What a splendid trip! We anticipated this adventure would have more to do with birding than photography. Birders go where the birds are, make their identifications primarily by hearing the songs, seeing distant birds through binoculars or spotting scopes, and taking photographs when possible. Photographers go where the light is good and the birds close enough for a good shot. Birders count birds they have seen and/or heard. Photographers count images worth keeping.

The trip was splendid because of the setting at Nettie Bay Lodge on a lake in northeast lower Michigan, about 270 miles from home. Our cabin was next to the lake where we could hear the loons day and night, the people were friendly, knowledgable, and patient with all our photo gear, and the food was great.

                   

                           Sunrise, taken from just outside our cabin.

Wednesday, May 15

Kim managed to take over 500 photographs before we even left home. After getting pretty much packed, we made a stop at the nearby Saline Fisheries Research Station, where two years ago we got permission to take photos from an employee who no longer works there. We’d located and photographed 4 Killdeer eggs, and we’d enjoyed mama’s broken-wing dance to lead us away. And we wanted to see the babies (not, I believe, the proper ornithological term).

Results? We found two of the little guys (Killfauns?) on the muddy bottom of what soon will be a fish research pond. We couldn’t get close, but Kim had her 500mm, so she got good results.

The rest of the day was a 100 mile drive to a Holiday Inn in Bay City. No photos needed. Good dinner at a local restaurant, but we were not happy to miss Happy Hour by 2 minutes.

We are combining 2 events, the Tawas City Birding Festival and the Nettie Bay Lodge Birds and Botany Experience, partly because we are creative and eclectic (look it up) people, and partly because we managed to double-book the weekend. Combine that with the fact that we’d mistakenly reserved tonight’s room for tomorrow (by “we” I mean “I.”) and you get a feel for what it’s like to be 70.

Thursday, May 16

Up bright and early to join the Tawas City Birding Festival at Bay City National Wildlife Preserve. It’s a beautiful park - one that we will no doubt return to within the year. Warblers and other woodland birds are difficult to photograph because, well, all the woodland that they typically inhabit means leaves and branches block clear shots. And when we get clear shots, they are most often when the bird is high and backlit. Nevertheless, we caught a few winners, though none (yet) to add to our lifelist - not that anyone cares.

I did notice that I have developed a skill that birders call “birding by ear.” While the folks guiding us were amazingly adept at hearing invisible birds and identifying them by their songs, I worked out my own version of this technique. While standing next to an expert birder, my own cultivated sense of hearing would pick up their words when they said “Least Flycatcher” or “Warbling Vireo,” and I could write down what I heard without fail.

We broke off from our Audubon group to drive north to Nettie Bay Lodge. What a delightful place! It felt a bit remote as we wound through beautiful woods and farms, frequently along dirt roads devoid, we noticed, of gas stations, and where Starbucks was only a rumor. One motel featured a sign boasting “Color Television.” But when we pulled in and saw the Lodge and then our cabin, Kim felt like she was at home. I knew this because we had not been there 20 minutes when we drove a mile back the way we came to check out a cottage for sale on the lake.

After an amazingly tasty dinner with fellow birders, we learned that our exploration of Birds and Botany would be intense. We were asked/told that we would meet for breakfast at 5:30 (“a.m.?” I asked), which would suggest to some that we would have a restful early evening. The plan instead was to head out on the lake 20 feet from our door to see the nesting loons. When the boat was not ready, we instead hiked a mile or so into the woods with Jim, our guide, and our 6 new friends to see what birds, bugs and plants we could find. Then we returned to photograph the loons, close-up and in perfect late afternoon light.

We toured the rest of the lake, with Jim pointing out details about the birds and trees we saw and heard, returning shortly after the sun set. But we were not finished. No, because Woodcocks were doing their peculiar thing just outside the lodge. We took our cameras even though it was dark, with predictable results.

Our cabin was COLD when we finally returned. Maybe not cold by Northern Michigan standards, but it was about 45 degrees inside, and the gas fireplace didn’t help much with my cold feet.

Friday, May 17

The temperature this morning was 32, though we hardly noticed until we got out of bed. Soon we were too busy and well fed to notice, and it warmed up to maybe 60 by mid-afternoon, so we could peel off a layer or two.

Our main goal today was the Kirtland’s Warbler. We heard a lot of them in the several jack pine sites where we waited, listened, and called them in. We finally did see one, but no photo. Those elusive warblers, however, did see a lot of us!

We left the Lodge at 6 (a.m.) and visited 4 or 5 (it’s a bit of a blur) sites before pausing for lunch and watching two chickadees attempting to build a house with running water.

