Week Ending June 29, 2014

/

This week was a tough week for photography with me. After arriving home from my 16-day trip to the midwest, and after shooting about 1500 photographs, I didn't have any motivation to get out with my camera during the week after work. By Saturday though I was ready to give it a shot again and my buddy Chris & his fiance Shawnna came down to go hiking with me & to go to the beach with Ruth. We got down to Sandbridge around 9 AM and dropped off the ladies at the beach, then hit Back Bay NWR for a morning hike. In the 3 weeks I was gone from the area, it sure heated up, and we'd had 80s & 90s all week long. Back Bay is notorious for being a difficult place to hike during the summertime just due to not having much shade in the park, and on calm days it can get excruciatingly hot & humid. For the first time this year, the West Dike Trail was now closed off and the East Dike Trail had opened up sometime while I was out of the area. I had hoped the West Dike would still be open since I'd gotten a good idea of where I could find certain species of birds along it after having hiked it quite a few times in the spring. Since this was my first trip down the East Dike, I really didn't know what to expect. One key difference between the two dikes is that there is a lot more surface water visible on the West Dike, with the waters of Back Bay visible to the west and the freshwater impoundments of the park visible on the east.

A Variegated Fritillary seen at Back Bay NWR among some Dandelions.

From the East Dike, there are a series of ditches to the east, but the western side is dominated by overgrown marshy areas which hide most of the wildlife with ease. The marsh grasses are fully grown this time of year and are probably 8 to 10 feet tall. Even a Wild Horse could hide comfortably within the marshes from view. On the way to the East Dike down the Loop Road we got a good look at a Yellow-bellied Slider crossing the road, then hiding in it's shell as we approached. Most of the bird activity along the East Dike was that of large flocks of European Starlings, most of which looked like young birds. Also, a fair number of Purple Martins were present, most of which were perched up the power lines that run along the trail through the marsh that eventually feed power to False Cape State Park's facilities. I missed out on seeing Orchard Orioles for the first time in the park since about early April, but I did see a couple Indigo Buntings, so birds of color are still present along the trails. Also, one Snowy Egret, one Great Egret, and one Great Blue Heron were tallied, much less populous than a couple months ago, especially for the Snowies of which there was tons of them in April here. Along the walk, Brown Pelicans could be seen cruising just over the duneline near the beach to the east of the trail. Flocks of them continued north to south throughout the day. We walked as far south as the False Cape State Park entrance sign & then turned and headed back northward. Just before turning though I caught a glimpse of a long-tailed bird with reddish accents on the side, a Yellow-billed Cuckoo. This wasn't my first of the year in the park, but since this is a bird I had only seen one time until this year, its nice to keep seeing them at different parks. The breeze kept the heat at bay on the way back north to the parking area, until we walked the Bay Trail. The Bay Trail, surrounded by tall vegetation on both sides was protected from the breeze and therefore hotter than the other paths.

The extremely small & fast Six-lined Racerunner!

Also, because of the lack of wind, hundreds of dragonflies were present and feeding on whatever aerial insects that could find. Everywhere you walked you could actually feel them all around you, its definitely summer when this starts to happen. Thanks to the scores of dragonflies though, there wasn't a single biting fly anywhere to be found. I kept watch for snakes & treefrogs along the trail but never did find any, and even the Bayside Trail's boardwalks didn't provide any wildlife, so it must all just have been very well concealed. I think on days that are hot like this, the coldblooded animals don't necessarily have to be out in the open to maintain their temperatures, so they have the ability to hide from view much easier. After we took off from the park we went up to Little Island Park and got in the water to cool down. The waves were really rolling in with the northeast winds buffeting the shoreline so it was near impossible to do any swimming before a lifeguard would whistle you back to shore. As always, the Brown Pelicans and Boat-tailed Grackles were the numerous species along the beach, but I did see a pair of birds that could have been Great Shearwaters, like one that had been spotted up near Dam Neck's beach earlier in the week & posted about by Karen Beatty. By the time I could have gotten my camera out of my pack though they were gone so I may have to investigate these further next week. 

One of the thousands of Dragonflies that have taken over Back Bay NWR with the warmer weather moving in to the region.

Week Ending June 22, 2014

/

This week got off to an early start. At 4:30 AM on Monday I had to get up, and I was headed down the road from Ely, MN at about 5 AM towards Indiana. Of course, the weekend's dreary weather had gone away, and been replaced by beautiful sunny weather for my day in the car. I drove down Highway 1 & Highway 2 to the North Shore of Lake Superior, seeing what I believe was a Long-tailed Weasel on the way that ran across the road carrying what appeared to be a small bird. This was the extent of the wildlife I saw til I reached the shore, where I did see a couple of White-tailed Deer along the roadway. I decided not to stop at the state parks nearby, just so that I could get a little more driving done early. However, when I got into Wisconsin, it was still so nice out that I stopped at Amnicon Falls State Park for the first time. I got here about 7:30 AM, and just parked along the river that flows through the park (the Amnicon River). The falls & rapids are all very close to the entry road so I didn't have to walk very far. Seeing it for the first time, it was quite a beautiful section of river, very similar to the rivers on the north shore that also flow into Lake Superior. I walked along the rapids and falls for a half hour or so, hearing mainly Chestnut-sided Warblers but not actually seeing any. I left and got back on the road, and did eventually make it to my mom's house in Indiana by about 4 PM after traveling I-80 instead of I-290 to avoid the 15 odd dollars in tolls there. 

Wild Rose at Plum Creek Nature Preserve!

On Tuesday, I was pretty exhausted when I got up. We had wanted to get down to Turkey Run State Park, about 100 miles south of Munster, but the weather didn't seem to be warranting the drive, and my mom had to be back early evening for an appointment. So I used this as an opportunity instead to get my oil changed since I'd already put about 3000 miles on my car since I'd left Virginia. After getting that taken care of, and not wanting to burn a day, my mom & I went for a hike at nearby Plum Creek Nature Preserve just across the Illinois border from Dyer & off of Route 30. The last time I was at this preserve, I was pretty young, but I do remember it being in either the fall or spring, with little foliage, and I remember vividly sitting still in the woods while my dad walked a large circle around me, and chased a Ring-necked Pheasant right by me, one of the few I've ever seen up close. This time, I didn't see or hear any pheasants, but my mom & I did see a surprising amount of wildlife that I wasn't expecting. When I go to Minnesota, I expect to see a lot of wildlife, just because it is very forested, and very uninhabited. When I'm in Indiana, I don't, just because of the number of people, and the environment being very suburban. But I have to say that there was actually plenty here this trip. Right away, we saw a Common Yellowthroat, several Eastern Bluebirds, some Black-capped Chickadees, and also my first of the year Rose-breasted Grosbeak (a female).

