Whitefish Point

   From the "Soo" (Sault Sainte Marie) we drove west along the coast of Lake Superior, darting in and out of several bays. We saw lots of birds. The most unusual were the Red Breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis). This acrobat clings upside down while climbing down the side of the trunk of a tree.

Red Breasted Nuthatcher

   The Least Flycatcher (Empidonax minimus) was next. We noticed it because the the sharp "twack" sound of its call. Sibley's Field Guide characterizes the call as "pwit" but it is attention-getting. This is a difficult bird to spot visually because of its dark gray back and light gray chest. It is all but inconspicuous high in the forest canapy. We heard it, then followed it when it flew from tree to tree. Then we got the binoculars on it. Then come the difficulties identifying it, by differentiating it from every other gray inconspicuous flycatcher. You can see the challenge there.

Least Flycatcher

   We took a side trip through the Hiawatha National Forest. We saw evidence of extensive logging operations inside the forest. The massive trucks created ruts in the dirt roads. Someone from work called me when I was deep in the forest and my cellphone dropped the call. We were trying to reach a small lake deep inside the forest. This was so deep where the trees were so large they blotted out the sun. This made the roads in the shadows retain the dampness from the previous week's rain. And, you can see this coming. The deep ruts made by the trucks became soft if not downright muddy. Our small vehicle bottomed out several times. We had to give up. We ate lunch in Paradise, Michigan.

   I took a photograph of Iceland Gulls (Larus glaucoides) at a port on Lake Superior. They are handsome birds, but they cannot be identified in our photo. Iceland Gulls are medium sized but stocky, with a rounded head. We remember them from our vacation there. They slip down to the Great Lakes from Greenland.

   At the end of the day we stopped at the Tahquamenon Waterfalls. The walk to the falls was not long. And for this Robert was grateful.

Tahquamenon Waterfalls

   There were "smoke jumpers" in the area. Most of the forest fire is under control at this point. They had aircraft dropping water on the blaze. We did not have any problems.

Wildfire in Progress

Fire Fighting Vehicles

Robert

photos courtesy of bshelton and wikipedia