water and mud, and at the entry was a big sign that said "No entry on this road". We knew that as the ranger at DeSoto had told us about it and gave us a revised map.

   So, we took the only road to follow which went due south to the Missouri River. It was very quiet, and with the steady rain (not that hard) few birds were out. We did find two deer  in different places on the side of the road and watched them scamper along in front of us. Five  turkeys crossed the road like they owned it. Eventually Ruth spotted a "big bird" in a dead tree spar. She thought it was a Bald eagle, but it was very dark and against the rainy and cloudy sky it looked even darker up there in the top branches of the bare tree. But, after some looking with the binoculars,  we determined that indeed it was a Bald Eagle. We considered that that was worth the morning all by itself, but it wasn't over yet.

                                           Notice how dark this young Bald Eagle is even
                                           without the poorly lighted sky

    We drove to the end of the road where there was a turnaround and headed back to the entrance. Of course we watched that same tree for the Eagle on the way out. Ruth again spotted another "large bird" but smaller than the Eagle. The sky made it  very difficult  to see color on the birds, but we stopped and I carfully opened the driver's door (no cars in the park) and got my binoculars on it.  A distinct white patch along side the eyes and it's shape and size eliminated some species. After some searching and comparing  we determined (and agreed) that it was a Prairie Falcon.  Upon watching it fly the shape and design of the wings confirmed that choice. This was an entrely new species for  us as we had not seen it before .

   So even though the day was wet, cloudy and devoid of the smaller birds we latched onto  some excellent species.  Along with them, we did see some Kestrals, and two large flocks that we believe were migrating birds. The one was in the campground and were 15 Killdeer that used the habitat in the campground for feed. They have been there two days now. The other flock was in the Reserve where we saw the largest flock of Northern Flickers we had ever seen. About 25-30 of them  feeding along side of the road in the Reserve.   What a treat! Hard to see even one of those back home.

                                            Last night's sunset had some color after the rains.

    A Little Blue Heron, a Great Egret,  some Barn Swallows and a Blue Jay added to the total for the day.  Only 14 birds, but some quality sightings for us.

   We returned to the trailer where we spent that afternoon and caught up on mail, picture entries and sorting the picures.  The total of pictures taken today was about 125.  A wonderful supper of red skin potatoes and fried onions with sauerkraut and turkey ended the day. Can't beat that when on the road.

The rain is gone and the north wind doth blow!  Catch you tomorrow when we will return to DeSoto NWR and I will enter a full report about that Reserve.

Day 3 Wednesday October 1, 2014 TRUCK IN TROUBLE.

Day 3 October 1, 2014-TRUCK IN TROUBLE

  (I'll add the pictures when I get faster internet.)

   It started at 2:40 PM on Friday September 26, 2014, when I took theToyota Tundra, into the shop to get its regular maintenance of a lubrication and oil change. Ruth and I were heading west to Iowa with the trailer and I wanted to make sure that the truck was in ship shape and ready to go.  Having completed the lub and oil change, I brought the truck home and parked it in the usual place in front of the trailer (in the drive) and partially under a huge and beautiful pine tree.  Now the pine tree does drip sap occasionally  but never does any other damage occur from the tree.

    The truck was there parked, until late Sunday afternoon (that’s 48 hours or so)  when I started to put some things in it as we were to leave on Monday AM at about 9:00 AM. I had put the hitch on and some things I keep in the back of the truck to use for the hitch, the levelers as well as some gloves. Finishing putting the hitch on,  I went into a storage cabinet in the garage to get the rear view mirror extenders, and started putting them in place. I always secure the driver’s side first. I finished that one and was walking around the front of the truck, when I noticed that the hood was not closed tightly. (This is a small event that really turned out LARGE). Of course in order to close the hood securely, I had to open it wide . and when i did , what a surprise there was to see under the hood. In those 48 hours , the squirrels (I assume, as I did not see them!) had made a mess of the interior with pine cones, and grass stuffed in, around and into the cracks and crevices of the entire interior.  (See pictures). I was dumbfounded.