Unknown species of butterfly/moth at Plum Creek Nature Preserve.

Walking along the well maintained trails, we also sighted quite a few White-tailed Deer, which all appeared to be in quite healthy shape. The ones I'd seen in Minnesota were all very skinny, showing ribs through their hide, either from the rough winter, or just having birthed fawns. Either way, this was not the case in Indiana, a very healthy group of deer must have had plenty to feed on even in this bad winter. Also along the trail, we got another unexpected surprise, my mom spotted a Red Fox running down the trail quite a ways off that I hadn't even noticed. We tried taking a second trail to get us closer to where it looked to have dove into the woods, but we never did get a chance to relocate it. This trail traveled across a meadow where I saw several Indigo Buntings, and even more bluebirds. I also could hear a number of other species that I couldn't identify. I thought perhaps some orioles might be present just based on the habitat but never did see any unfortunately. Walking back along the same trail we saw even more deer, which must be quite common in the preserve. Since the weather was very very muggy and about 85-90 degrees, we kept the walk fairly short and headed back to the parking area, finding some Barn Swallows feeding nearby.

A Blue Jay looking for an easy meal in the picnic area at Turkey Run State Park.

On Wednesday, the forecast was for more rain in northwest Indiana so we followed through with our original plan from yesterday and drove south to Turkey Run State Park. Turkey Run is probably my mom's favorite park in the area, and its a beautiful place. Sugar Creek, a tributary of the larger Wabash River, flows through the park and is usually filled with canoeists & tubers. The trails through the park follow along the river, and the smaller creeks that feed it, most of which travel through deep canyons before emptying into the shallow wash of the larger Sugar Creek. The downside to Turkey Run is that it is about 2 to 2.5 hours away from Munster, so we got there around 10 AM, and grabbed lunch right off the bat. While eating, we had a Red-headed Woodpecker poking around over us, and a Blue Jay & Eastern Chipmunk also came in probably looking for food. When we hit the trails it was pretty hot & humid again like yesterday, but the sun was out fortunately. We walked the trails we usually enjoy, crossing the pedestrian suspension bridge and then heading up the canyon to the Punch Bowl. There was a surprising amount of families walking, I guess because school recently got out, but once past the Punch Bowl it really cleared out, this just happens to be one of the most popular hikes because you get to walk up the creekbed, and it gets pretty interesting trying to stay dry as the creek runs swiftly over sandstone in increasingly tighter spots. Throughout the canyon we saw a number of swallows, and heard some Pileated Woodpeckers, but the crowds probably kept the birds at bay. After we saw the Punch Bowl, which is just a small waterfall where the creek begins its run in the canyon, we headed up to higher ground. Here a family was watching as a rather large Eastern Ratsnake was climbing a fallen tree. Nearby I got some shots of some Chipmunks, which fortunately for them, were far enough away from the snake to not get caught. The trail continues on the high ground, going up and down a lot of stairs before reaching the head of another deep canyon. Here the trail goes down through a series of 3 ladders that are bolted to the canyon sides. It was amazing to feel the temperature gradient change between the top and bottom of the canyon. It had to be at least 20 degrees cooler at the bottom which was a wonderful shift. In this canyon as well, there was a number of swallows flying around, probably Bank Swallows I think. We continued down the canyon until we reached the banks of Sugar Creek again then headed upstream along the shore.

Eastern Garter Snake along Sugar Creek at Turkey Run State Park.

My mom got quite a scare near here as she jumped upon seeing an Eastern Garter Snake cruise out from it's hiding spot near the trail. I somehow missed it completely and had walked right by, but fortunately hearing her jump got me a chance to photograph it before it disappeared completely. Moving further upstream you head up about a hundred stairs and top out high over the river, giving a great viewpoint. From there, the trail descends slowly and returns to the suspension bridge area. Here my mom crossed and went up to the visitor's center while I kept going upstream. I made a loop from there to the far east end of the park, crossing the river, and then going back downstream to the bridge before going back up to the parking area. Along the way I saw a pair of White-breasted Nuthatches, and American Crows. I also heard a number of woodpeckers but didn't get any shots. At the far east end, you cross on a covered bridge, which gives you a look towards the new roadway bridge not far away. There was a number of swallow nests built up on the underside of the roadway bridge, and after shooting a lot of photos, I could finally tell that these were Cliff Swallow nests, which was the first new life bird I got to add on my trip! I believe I also captured some shots of Bank Swallows, a bird I know I've seen before, but have  never properly identified upon seeing. This should be another one to add to my list. The standard songbirds lit the rest of the path for me walking back to reunite with my mother, Northern Cardinals, American Robins and Tufted Titmice were all over. At the visitor's center, they have a nice wildlife observation room with a number of feeders just outside the glass. We saw Brown-headed Cowbirds, American Goldfinches, and a few Ruby-throated Hummingbirds as well, which now that reminds me I did see a hummer in the first canyon we walked early on as well. After that we headed back up to Munster, pretty soaked from the heat & humidity, but another 2 birds on my life list richer.

A beautiful little Common Yellowthroat seen at Plum Creek Nature Preserve.

Friday was the next day I was able to get out, though Thursday & Friday both were overcast days. Again with the weather looking like rain, my mom & I just did another trip to Plum Creek Nature Preserve and yet again saw an unusually high number of wildlife. Just like the last time, we saw a Common Yellowthroat right away, though this time I was able to get good photographs of it as it incessantly jumped from shrub to shrub trying to avoid me. We also got some great looks nearby of more White-tailed Deer, finding a pair of fawns still showing off their white spots as well. No fox sightings this time, but we again followed the same path as before, and when we reached the meadows area, my mom finally got to see a beautiful Indigo Bunting flying around & perching in a tree. Also nearby was a number of Eastern Bluebirds, and also a very chatty House Wren, both of which were probably the same birds we had seen the last outing in the preserve. Returning to the woods from the meadow, we saw more deer, and had a pair of Turkey Vultures fly in right near us and perch on a long branch about 20 feet off the ground. Its amazing how big these birds look when you get to see their wings spread so close, and I still think they're beautiful birds even though many will state that their naked heads make them offputting. The weather continued its hot & humid assault, making that something like five days straight. We did see some rain in the distance but never received any right over us fortunately. On the route back towards the car I saw an Eastern Wood-Pewee, a number of dragonflies, some damselfies (the same beautiful turquoise & black ones I've seen in North Carolina), and even more deer. By the end I think we saw 5 adult deer, and a pair of fawns for a total of 7 on the day, many more than I'll typically see while out on my typical Virginia hikes. Saturday I did get out for about 4 miles of walking, but just around the neighborhood I grew up in Munster, of which my mom did the first 2 mile loop.