We were due back at the Lodge by 3 for a chance to download pictures, work on the blog, a possible trip into “town” for a bottle of wine, or perhaps a nap. But we had a few more places we had to see in order to get a Clay-colored Sparrow or, once again, a Kirtland’s Warbler. So we didn’t make it back by 3. We would have made it back by 5:30 dinner, except we heard a Virginia Rail that we had to coax up close enough for a photograph.

Immediately after dinner Kim headed out on the boat to photograph the loons again while I took an opportunity to rest, download, and write. As night was approaching, we had one last opportunity to go see birds. I accompanied Kim this time, though the rest of our companions unaccountably chose to stay home and get some sleep. We saw several more birds (Grasshopper Sparrow, Pipit, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, among others), and we visited as beaver lodge and 2 porcupine dens, one of them with remarkably fresh scat, which Kim photographed because the lighting was good.

Back at last. While Kim began downloading her more than 900 photos taken today, I trekked up to sit in the dark outside the Lodge, where I could finally get wi-fi and catch up on the unreal world we’d left behind.

Despite the Kirtland’s Warbler issues, we had a long and splendid day. We added 2 birds to our lifelist (Upland Sandpiper and Least Flycatcher) and 10 to our Michigan list. A total of 50 species we saw today, fewer than that photographed, and fewer than that photographed well. Jim, our guide, counted well over 80 that he saw or heard - and he has very good hearing and a good brain attached to that hearing.

        Upland Sandpiper

Saturday, May 18  

Another great breakfast! The food at Nettie Bay Lodge is outstanding - every meal, including packed lunches we eat on the fly. The only thing missing is my periodic coffee boost - can’t drink too much at breakfast because I’m not always sure I can find a private tree when birding. So I have an energy drop-off mid-afternoon, about when I’m used to reaching for a fresh cup of morning coffee. Instead, I nap in the van between stops.

Today we headed for Thompson’s Harbor State Park, a beautiful spot on Lake Huron that features a large fen. The morning was big on botany, with a few difficult birds (difficult because we do not know the calls and the foliage is dense). Jim is as expert on area plants as he is on birds and butterflies, and Kim hiked while lugging both her 500mm lens for birds and her macro for plants and butterflies. Fortunately she did not attempt to carry 2 tripods - though in the evening at her computer she noted that she really needs her tripod for macro. I estimate that she hauled her gear about 3 miles, though getting it in and out of the van was perhaps the most difficult part of the day.

We stopped at 2 lighthouses, one of which I climbed to the top, where we spotted a pair of Merlins we later pursued on the ground. We noticed a serious drop in temperature when we reached Lake Huron, maybe 15 degrees below the 65 degrees at Nettie Bay Lodge. We also experienced an occasional shower - none lasting more than a few minutes.

At about 4:30, just when we were all getting tired and wondering how we would make it back to the Lodge by 3, there appeared an amazing congregation of warblers in a few tall trees about 20 yards from the van. It was a war-gasm! We hustled over to take pictures as they sang and darted about, but it started raining, so photography was next to impossible. Still, with wet binoculars and the naked eye we (by “we” I mean Jim) identified ten different species in the trees. After about 10 minutes of our pointing and calling out names, the flock started to drift away. As did we.

We should point out here that Mark, who along with his wife Jackie owns and runs Nettie Bay Lodge, was the driver and navigator of our van, and in his own quiet way, an assistant guide. Mark is a very patient man, as are many in northern Michigan. He and Jackie make a good team. While he was driving and helping to guide, he was also conducting business on the phone as part of his other full-time job.

After dinner we took a brief trip to see if the swans we glimpsed on the way back were Tundra (nope), and then we started working on our pictures and lists. So far, with half a day to go, we’ve seen over 100 different species, 3 of them new to our lifelist (378), and 23 new to our Michigan list. Not that we are listers . . ..

Sunday, May 19

Only a half-day today, which I hope translates into lunch by mid-afternoon. Our first stop was at Ocqueoc (pronounced just the way it’s spelled) State Park, a stunningly beautiful place that reminds Kim of her favorite places in the U.P. The emphasis was more on botany than birds. The emphasis for me was on the rugged landscape of rocks, river, and conifers. I loved being engulfed by the sounds of the river, the songs of warblers, and the exclamations of Kim and Jan as they discovered and photographed flowers, lichen, bugs and leaves.

We also ventured into an area known as the Undergrounds, where the river disappears under the forest floor only to reappear a couple of hundred yards downstream. This was another glimpse of paradise, with rocks, water, spongy moss underfoot, and the smell of cedar and spring.

Our final count Included 135 species seen, 4 new ones for our lifelist (Red Crossbills streaking by making 379), and 29 new to our Michigan list. And 4 new butterflies. Not that we are counting . . ..