                                                                                         The full engine picture

   Now there is a problem, not only in getting the material out from under the hood, but to get  ALL of it out so that there is no residue left to possibly start a fire somewhere between Grand Rapids and Western Illinois  where we were to be the next night.

   

   So, carefully and manually I started to remove first the mass of grass as it was shoved into the corner of the fender well and was very difficult to remove over, under and around the wiring that was there.  Then came the pine cones as they were tucked and secured under the cover of the engine and over the manifold and engine block. These were the most difficult to remove as they were secured very tightly.  There were pieces of pine cones and seeds and the cones themselves in almost every part of the engine and assembly. 

                                                                There's that "nest" in th ecorner by the fender well

   

   Having satisfied myself that I had gotten most of the debris out, I now tried to think of ways to get the remainder that was stuck between the engine cover and the manifold intake as this is where the heat would combust quite quickly, I thought. At first I used my fingers and a screw driver, and then a long piece of coat hanger, and then Ruth’s hairdryer, but that didn’t seem to be strong enough to get down in those crevices.  I then borrowed my neighbor’s very strong leaf blower and that did get most of it out. But, there were still some chips left “down inside the cracks”.

                                                         
                                                   This was the most difficult area to get them out.They were "stuffed" in there

   

   I stopped that night (it was now almost dark) and decided it was probably good enough. But as I went to sleep that night, it kept gnawing at me and all I could think of were the possibilities if all the debris wasn’t out. 

    So, first thing in the morning I called the shop and asked if I could get someone to blow out the remaining chips and the entire engine area. I told them briefly the story and they put me in line to get the work done. As soon as the mechanic opened the hood he went directly to the air filter (on the passenger side, under the dashboard) and pulled out a completely stuffed air filter that would have never let any air through because it was filled with seeds, grass, pine chips and pieces. It actually was beginning to disintegrate. He then completed the cleaning of the engine and block area and I felt , now, that it was safe to travel with the truck.

   

   Quite a story, but it means that in the fall the squirrels are in a hurry to build a shelter and store food for the months ahead and they don’t really care where, when, or in whose vehicle they store it!.  

   

   We did make it safely to western Illinois and eventually to Western Iowa and all was well.

   

   There is a moral. Be sure to check under your vehicle hood every once in a while as you never know who may have claimed it for a new home. Especially if you park your vehicle outside someplace or, like me, under a great big, old pine tree.

Catch ya, tomorrow.  De Soto National Wildlife Reserve on the Missouri River.

Final copy for Day 1 and 2, Traveling to Iowa

   Just to refresh our  memories, that this trip has as its goal, to visit the wildlife areas of the Missouri River and the Des Plaines (IA) "pothole lakes", in order to observe the migration of the birds in the fall of the year.  More on that later.

   

   An intersting conversation happened to me the day before I was to start this trip to Iowa. A young man working in a business  (in Grand Rapids) had come to Michigan from Iowa just  5 months ago,. I asked him how he decided to come to Michigan. His answer sums up Iowa for many people. "I just got tired of seeing the corn!" (He loves MIchigan's variety of seasons and habitat.)

                                        

                                                THIS WILL BE TOMORROW'S STORY

   

   But let us remember that Iowa produces so much corn that we don't have to rely on many things on our own. Beside the direct use of corn, there are many by-products used in fuels, foods, industry and even art!  ( The "Corn Palace" in Mitchell South Dakota!)  This week it seemed that some of the corn farmers wanted to get a start on that corn that was ready for harvest, so the further west we travelled, the more corn we saw that had been cut. Just a small percent cut at this time, but it will grow in the weeks to come. Along the Mississippi River , there were a few barges tied up, empty, waiting for the trucks to arrive with their loads to be transferred and  loaded into the barges. Where trucks can haul 910 bushels at a time, a railroad car can haul 250,000 pounds and  a barge can haul 3 million pounds and they often link 9 barges in tandem when moving them.  Amazing  stuff .  On the interstate we saw a number of trucks heading that way with their first loads of corn for the season. At one interchange we saw a huge pile of corn cobs , used for ?? compost?  Corn production goes  35% to Animals , 27% ethanol, 10% distilleries, 11% exported, other lesser %.