One of the many White-tailed Deer encountered at Plum Creek Nature Preserve.

To be honest I was just all around exhausted from the 2 weeks straight of taking photographs and being outdoors so it was nice to just get back and relax on my final day. Sunday I left at 4 AM from Munster and headed back to Virginia. The 950 mile ride is pretty gorgeous this time of year, with the mountains of eastern Kentucky, West Virginia, and western Virginia completely greened up & of course I got a beautiful blue sky to drive under. I opted not to revisit the site of the Purple Gallinule sightings in Waynesboro, VA, thinking that maybe I'll get my shot next weekend with Ruth if we get up to the mountains, but I'll have to see how I feel after all this driving. I made it back to Virginia Beach at about quarter after 6 PM, which with the loss of an hour for time zones, made it a 13 hour drive, much faster than I've ever done it before somehow, perhaps it was due to the 2 stops for about 10 minutes or less each time to gas up, hit the bathroom, and eat more or less simultaneously. Unfortunately with my arrival back home, my vacation was finally at an end, but I was very happy to get home to see Ruth & to enjoy my special welcome home dinner of homemade fried chicken. That was the closest thing to wildlife I really got to see on the day, and definitely the most delicious.

A rather large Turkey Vulture perched low to the ground at Plum Creek Nature Preserve.

Week Ending June 15, 2014

/

After the excitement of Munster had now come to a close, I started this week off at about 4:30 AM heading up to Minnesota in my car. On the way, I got to add Sandhill Crane to my list of 2014 birds when I saw one in a farm field in central Wisconsin. Most of the drive was nice weather, but the last hundred miles or so in Wisconsin ended up being very cloudy and a little bit drizzly. When I reach Lake Superior though, the sun came out and blue sky could be seen all along the water. I made it to Duluth, MN by 12:30 PM and since it was so nice out I decided to try to get a couple short hikes in along the North Shore. My first stop was at Gooseberry Falls State Park, where the water was really flowing. Apparently they've had quite a lot of rain this season so far, and you could really see it in the falls. While walking along the river, I got my first glimpse, and shots, of a Black-throated Green Warbler. Just last summer I added this one to my life list at nearby Tettegouche State Park, which just so happened to be my next stop on the afternoon. When I reached Tettegouche, I could see some thunderstorms moving in from the northwest. Because of this, I ended up walking very quickly along my favorite trail out to Shovel Point, trying to beat the rain that I expected would hit at any time. Along the lakeshore a large flock of probably 50-75 Canada Geese was traveling northeastward (probably away from the incoming storms). I made it to the point & took many photographs showing off the wild weather around the lake, and the beautiful waters. On the way back I spooked what looked like a Broad-winged Hawk from it's perch in an aspen tree along the tree.

Gooseberry Falls along the north shore of Lake Superior flowing quite full from all the recent rains.

Unfortunately it was gone before I had a chance to try and photograph it. Right after, the trail took me down along the lower part of the Baptism River and I got good looks at a female Red-breasted Merganser, and then shortly after heard what turned out to be a Blackburnian Warbler in the brush. Nearby, a Garter Snake slithered off the trail in front of me and I took some photographs face-on of it in the underbrush while it was trying to hide motionless. I took my time the last couple hundred yards hoping to get a good shot of a warbler but didn't see any others. When reaching the car, a pair of Red Squirrels were chasing each other around on a pine tree but again, no photographs here. I left the park around 4 PM and then made it to Ely about 5:30 PM, pretty exhausted from a long day. At least this time I was able to get some hiking in, as usually it's just a long, long drive instead.

The view across Lake Superior towards Wisconsin from Shovel Point at Tettegouche State Park.

On Tuesday morning, I awoke at 5 AM to the sound of tons of birds singing. The northern forests are alive with songbirds this time of year, and since it is still breeding season, they're all out singing their little hearts out. I didn't know which one was singing so close to the house, but I went outside and after about 20 minutes of searching a tree, I finally found the little warbler who was responsible. It probably took another 10 minutes of trying to photograph it before I was able to identify it positively as a Mourning Warbler. I have seen these birds in the past around my dad's house, but this is the first one I have ever photographed, so it was my first new bird to my life list of the vacation! Kim & I got out fishing at about 7:30 AM to my dad's favorite walleye lake, and we were able to bring in both our limits of 6 fish each after a few hours of fishing. While out on the lake, we saw a Bald Eagle near the outlet, and mostly a lot of American Robins hopping along the shore. I did also see a Tree Swallow, some unidentifiable woodpeckers, and heard many many warblers along the portage in and out of the lake. Also along the portage, there was quite a few Mocassin Flowers (a type of orchid) growing. These flowers look like a shoe, as their name depicts, and are found in the wet forests of the region. After an afternoon of filleting up our morning catch, I went for a walk down our logging road, about 3 miles in total. Along the way I heard numerous Chestnut-sided Warblers, and I located a small nest that initially I believed to be a hummingbird nest. As I was watching the nest, a bird flew in above it, and it turned out that it was actually a Red-eyed Vireo's nest, still under construction apparently with the vireo bringing back more nest-building materials. I marked the spot in the roadway so that I could relocate in the next few days if need be. 

Storm moving in from the hills to Lake Superior at Shovel Point.

On Wednesday, after being fully exhausted from the prior day's fishing & hiking, I slept in til about 6 AM. When I got up, I went for a long hike along our logging road, hoping to find some of the critters that I got to see last summer along the same stretch with Kim. This year I was by myself since her knee has been causing a lot of pain recently, and she is going to go in for surgery in a few weeks. It was a pretty cool morning, and very dreary out, absolutely perfect for the bazillions of mosquitoes that call the northwoods their home. I was doused in 30% deet spray, but it had very little effect on the clouds of bugs I encountered. The first 3 miles were the worst, as there was no breeze whatsoever, and no sun either, perfect weather for them. At the bottom of the 1.25 mile hill (I used to run this road as a teenager so we had all the distances memorized), I spooked a grouse into flushing off the roadway and landing in a nearby tree. I frantically shot some photographs but then realized it wasn't going anywhere, so I worked slowly around it taking photographs in an arc hoping to get some good shots. While zoomed in on with my camera I could verify that it was a Spruce Grouse by the red patch above it's eyes, and the chestnut colored tailfeather tips. Like yesterday's Mourning Warbler, this bird is another that I have seen in the past here, but is a first for actually photographing the species, so my 2nd bird to add my photography life list! I continued walking and getting eaten alive by the bugs, thinking there was no way I'd see anything neater that what I just had. I made it to the end of vehicle-useable portion of the logging road and then headed down an old snowmobile trail to the north towards a group of beaver ponds.

