Tag Archives: Michigan

Where For Art Thou Birding?

In my case, it is somewhere near the Sylvania Wilderness in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. In the past I have posted to this blog about “Off the Grid” Birding and “Google Maps Offline. I practice what I preach, and yesterday afternoon when I went out exploring I more often than not had zero connectivity, but I still had maps showing me my exact location. If you ever bird in remote areas, even if you have connectivity the entire time, you SHOULD review this post of mine on the use of offline tools which help prevent you from getting lost.

I didn’t find many birds during my outing, but I had fun! Even eBird had zero entries during any winter for the area in which I was located. Given my total lack of knowledge about the Ottawa National Forest, it made it difficult to find winter food sources.

My Location

A Blue Jay!

Sunset at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

Timing is everything in life! While driving over to our lighthouse keeping gig at Crisp Point Lake Superior, we decided to break up the long drive from Duluth with an overnight stay in Munising, Michigan. Arriving in town a few minutes before 5 pm, Molly noticed a sunset cruise to Pictured Rocks left the small harbor in 30 minutes. Lake Superior was in her majesty!

Will post some photos from Crisp Point by Monday.

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Day 141: Piping Plover (photos)

The Piping Plover is on the United States endangered species list. According to the Audubon Society, only 8000 individuals birds are in the wild today. Thus, when I heard it’s distinctive piping melodious call on a remote Lake Superior beach, I followed my ears and was rewarded with a very rare sight, the piping plover.

Some notes about the location and photos.  The Keweenaw Peninsula in the Upper Peninsula juts north into Lake Superior. It is extremely remote which is one reason Piping Plovers are able to maintain a presence (i.e. few humans). The cages in the photographs are out in the open on these remote beaches. The plovers walk into the cage and nest. The nest helps protect them from predators.

My first view of the Piping Plover
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The Piping Plover inspects a cage it uses for nesting
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A sign on the beach
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