   

                                                    HENNEPIN CANAL , IL

 We did also see some of the wind generator blades and stanchions being moved down the road. LOts of wind farms in Iowa as they produce 7.5% of their energy from wind.

   

   Day one was beautiful reaching a temperature of 82F in central Illinois. The evening in western Illinois  got down to 48 F but still very clear. We stayed at Geneseo, IL, which is near the terminus of the old Hennepin Canal (named after a Jesuit Priest) which starts near Chicago and winds its way to the Mississippi River using a river the last few miles. It was built with manual labor and is a work of engeneering marvel as the banks and side tow paths are still intact .  (Note path in picture.) Generally, I-80 follows its route. (Maybe they could have put the Interstate over it?) The canal was started in 1890 and finished in 1907 and  runs for 75 miles. It  was used for recreation, transporrtation and fishing. Record fish still are caught by fishing from the canal. The YMCA even held its swimming classes there for awhile. Railroads became more efficient and trucks and highways closed it down. There are 28 locks still visible on the canal.

   

   When we got into Iowa the price of gasoline took a huge drop even though Illinois was still at the $3.28 range. All of a sudden it was as low as $3.05/gallon. I think Ethanol additives might influence that some, but not entirely. Iowa's gasoline tax is three cents less than Michigan's at $.19 per gallon.

                                                      IOWA GASOLINE PRICES 

   In the middle of the day, as it had been cloudy all day, I remarked to Ruth that it seemed like the clouds were getting thinner , and we should escpect to see the sun. We did see it  about an hour later, but just briefly, as in about another 45 minutes the skies opened up and we had a terrific downpour and some hefty winds, but it was very brief. I was relieved as we were just 6 miles from the stop where we planned to stay for the week. Heavy rain and a trailer with truck traffic makes for steely nerves.

   

   We did manage to get a tank of gasoline during the rain under cover, and the campground was just a few yards from that station. It did not stop raining all evening except a few brief intervals so we set up the trailer in the rain as well. (See the clothes hanging around the inside of the trailer?) I didn't take a picture but should have. As I write this at 9:15 PM CDT, it is still raining)

   

   So tomorrow we shall see how the weather shapes up. It appears that the main rain will cease, and move on east. There is a prediction for on and off showers during the day, so we may just sit tight and tell stories.

   That's it for this one and as we are on a quite slow internet this may not have any or many pictures, but I will try.  (I managed to put a few in I see.) If not, I will park the computer inside the office where there will be better delivery of services. (That's another story) 

   Catch you on the next one, especially if there is less rain and we can get out and about to see the birds.

Upcoming birding trip to Iowa.

On the road , soon!

We are getting ready for a two week trip to the western "shores" of Iowa. Hope to see some of the migration of the waterfowl and possibly some songbirds heading south for the winter.  The area northeast of Onaha has  some terrific NW Reserves and good birding.  DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge to name one.  Another few days will be spent in the DesMoines area to check out many of the small"pothole like" lakes that abound there with waterfowl at certain times of th year.
I'll keep some running account of the days activities and of course some pictures.  Here is a picture of the Ruby Throated hummingbirds that have still been coming to the feeders in Grand Rapids this week (September 15-20th).. See you in another week.

POCOSIN NWR "SWAMP ON A HILL"

BURNED OUT AREA AT POCOSIN


SWALLOWTAIL BUTTERFLY

BLACK BEAR AT POCOSIN

Day 27 --Pocosin-“Swamp on a hill” NW Refuge

Did you ever go into an isolated area (no ‘civilization’) of about 110,000 acres with a map that you felt was adequate , and ended up finding out (after you were ½ way into the area) that the map really didn’t tell you where you were or where you are”.? That happened to us this day,