Eastern Garter Snake hiding among the underbrush at Tettegouche State Park.

When I got to a rocky spot on the first pond, I cut through the woods towards the water to see if I could find some ducks, or geese like last summer. I found a pair of Eastern Kingbirds that were nesting on the pond, and watched as they hunted for dragonflies, even catching a couple, while I stood along the shoreline. I left this pond and headed back north to where the next downstream pond was. Last year, a family of geese was seen on this one. On the way, I was looking around, and focused on the trail in front of me, when about 50 yards out, a large Black Bear came running straight across the trail from right to left. It was only in view for a couple of seconds, and caught me completely off guard. I shouldn't have been, as it was only about a half mile away from where Kim & I had seen probably this same bear last year while out hiking. But, I missed my shot again. The beaver ponds run along the path that the bear was headed, and since I didn't hear any splashing, I figured he didn't try to cross them. When I reached the dam on the next pond, I caught a glimpse of the very same bear just reaching the other side after having walked across the dam. I got a pair of photos of it's backside as it ran up into the woods away from the pond. At least this time I got my first Black Bear photos! But then, it turned in the woods and I could barely see it's black fur through the underbrush, as it paralleled the shoreline. I watched it and then focused my lens on a patch of the ridgeline with no cover, hoping it would keep moving towards it so I could get a shot of it's side. It did just that, and even better than I could have planned for.

Yours truly & the limit of Walleyes that Kim & I got on our first day out fishing in Ely.

When it reached that point, it actually stopped and turned it's head to face me, for a solid 10 seconds or more during which time I shot several photographs! It then went further up into the brush and then vanished. I absolutely couldn't believe it. There is something about being alone in the woods, several miles from anyone else, and having a full grown adult Black Bear staring right at you; it was an amazing experience. I'm very grateful that it wasn't a sow with cubs though, as these animals do have the ability to take a person down if the need arises, fortunately, this one seemed content to put distance between us. After the bear was gone, a Beaver surfaced on the pond I was standing by, and swam some slow laps on the surface while watching me. Twice it smacked it's tail on the water and dove down, alerting others that danger was nearby. I got a lot of photographs of it swimming, and even paused to take some shots of a Northern Leopard Frog that was in the water near me. I left the beaver and headed down to the 3rd pond, the largest of them all, where last year a Canada Goose had been nesting right on top of a beaver lodge. This year though there was no geese to be found back here, perhaps I was just too late in the season and they've already moved on, or perhaps they were just hiding better than last year. I did find one female Ring-necked Duck, which circled me and then headed off into the woods. Last year there was several mated pairs of these ducks on the ponds. Near this spot I also got my first shots of the year of a Red Squirrel, which chattered loudly as it hopped around in some small trees. On the way back I got yet another great surprise, I had happened to look at some maple leaves off the road, since one was turned upside down and stood out in color, when I realized there was a Green Treefrog sitting on the leaf! This is the first time I can remember seeing one in Minnesota, and everyone who knows me, knows I love seeing Treefrogs!

Dragonflies had plenty of food this time of year in Ely!

The last couple miles of the walk were more uneventful, but there was no way I could have kept that momentum up from what I saw earlier in the day. I did see a large number of Tiger Swallowtails again along the road, and several other butterfly species as well. The dragonflies now were out in large groups, and the wind had picked up a little bit, so the bugs weren't as horrendous the rest of the way out. I made it home in time to enjoy some lunch, and then relaxed a bit. In the afternoon around 1 I had been standing outside talking to Kim when I saw a grouse walk across the driveway. I couldn't believe I was seeing a second one on the day. I ran inside and grabbed the camera, then got back out looking around for it. I couldn't find it anywhere and assumed it had just ran away. Then from about 2 feet from my foot, the bird flushed with wings screaming in the air and landed 50 feet away and ran into the woods southwest of the house. I ran over and was able to re-track the bird down in the forest and got a fair amount of photographs in the low light. This one, unlike the other this morning, was a Ruffed Grouse. I can't believe I got both species in the same day after having never gotten a photograph of either yet! That makes 3 new photographed species in two days! After the excitement of the grouse was over, or at least calming down, I decided it was too nice outside to be at the house, and so I went for another walk down the logging road. This time, I went to the 1.5 mile mark & back for 3 miles in total. Along the way, I was able to pish down a Chestnut-sided Warbler from a grove of aspens, and I did get to see the Red-eyed Vireo on it's nest. I scared off a Broad-winged Hawk that was perched over the roadway but couldn't get any photographs before it cruised down the road and out of view. I ended up getting in 10 miles on the day or so, much more than I've been doing lately, and my ankle seems to be holding out OK, though I can tell it's getting a lot of use since it is sore. The forecast is calling for rain in the evening lasting through tomorrow afternoon so I'm not sure what I'll get to do next, but hopefully I get to keep seeing more wildlife, it's been great thus far in Ely.

A Red-eyed Vireo carrying some nesting materials for it's nest located adjacent to the logging road.

Overnight Wednesday it rained hard & steady, leaving a very wet forest on Thursday morning. Since it was expected to continue throughout the day I didn't think fishing made much sense. I didn't want to just sit around and wait for breaks in the rain, so Kim & I went on a drive to the north shore of Lake Superior hoping that maybe the weather was clearer there or at least we'd hopefully see something neat along the drive that we couldn't see while sitting at home. It didn't take too long to see something, as a pond we drove past on Highway 1 south of Ely had a male Bufflehead sitting out on it. Shortly afterward, at another beaver pond off the road, there was a male Ring-necked Duck visible which I pulled a double u-turn on the road to get photographs of from the vehicle before it sailed off to the far side of the pond out of view from the roadway. Fortunately, it is pretty easy to do this up in Minnesota since there isn't very much traffic on these roads during the weekdays. Just before we reached Murphy City, I saw what looked like a female (cow) Moose on the side of the road! I stopped the vehicle a couple hundred yards back of it on the road and turned enough on the roadway so I could shoot a few photos through the passenger side window. After getting good enough shots for proof of having seen a Moose finally, I drove in closer, which prompted it to run across the roadway and enter the spruce swamp on the east side of the road. I got a couple more shots of it running, though a street sign in its path took away some of the wild feel of the photographs. It was still amazing to see and is probably the first one I've seen since the summer of 2003 (I believe) when my dad & I saw a cow & calf out on a tucked away bay on Knife Lake while on an end-of-summer canoe trip. Last year on my trip to Ely I had hoped to find one but never did get the chance to see one so seeing one today was really incredible. After I drove away from the Moose sighting, we had a White-tailed Deer feeding on the side of the roadway pause long enough to again get shots through the passenger side window.

