Wisconsin - 2023

 After our very pleasant visit to Michigan last June (Michigan Blog - Day 1) we decided to move over one state and visit Wisconsin this year. There was a nice young couple on our Alaska cruise from Madison, Wisconsin, and when we told them we would be visiting in just a couple of weeks they were excited. But when I told them the two towns that we'd be staying in, their reply was "That is kind of in the middle of nowhere!"  I responded that we were "middle of nowhere" kind of folks!

June 4, 2023 (Sunday)

After spending the night in a hotel near the San Antonio airport, we departed at 6:45 and landed in Milwaukee at 11:30 after a one-hour layover in Chicago.  We grabbed our rent car and headed north!

Our first three nights would be spent in Tomahawk, Wisconsin, about 4 hours north of Milwaukee.  On our way north we stopped at Horicon National Wildlife Refuge. 

We have some friends that had volunteered here a couple of summers and we had always wanted to visit. It was Sunday afternoon and the visitor center was closed, but we hiked the Discovery Trail which included a lookout over a small lake as well as a section through a nice patch of forest. 

In the open grasslands we saw a male Bobolink displaying. This bird has the nickname "Skunk Blackbird" due to its black, white and tan coloration.  It is a bird of the northern grasslands that we virtually never see in Texas. 

Bobolink male

It was a warm, sunny afternoon and butterflies were flying as well. I managed to get pictures and identifications on a couple. 

Indian Skipper

Pearl Crescent

A Song Sparrow was playing King-of-the-Mountain on a log, and Common Grackles were, well, common. 

Common Grackle

Song Sparrow

After a couple of hours at Horicon we continued north to our Airbnb "Cabin in the North Woods" in Tomahawk. It turned out to be a nice little cabin on the shore of a lake called Jersey Flowage on the Tomahawk River. The cabin looked to be newly remodeled inside, with lots of natural wood. 

Our impression from communications was that this was a new owner, and new to AirBnb. Probably an investment/business. The cabin was very nice but a bit odd in that the bedrooms had no closets, chests of drawers, or shelves. So we pretty much lived out of our suitcases.  

The location was quiet, cozy and just right as a base for our explorations.

Next - George W. Mead Wildlife Area and Mepps Lures