but first we had to get the amenities out of the way. This NWR was 28 miles from our Park, and in Columbia N.C.. The Fish and Wildlife HQ was where we had supposed we could get some good directions. We had a “basic” map, but needed to know especially which road allowed us to enter the Reserve. The HQ was closed on Sat and Sun so that ended that quest.
I felt I needed to get an oil change and that would be wise to do it while we were in town. There was a BP station that had three bays so I stopped there to inquire if he could do an oil change and filter for our truck. (Toyota Tundra ’07) He said he could. This turned out to be fortunate as we got right in. They did have to go to a parts store for the filter but after an hour we were on our way .NO 10 MINUTE LUB HERE AND NOT AT 10 MINUTE LUB PRICES! $54.00 WAS THE COST. But we were on our way to the Refuge.
Earlier on the way way up to the HQ. we passed NO signage that told of this place, yet, there was an entry along this road (NC 94) somewhere. (None of those official brown signs) We stopped a mail carrier and she did not know how to get into it (she was delivering mail one road away from the entry). We asked a couple in a car. They lived there but did not even know of the Reserve!!! Finally I stopped at a house and the gentleman named Carl, told me to go to “Frying Pan Road” (Really) then he said to turn left there and not the direction of the sign. He was right as there was no sign for that side of the road. It was the entrance to the Reserve and the gravel road all the way through was adequate and maintained There were no signs at all. Now began a 4 hour test of direction and intuition. The official map for the Reserve did not have a correct scale, nor were any deviating roads that we came to while driving that were on the map. This area is a forested, peat bog, small timbered piece of real estate that goes on and on and on. We drove 75 miles after we got into the Reserve and 80 miles previously trying to find the entrance and also while driving home. (we drove down three, long dead ends). .
The ride was filled with good observations however. The wildlife in this area was excellent and although we did not see any cougar (there are some here) we did see deer, fox, turkey, and TA TA TA A BLACK BEAR. It was ahead of us a few hundred feet and moving for an opening . I said to Ruth “Get the camera” It was in her lap but when you get “beary” excited everything stops focusing except the animal. She did get one snap off and it is “decent”. The fox we saw twice as we backtracked to see him stalking a Turkey and we never did know if it actually tangled with it or not.. There were lots of Turkeys , some rabbits, and a few birds. Last year there was large fire in the reserve and we did pass by much of that . 10,000 acres were burned and the peat fires were long-lasting.
There were other birds; the Green Heron, Bobwhite (flushed two of them) , another Red Tailed Hawk, Wood Duck (m and f) Great Crested Flycatcher, Killdeeer, Meadowlark, and the Prothonotory Warbler one more time. There were many of the latter. We saw 32 bird species. There are two large lakes for fishing and wildlife in the Refuge.
There were a few birds that we did not identify as they were elusive in the heavy cover. For those of you that have driven the back roads in the UP of Michigan, this would be similar with more deciduous trees and each road having a canal alongside. I have not seen any reasons for the canals as yet.. I suspect that the road system in the Reserve (built in 1987) was built from the dirt that was dug from where the canals are now. I’ll check on that.. This 110,000 acre plot was donated in part form the conservation fund in conjunction with the Richard Mellon Foundation. It is an awesome and isolated Refuge. We were on the Reserve/Refuge 4 hours and did not see single car or person , until the last 30 minutes when we saw two people. It was a great day for nature and the out of doors.
We headed home, as we finally, at 4:30, drove out of the Reserve and onto the pavement of NC 45 that led us back to the campground. A simple supper and some relaxing time and the day was tied in a bow, with the colors of the setting sun.
Tomorrow we will get to one of the local Methodist churches. There is one in every town here no matter how small. Those circuit riders did a great job.. Our nature program for Sunday will be local as there is a small refuge in Swan Quarter that we will seek out. Isn’t it time for laundry you say? Thanks for reading and send an e mail to crazy4birds@comcast.net

FACT : Did you know that Rachel Carson (“Silent Spring”, was an employee and chief editor for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service? (1932 -1952)POCOSIN NWR

Day 16 SOUTHERN DELAWARE- LIGHTHOUSES AND WW 2

Day 16 SOUTHERN DELAWARE- LIGHTHOUSES AND WW 2

This Tuesday we looked south of the campground to see what was just between the Maryland border and Lewes Delaware. We had not explored this section of land. In between these points are two lighthouses on land and a number of wildlife viewing areas. The first objective was the State Park at Henlopen just a block away from the Lewes Ferry docks.