The first Spruce Grouse I've photographed! Sighted along our logging road early in the morning.

At that point, I half-expected a Cougar to show up around the next corner since we seemed to be seeing everything I had hoped to see this week, especially after the Black Bear & both species of Grouse being seen yesterday! However, I didn't get my Cougar, which are extremely rare in the region, and still scientifically disputed as to whether or not they live here at all. Every year though, there are reports of sightings in the area and I tend to believe that they could survive just fine in the remote wilderness here, with an abundance of secluded habitat, and tons of feed (deer). We didn't find any more wildlife along Highway 1, and then reached the shore of Lake Superior. From the junction of Highway 1 with the shore, we headed northeasterward toward Grand Marais. Along the drive we stopped at the usual spots where we'd walk a bit, Cross River, Temperance River, and Cascade River. All the rivers were flowing extremely full of water, but I opted not to take my camera out of the car since the weather was just pretty miserable out, with temperatures in the mid 40s & a steady mist raining down from the overcast skies. When we reached Grand Marais, we grabbed a quick bit to eat along the shore where I saw a family of Mallards with about 8 ducklings dabbling along the rocky beach. Also, a flock of Canada Geese had flown in and landed on the bay just outside camera range. On our way back we saw a pair of Herring Gulls that appeared to be collecting debris for nest-building somewhere nearby. These seem to be the main gull of the region as I haven't yet identified any other gull species last summer here or this summer. The Herring Gulls were showing breeding colors and looked quite striking in their white/gray/black bodies with the bold red spotted bill & bright pink legs. From Grand Marais, which was a very nice little town with a lot of small restaurants and shops in it's downtown, we headed back down the shore toward Illgen City at Highway 1's junction.

An Eastern Kingbird with a recently captured Dragonfly.

Along the way, the wind picked up greatly out of nowhere and the trees along the roadway shook violently, tossing leaves and smaller branches all over. The car was catching a lot of wind as well which was visibly noticeable as we travelled southwest on the road. When we again reached Highway 1, I pulled the car over on the shoulder so I could take some photographs of the lake, which was a beautiful blue color and had mighty big whitecap waves building due to the strong northwest wind that was now buffeting the lake shore. The dark gray & white clouds provided a perfect background for the photos, which came out quite dramatic looking, so I'm glad I stopped and took the time to take the shots from the other side of the guardrail, I almost lost my dad's hat in the progress, having it blown off my head and traveling about 50 feet before it then skidded across the road to a stop. Once back in the car we headed northward towards Ely, and did find one more White-tailed Deer right near the same pond where we'd seen the Ring-necked Duck earlier in the day. Additionally what looked like a Ring-neck was out on the Bufflehead's pond this time. I kept a close watch at all of the river & creek crossings hoping to spot some other ducks, but we didn't find any more. The Kawishiwi River leaving Birch Lake was flowing very high, taking water right through the trees on the small island downstream of the bridge. After getting back to my dad's house & looking at the weather, it sounds like tomorrow is going to be a nice warm (70) sunny day, so we're planning to get up early to go to Sletten or Tee Lake to do some Largemouth Bass fishing.

The first time I've ever photographed a Black Bear in the wild!

We got off to earlier start on Friday for fishing than we had on Tuesday and probably made it to Fenske Lake by about 7 AM or a little later. I decided not to bring my older camera today since it's just difficult to focus on taking photographs when you're also trying to catch fish and keep the canoe in the right spots. Naturally, there was some wildlife to be seen right at the canoe launch on Fenske. A pair of Common Loons was swimming out around the small island that sits a couple hundred feet from the launch, and a female Merganser was sitting on one of the rocks in the shallows to the right of us. After we launched and paddled out towards the middle of the lake, just out from the swimming area where I spent a good deal of my childhood in the water, I released some of my father's ashes into the lake. Or, if you're a ranger with the National Forest Service reading this, I didn't, since I know that's not allowed. When my father passed away, he had always wanted to be cremated, and he wanted his ashes put back into all the lakes that I'd canoed on with him while growing up. Since he loved to paddle, and also loved to see what I was made of, we traveled across a large number of the lakes in the Ely area, over 200 by my last count. Last year, Kim & I were able spread ashes onto 4 lakes (Agassa, Pauline, Nigh, & Everett), and Fenske was the first new one to be added to the list this year. After the release we continued on across the lake, through the far side narrows, and out onto the marshy south bay. Here we could see a canoe already parked up at the short portage to Little Sletten Lake. I knew there was a canoe somewhere since we'd seen bubbles on the water going through the narrows and this was where they came from.

American Beaver swimming around his pond down our logging road.

When we hit the portage, water was flowing down it like a creek, which is unusual at this location since there actually IS a creek just a few feet to the south of the trail. Apparently some intrepid American Beavers realized that with just a few feet of dam construction, they could raise the level of Little Sletten by a couple more feet, and add to their real estate holdings. Due to this, the lake was higher than I've ever seen before, and it looked like it could keep being raised easily by the beavers with more vertical additions to the dam at this natural bottleneck. We passed up the crew that was already portaging and made it across the lake to the next portage about the time they were heading out. In the rush to get across, I forgot to release more ashes on this lake, but fortunately we had to come back out this way so it wasn't a big deal. We got our rods tied up and ready to go after crossing the 40 rod (all the portages in the area are measured in rods for whatever reason, 1 rod = 5.5 yards = 16.5 feet) portage to Sletten Lake (my childhood favorite lake). Sletten is a small lake, probably about 40 acres or so (another strange measurement, 640 acres = 1 square mile, so it's very small). But like the cliche says, what it lacks in size, it makes up for in other areas, namely the Largemouth Bass fishing. Having remembered how I'd forgotten the ashes on Little Sletten, I didn't make the same mistake on Sletten & released them quickly just off from the portage. Just a few minutes into the lake I had already caught a pair of bass, one about 8-10" long, too small to keep in my eyes, and another about 5" long, roughly the size of the lure I was using. It was quiet for a little while as we worked our way around the lakeshore in a clockwise fashion, but I did see some Cedar Waxwings fly over, and a few American Robins were hopping along shore to keep me entertained. The wind was also making it surprisingly difficult to hold the canoe the right distance off shore in which we could make long casts and hit right where the fish would be (as shallow as possible).

A hyperactive Red Squirrel far back in the woods from my dad's property.

