Michigan - The Upper Peninsula

We wanted to visit Michigan's Upper Peninsula at least once during our trip, so we were in the car at 6:30 and headed north. It took us about an hour to reach the famed Mackinac Bridge, which connects the lower and upper sections of Michigan. The bridge was opened in 1957 and is five miles long, with the center suspension portion spanning 3,799 feet. It was a beautiful sunny morning and we enjoyed the crossing. 

$4 to cross each way

Just on the other side we stopped at Bridge View Park, which offers fantastic views of the bridge. 

Mackinac Bridge

We then drove a short distance to Pointe LaBarbe which is an excellent birding area that projects out into the Straits of Mackinac. Much of the habitat is marsh and short trees along the water.

Mackinac Bridge in the background.

Our very first bird was a Sandhill Crane feeding right beside the road. 

Sandhill Crane

The marsh was full of singing birds, including this Alder Flycatcher. This flycatcher is one species in a genus of very similar, very difficult to identify flycatchers. Unless they are singing, which this one was. Their songs are distinctive enough to allow confident identification. 

We also saw Common Yellowthroats, Yellow Warblers, and Red-eyed Vireos, all on their breeding grounds and singing away. 

Common Yellowthroat

Yellow Warbler

Red-eyed Vireo

After spending an hour or so at Point LaBarbe, we once again headed north, this time to Whitefish Point. 

Whitefish Point is the furthest northern point on the east side of the UP, and sticks way out into Lake Superior. There is a lighthouse and a shipwreck museum on the point, along with some walking trails and a protected beach where members of the endangered Great Lakes population of Piping Plovers nest.

We headed out to the beach, not sure what to expect.

Lake Superior

In some places nesting birds can be so numerous that you can't miss seeing them, but Whitefish Point turned out not to be such a place. We came across a young man hired by Michigan Audubon to walk the beach, looking for and monitoring nests.  We asked about the plovers, and he indicated that there were a few pair on the (vast) beach.

In talking with him we learned that this particular sandy, gravelly point had formed only in the last ten years, and that the plovers had been slowly returning to nest. Most of the past years had seen only a single pair, but this year looked like there could be as many as five pairs. He took us to show us one of the nesting sites. 

Protected Piping Plover nest

The entire nesting area is cordoned off to prevent people from entering the area, and once a nest is found it is "caged" to protect the nest from gulls, crows, foxes, and domestic off-leash dogs. The little plovers can come and go through the wire, but the larger predators are kept away from the nest. 

We were lucky enough to encounter a pair of Piping Plovers out on the shoreline, displaying to one another. You can tell that these birds have been well-monitored by all of their leg bands!  

Piping Plover

We had intended to visit the shipwreck museum, but end-of-school-year field trips were in full swing and the entire place was swarming with kids. So we decided to head south. 

We enjoyed lunch at the Berry Patch in nearby Paradise, Michigan, and then followed the instructions given to us by the Piping Plover monitor to a nearby road hoping to find Spruce Grouse. But by this time it was 2:00 in the afternoon, sunny, and incredibly buggy in the marshy area that we were exploring, and we didn't find any hint of the grouse, so we continued south. 

We made it home to the Cozy Cabin and relaxed for a while, and then headed to nearby Hartwick Pines State Park for the evening. We found the bird feeders hanging behind the visitor center, and waited so see what was coming to them.

Our first visitor was a Black-capped Chickadee, which look identical to our Carolina Chickadees from Texas, but sing a different song. 

Black-capped Chickadee

We enjoyed looks at both male and female Rose-breasted Grosbeaks. They are very different looking birds, but share their large, pink beak!

Rose-breasted Grosbeak male

Rose-breasted Grosbeak female

A Red-breasted Nuthatch was feeding nearby, in the typical nuthatch "upside down" fashion. 

Red-breasted Nuthatch

And a Hairy Woodpecker visited, one of several woodpeckers that we would see and hear in this state park. 

All in all, a good first full day in Michigan for us. 

Next time: The star of the show and the main reason for our trip.