This Park has a number of features relating to WW2. In May of 1945 just after the war ended, a German submarine surrendered to the US Marines here and were interred first at Fort Miles (now the park land) and then in northern New Jersey. Also from WW 2 the giant 12 inch gun emplacements are still present at the preserved Fort Miles along with the fire tower, Battery 519 and the barracks. On the beach atop a large dune are the “off limits” nesting areas for the Piping Plover. These birds are “late” arriving this year due to the inclement weather. (Six consecutive days of rain.) In 1964 the US Gov’t. Returned the land to the state of Delaware turned the Fort into a tourist attraction and it was made into a 543 acre park. Much of the beach at the park is only accessible for fishermen with special $150,00 permits to surf fish. One access road that led to Gordon Pond (see later) was “Liaise Faire” to us. We had been warned not to mess with trespass laws.

FORT ,MILES 12 INCH GUN, BARRACKS AND ANTI-SHIP,ANTI-AIR BATTERIES. (3”)

On the beach atop a large dune are the “off limits” nesting areas for the Piping Plover. These birds are “late” arriving this year due to the inclement weather. (Six consecutive days of rain.) In 1964 the US Gov’t. Returned the land to the state of Delaware turned the Fort into a tourist attraction and it was made into a 543 acre park. Much of the beach at the park is only accessible for fishermen with special $150,00 permits to surf fish. One access road that led to Gordon Pond (see later) was “Liaise Faire” to us. We had been warned not to mess with trespass laws.

Also at Henlopen State Park was a former site of the immigration service’s holding camp for immigrants who came into the country with diseases or were very ill. They remained here until they were well and then released. Over a period of 35 years (1884-1918) some 200,000 of them were processed through. There is no facility there at this time.

The birds were minimal here but a friendly Wood Thrush helped the day count.
Then we worked our way to the southern end of this park by driving 15 miles roundabout to the other end and a pond called Gordon’s Pond. This site of 100 acres had been a Pirate den , a salt mine, and more recently a cooperative agreement among the various agencies to make it wildlife Preserve. There are many excellent biking and hiking trails here, and many youth camping sites. We met some retired ladies from D.C. who shared our telescope with us to spot a Wilson ’s phalarope. This is the bird that spins in the shallow water to stir up the food. It was a beautiful bird and a first for Ruth and me.
We drove by the homes and beautiful landscaped yards in Henlopen Acres that wound around the streets to show their spring blossoms and beautiful manicured lawns. The trees were tall and the colors vibrant and varied. The dominant bush was the many deep colors of the Azalea Bush. Yet few birds in all this “over cover”.

FENWICK ISLAND (DEL) LIGHTHOUSE .--- OSPREY AND MATE ON NEST

The last effort of the day was to drive to the very southern border of the state (borders with MD) and locate the lighthouse that marks the border between the two states. With only one short “turn back” we located it on the “inside bay”.

This lighthouse is on the site referred to as the “Transpeninsular Line” and was establish in the 1700 by agreement with the King of England and the US Government. It marked the line between the state of PA at that time and the COUNTY of Maryland, and the state of Delaware. The survey was undertaken by 4 men, two from Delaware and two from Maryland. It stretched east and west past the center of the state 35 miles west. It is (the lighthouse) 78 feet high and has a third order Fresnel lamp. Not in use today it was presented to Friends of the Lighthouse in the 1960’s. It is not used today as almost all lights are automatic and electronically operated as “front” and “back” lights. Both residences (the lighthouse keepers and the assistants) are occupied still.

FACT: Did you know that over 400 US ships were sunk off the coast of the US during WW2?

THE TRANSPENINSULAR LINE PLAQUE THE ORIGINAL STONE BEARING THE
SEALS OF THE PENNS (NORTH) AND CALVERTS (SOUTH SIDE) (1769)

The rain held off today until we started back and the prediction was that we will not have rain tomorrow when we break camp at least until afternoon. We will head for Chincoteague as the next camping spot. Thanks for reading and send an e mail anytime to: crazy4birds@comcast.net with any comments or questions. I will design a short quiz in the next few blogs. Just to keep you on your toes!!! (About the trip of course).