By the time we reached the far west end of the lake, where the wind was calmer, we finally started picking up fish. I caught a large one, probably in the 2.5-3 pound class, but let it go since it appeared to have a full belly, presumably filled with eggs. We worked our way with the wind along the north shore, in and out of all the coves and picked up probably 10 bass in total on the way. When we reached the east end, we checked out the beaver dam that holds the level of Sletten at a constant, and then started fising again. On this end, the wind was troublesome, so we had to move back westward toward the portage where it was calm. On the way, we had a Bald Eagle fly in high over us, being harassed by a seemingly tiny bird by comparison, though it was actually a Broad-winged Hawk, a bird with several feet of wingspan, but next to the largest bird of prey in the region, it looked like a pigeon. Also, while fishing here I caught a very brief glimpse of what I suspect was a Mink running up from the water along a strip of granite outcropping into the woods. Unfortunately it never came back out so I can't confirm, but I'm pretty certain it was a Mink. For a while the fish quit again but we did pick up a couple more with repeated passes along the shoreline east of the portage. When it was all said and done though we had kept 10 bass all between about 1-2/2.5 pounds. On the paddle back out I did get to release some ashes on Little Sletten, bringing the total number of lake to 7 now, a long way to go, but I'm glad to have gotten started.

A Green Treefrog & a prime example of a Minnesota Mosquito.

The wind continued to be a problem for me trying to turn the canoe properly, and even on Fenske, which is probably a little over a mile in length, it felt like a hurricane to me in the back of the canoe coming out of the northwest and picking up steam along the lake's longest reach. When we did reach the northwest corner where the canoe launch was, a Common Loon rose up onto the surface about 50 feet away, a perfect shot had I brought my camera. As always, anytime I don't have a camera I see awesome things, but it always begs the question, should I bring it & miss out on seeing these things, or should I leave it at home & miss out on the photos? After we'd loaded up the vehicle and driven home to grab some lunch, we filleted up all the bass and I set a group of 4 fish aside to take back to Virginia so I could cook up a couple of my favorite meals for Ruth & I like last summer. When everything was cleaned up, I decided to take a walk since it was actually sunny out for once, and I didn't want to waste any of that beautiful light that my camera needs for nice photographs. What I thought was going to be a 3 or 4 mile hike turned into one about 7 miles instead. I ended up walking the entire length that I had done on Wednesday morning, plus a little extra. With all the rain we had gotten the day & night before, the logging road was full of rainwater pools, many more than I'd encountered on the last hike. There was 4 or 5 spots where I had to walk out into the woods to get around the flooded roadway. On the way eastward, I saw a fair number of warblers in the trees but could never get close enough or have a straight shot to photograph any of them. I also saw a pair of Black-capped Chickadees in a pine tree, which I remembered, I don't get to see these guys back home since we have the Carolina Chickadees, though I'd be hard-pressed to tell the difference in an area where their ranges overlap, if they weren't sitting next to each other.

Tiger Swallowtail sighted along the logging road.

The other day while hiking the same route, I saw a rainwater pond that had bubbles coming up in one spot constantly, spread out over a few square feet area and didn't know what was causing it. Today I got to find out, as I saw a mass of thousands of tadpoles all swimming in unison just under the surface. I've never seen so many in one spot before in my life, the mass covered easily a 10 square foot area of water and was probably a foot thick of just tadpoles, tucked closely into one another all moving together. It was pretty incredible. Whenever these start to grow legs, there are going to be a serious number of frogs in the area. The only types of frogs I saw around here was Wood Frogs, so I'm not positive what type the tadpoles are from. I ended up continuing further and walked into the same beaver ponds that I had the last time. This time, I didn't encounter any bears, but the same American Beaver was swimming again in its pond. This time, it didn't hesitate, and slapped its tail three times in quick fashion. I took a few photographs of a Northern Leopard Frog nearby, and then walked away from the pond to leave the beaver in peace. Nearby I also saw a lone Cedar Waxwing hopping amongst the trees, and could hear a number of Chestnut-sided Warblers, which are very common in the woods here, but I couldn't get any shots of the little fast birds. When I walked to the lowest beaver pond on the system, I spooked a family of ducks off a log. When I got into a good spot I could see a female Common Goldeneye, and the 7 semi-grown youngsters that were tailing her as she led them to safety across the pond into the marshier areas with more cover. Also on the pond were two pairs of breeding Ring-necked Ducks, though I didn't see any ducklings, I'd expect they'll be along shortly on the pond.

An adult male Ring-necked Duck seen in a pond along Highway 1 while driving to the North Shore one rainy day.

The ducks sure seem to love these tucked away beaver ponds where people don't normally get too. I'd question whether anyone else has even laid eyes on the ponds this spring since the path to get there is pretty overgrown, and its a good distance away from any road, the Echo Trail is the closest, about 3.5 miles away or so. After checking out the ponds I decided to head down the logging road beyond where it is vehicle accessible, down the hill towards the marshy southeast arm of Grassy Lake that we used to cross to go ice fishing when I was younger. Someone has put together a make-shift bridge of boards & poplar cuttings to get their ATV across. I could see the tracks around this spot, and additionally, I came across a set of massive Moose tracks near here also, heading westward up the hill towards the travelable logging road. I can't even remember the last time I saw Moose tracks in our home territory but it was pretty amazing to see. Maybe next year I'll get lucky and come across one for a photo. After seeing that, I looked around all over the nearby beaver pond & marshy spot, but couldn't see any wildlife. I thought maybe I'd see some more ducks but nothing seemed to be there, so I headed back up the hill. This hill was where last year I'd seen presumably the same Black Bear that I photographed a couple days ago, so definitely its home territory, though it didn't show up again today. On the way back down the road, I passed two Painted Turtles in different spots that must have been searching for locations to lay their eggs. One was right on the logging road, and the other was walking across a stretch of granite adjacent to the road (near the junction with the trail that leads along the beaver ponds that flow out to High Lake).

The turbulent storm rolling across Lake Superior from Illgen City.

I got some good closeup shots of both of them, though the latter turtle had a much more appealing background with it not being just gravel roadway. By this point I was pretty well exhausted, and the last couple mile were pretty rough. At the 1.5 mile marker from the house, I heard a crash in the wood left of me and turned just in time to see a brown flash and a white tail in the air, clearly a White-tailed Deer that got spooked by my walking on the noisy gravel. The last mile I passed the Red-eyed Vireo on it's nest again, and then didn't see much more, until just by the garden where a Pileated Woodpecker flew past me at high speed, and later spent some time climbing up a tree just outside the screen porch while I was relaxing in a chair out there. When I got back in, we started up another fish dinner, this time the bass, which proved to be just as delicious as any walleye I've ever had, and then I got to bed. 

A gigantic mass of recently hatched Tadpoles swimming in unison on a small spring pool next to the logging road.

After a gorgeous Friday, Saturday & Sunday proved to be much more dreary outdoors. Early on in the morning, I got another chance to photograph probably the same Ruffed Grouse that ran through the yard earlier in the week. This time it was perched on a rock right near the clotheslines. It again tried to hide from me, but then flushed and ruffed up it's neck feathers, providing me with some great shots, although with little natural light to help me out. Rain was expected basically all through the weekend, so instead of going out fishing or hiking & just getting soaking wet, Kim & I did an all afternoon drive up the Echo Trail. We drove up to Vermillion Falls near the town of Crane Lake just beyond the end of the Echo. The last time I went to the falls was when I was only about 11 or 12, during a spring break trip when all the ice had gone out off the lakes, so we had to find other activities, like hiking, to occupy our time. This time, the falls was pretty incredible.

Eastern Painted Turtle out looking for a place to lay it's eggs.

With all the rain the northland has gotten this spring, and definitely this week, the water was flowing through the narrow chute at probably record levels as no high-water mark was visible on any of the surrounding granite. The falls now has a handicap accessible trail going to a wooden overlook, which I didn't remember from the last time, though that was 18 or 19 years ago. Along the trail this time, I did hear a number of Chestnut-sided Warblers and managed to get some photographs of one male also. On our way back from the falls, we decided to take the Moose Loop Road around the Moose River area. On this trail, we got to see a number of Black Bear signs, and quite a number of Moose tracks as well. One set, was that of an adult female (cow), and a younger one (calf) side by side along the gravel roadway. We ended up driving the loop twice hoping to see one, but the signs were all we could find. Since we had caught such a haul of fish the day before, I got to enjoy yet another fried fish dinner on Saturday, finishing off the rest of the bass from Sletten.

One of the many, many Moccasin Flowers seen during the trip, probably due to the huge amounts of rain.

Sunday, we ran into the same problem as the day before...a very dreary day. Kim drove us down the logging road so I could point out the location of a massive swarm of tadpoles on a rainwater pond next to the gravel road. Of course, the tadpoles were nowhere to be found when we did finally reach the right spot, and with rain coming down it was tough to try and spot anything outdoors, much less under water. I did a quick walk in to the beaver pond where I'd previously seen a River Otter & heard what may or may not have been youngsters crying from a den (last summer). This time I couldn't locate anything, though it could have been due to the poor weather. We did see the Red-eyed Vireo up in the tree at about the 3/8 mile mark, and actually saw a pair of Cedar Waxwings nearby on the straightaway also. After driving the logging road, we drove up the Echo Trail to the Moose Loop again for one final attempt at finding a Moose.

A very ruffled up Ruffed Grouse that was seen right in the yard!

Like the day before, we circled the loop and saw some sign, but never did find one. On our way back we did come across a couple of deer along the Echo, and I did at least get some photographs of them. Also, on our way up we saw a pair of Canada Geese out on the Portage River just north of the road's bridge. I think it's interesting that they appear to be all over the area now, when growing up I never saw any in the summer around. We did also swing by the Little Indian Sioux bridge on the way up but no Moose sign there like we'd hoped. It may have ended very dreary, but I did take a lot of photographs, and did get to see some really neat stuff over the week, though seeing the Black Bear up close by myself was probably the one that will stick with me the most, it was a great week in the northwoods.

Chestnut-side Warbler seen at Vermillion Falls!

Week Ending June 8, 2014

/

With the soreness in my right ankle still continuing, I tried my best to stay off it this week, knowing that on Friday I would be heading off for a 2 week vacation to Indiana and Minnesota, where I'd be doing a lot of exercising. On Monday, while driving home from work, I spotted a pair of Wood Ducks on a small pond off Kings Grant Road just south of Edinburgh Drive. I went home quickly and grabbed my camera & headed back out to try and photograph them. The Wood Ducks it turned out, also had a full brood of ducklings with them on the pond, and there was another adult female in the group. I took photographs from the pullover spot on Edinburgh Drive just east of Kings Grant Road, and also from Kings Grant Road just south of Edinburgh Drive. This was the first time I'd ever gotten to see a family of Wood Ducks, another wonderful thing about my new neighborhood. The ponds here are wooded & secluded enough that the Wood Ducks don't seem to mind nesting here. On Wednesday, I brought my camera in to work so that I could try my hand at photographing some of the nesting Least Terns over at Lynnhaven Mall. I grabbed a parking spot at Dick's Sporting Goods and set up near the stormwater pond between there and the Toys'R'Us store on Lynnhaven. I watched for about 10 or 15 minutes as the terns visited the pond to get drinks of water, at one point, there was at least 25 of them over the pond, and plenty more in the air over the parking lot & the mall. By the end of my lunch, I'd taken about 50 shots, and only really got one or two that were in focus well enough to post online. These terns are tiny (about 9" in length only), they're extremely fast, and they can turn on a dime making it very hard to track them through a camera lens. If I get another chance in the next few weeks, on a sunnier day I'll give it a shot again, it was a nice way to spend my lunchbreak rather than just eating at my desk. 

Song Sparrow at Loth Springs, Waynesboro, VA.

Friday finally arrived after a long week or trying to staying off my ankle. I ended up leaving work around 1 PM and threw all my luggage in the car and headed north and west out of the Hampton Roads region. After 3 hours of driving, I made it to Waynesboro where I made a special stop, to try to photograph a rare bird. For the past couple of weeks, reports have been coming in from birders & photographers from all over of a Purple Gallinule that has been sighted in a coldwater spring in Waynesboro. I decided to stop to see if I could photograph this species for the first time, and add it to my Virginia list since we are very far outside it's normal breeding range. I've seen gallinules in Flordia, at the Everglades National Park as a teenager, but for them to be seen north of Georgia is very uncommon. When I arrived at the spring, no gallinule was visible, but I could see right away what brought this bird so far from it's home territory. The spring is a beautiful, clear pool of water that flows out through a small stream and empties into the South River nearby.

Mourning Dove perched above Loth Springs, Waynesboro, VA.

The small stream is lined with very thick trees & underbrush so the gallinule is able to hide when it wants, and then come out to feed in the spring pool at it's discretion. I walked along the stream on a bike path hoping I might catch a glimpse of the bird, and spend about 30 minutes doing so, but unfortunately it didn't come out of the forest. In it's absense, I did get some great shots of a group of Cedar Waxwings, and also saw some American Goldfinches, Northern Cardinals, Blue Jays, American Robins, and Common Grackles & Song Sparrows. I'm still glad I stopped, since it was worth the attempt, and it was great to see the spring & the wildlife that surrounded it, included a pair of Woodchucks on a nearby meadow. Following rarity reports from other's has been a mixed endeavor for me. Last December I was able to see my first King Eider in Virginia Beach after seeing reports that folks had posted online of it's whereabouts. I feel that it sort of cheapened the experience of adding a life bird to my list, but it was still amazing to see the bird in the wild, so it's kind of a tossup. Because of this, I didn't mind so much that the gallinule didn't show up, even though it would have been great to see. I'm hoping when I do see one, that I can be the first in the location to spot one, and then let others decide if they want to chase the rarity or find one on their own. After my stop off at the spring I kept onward down I-64 westward and eventually set up for the night at hotel in Winchester, Kentucky, right outside Lexington. 

Blue Jay at Loth Springs, Waynesboro, VA.

I got up early, about 6 AM at the hotel and took off towards Indiana, reaching my mother's house in Munster at 10:30 AM Central Time. I got in early enough where I was able to unload all my gear, grab a quick bite to eat, and then take her out to the Indiana Dunes State Park for an afternoon walk. I was surprised at the gate to the park to find out that the cost of entry was $10 for an out of state vehicle, which seems a rip-off to me, but I guess it is what it is. We parked near the Wilson Shelter like I've always done when going hiking in the park. This time though, instead of walking Trail 10 to the north of the parking area, we walked Trail 2 to the southeast of the lot. This trail runs along the south side of the main marsh, then crosses on a long boardwalk to meet up with Trail 10. While walking we heard some Tufted Timice that eventually showed themselves, and then ran into a woman who said the mosquitoes ahead were horrible. We had a good laugh about this since it was about 4 years ago when we'd walked out without any bug spray along Trail 10 and gotten eaten alive until we reached the lake and the breeze knocked them all out of the sky. This time though, we noticed no bugs so clearly the woman had no idea what she was talking about, or she was wearing perfume or something else that attracted them to her. The boardwalk in the marsh turned out to be completely waterlogged. Segments of the wooden spans were floating in the water after apparently becoming buoyant from sitting in the foot deep water of the marsh. Since my mom was with me, this was as far as we went, and then turned around. Had I been alone, I probably would have considered just getting my feet wet but my decision today was made easy for me. Along the way back to the car, we saw some American Goldfinches, heard some Gray Catbirds, and a I got a couple shots of my first Eastern Chipmunk of the year. I miss having these guys around, since all we have in Virginia Beach & the surrounding area is the Eastern Gray Squirrels. We made it back to the car with no mosquito bites, dry feet, and an appetite so we headed back home for dinner. 

One of several Cedar Waxwings seen at Loth Springs, Waynesboro, VA.

On Sunday, my mom's whole side of the family was all coming over to her house for a pool party, and had we had it yesterday during the 85 degree sunny heat it would have been great. Today instead, was only 55 and it was pretty cloudy & windy out. Since the party started at 1 PM, I went out early in the morning back to the Indiana Dunes SP to get a longer hike in. Yet again I paid the annoying $10 fee at the gate, though I could have taken my mom's car & saved $5, but, I like driving my own vehicle. I parked again at the Wilson Shelter but this time headed onto Trail 10, knowing that Trail 2 was a dead end as long as the marsh water elevation remained so high. Along Trail 10, it is evident that there was a controlled burn in some of the valleys on it's north side. The trees are all scorched and the underbrush has yet to return to the areas. I'm not sure of the purpose for this particular burn, but around Virginia they do this to kill off invasive species of plants, and also to re-kickstart the growth of the forest. Near the junction with Trail 9's shortcut, I watched as a pair of White-tailed Deer ran up the ridge above the valley they were feeding in. Also nearby, an Eastern Fox Squirrel was hopping around looking for acorns on the ground to eat. I didn't see much in the way of birds, aside from American Robins, and a couple of Gray Catbirds, though I could hear lots of birds in the forest canopy.

American Robin at Loth Springs, Waynesboro, VA.

With the cloudy skies it made seeing anything high up essentially impossible. I walked Trail 10 to the far eastern side of the park and then headed up and over the dune ridge out onto the beach. Along the ridge I could hear an Ovenbird singing, but as is the case most of the time with these birds, I couldn't locate him visually. When I reached the beach I was amazed to see just how windy the lake was. The waves looked more like what I see on the ocean beaches in Virginia than what I remember ever seeing on Lake Michigan. They had to be in the range of over 5' high. The beachfront was mostly eaten up by the incoming waves, and water was constantly lapping almost all the way to where the dune grasses began growing. I walked the beachfront down to the Beachhouse Blowout dune area & then headed inland. Along it, I found a few Ring-billed Gulls, and some interesting green bugs on the beach debris, but that was it for wildlife. While walking up into the blowout I heard a Prairie Warbler singing up on the ridgeline. I walked up the side dunes in search of it, and though I'm certain it was only a few feet away from me in a tree, I just couldn't spot it. After a solid 20 minutes of searching I finally gave up and kept along the ridge line toward the back of the blowout. The sun had poked out briefly while I was on the high ground, and provided me an opportunity to take some photographs of the lake & the surrounding duneland terrain. 

Eastern Chipmunk at Indiana Dunes State Park, Chesterton, IN.

While photographing this, a Field Sparrow flew in very near me and landed on some of the wood fences that work to stop dune erosion in the park. I switched out lenses & got just one shot of it before it flew off. I'd only seen my first of this species just a few months ago in Virginia, and now it seems I'm seeing them quite often when I'm out hiking, its very funny how that seems to occur. Once you've identified a bird for the first time, they start popping up everywhere. From the top of the blowout, I took the trail down into the valley behind the dunes. Since the sand is soft and deep here I got to run down hill while leaping and taking huge strides, it was a lot of fun, and a lot more fun than going up the dune was. Down in the valley, I saw an Eastern Towhee that was perched on the end of treebranch, snapped some shots, and continued on along the Trail 9. I took the "shortcut" trail back to Trail 10, hitting it just where I'd seen the White-tailed Deer earlier in the morning. From that point I followed Trail 10 back to the car, and didn't see anything else eventful on the way. I then headed back to my mom's house for the party where I got to see my sister Ellen & her boyfriend John, my cousin Paul, his wife Marjorie & their daughter Riley, my cousin Sarah, her husband Jason & their daughter Annabelle, my Aunt Annette & Uncle David, my Aunt Roz & Uncle Peter, and my Uncle Daniel as well. After the party I got all my stuff packed back up and got everything ready to head out early Monday morning en route to the house I grew up in, in Ely, Minnesota!

Beautiful flowers along the trail at Indiana Dunes State Park.