April Adventure.......................

I am so glad we decided to go out today. It looked drab this morning, grey skies and bleh, but was warm. So as I needed to take a break from the garden. I have been exhausted. Feels good though, and got a lot accomplished and its still April. Anyway, I didn't sleep well last night so I was tired as well. I have been wanting to go to Leland and walk on the beach but it really didn't appeal this day. So we took the usual route.............. We stopped first at Good Harbour Bay. It was misty in the distance and cold so we didn't linger.

I better show the farm critters we saw before we got that far. We had to go see the coo's

Those birds were trouble, as soon as I stepped out of the van they began to fuss..............not sure what they were either but they were very vocal. We stopped at my fav thrift shop in Lake Leelanau and found some treasures. Of course I did..........after Good Harbor we continue to Narada Lake. We were happy to see some birds were back, we heard Loons and the Swans were back. Some Canada Geese and several other varieties of ducks. They kept flying away and coming back only to fly again and it wasn't long before I found out why......an Eagle. The first one I have not seen here before. A Bufflehead male and female.

The others were new to me too,

I looked for an ID on the duck with the white side and I find something called a ring necked duck but it doesn't have a ring, so not sure. The other that seems to be right is a Memugaa.......Apart from that I will have to look further and hope we see them again. We heard but I didn't see the Loons. Anyway, the reason for all the flying and activity soon became clear. A Bald Headed Eagle.

Not the best pictures but he was a way off I thought he caught something but upon closer look it seems he has a friend. Well not to dwell on the water fowl too much there were other critters out today. It was nice to see the Turtles sunning and Gerry got a shot of what looked like a Snapper. I believe the small bird is a Phoebe.

After we left Narada we went up the back road to see what else we could see. We stopped to see if there were any Turkey Vultures on the roof of one of the farms they seem to enjoy frequenting and sure enough there were two chatting on the roof. Not a good picture and they left when they saw us. There were 3 all together and we saw them soaring over the forests. As we left I saw a courting couple in the bushes, a couple of Turkey's

From there we went on to Port Oneida, lots of birds there but not a lot else. Starlings, Red Winged Black birds and cowbirds in a flock and very busy, we saw but didn't take a picture, a lone Sandhill Crane.

It was the first time seeing so many things in a day. We did go into Empire but no deer out today, it's time for babies and so they are probably hanging out in the woodlands. Going past the Dunes we saw a Heron, you can barely see it in the one picture I did get and a couple of ducks on the pond.

So we went home after a rather satisfying day. Glad we went

Chilly April First......................

Today the city cut one of our trees down. They are going to put in a sidewalk along the edge of our property. Thats not a bad thing, especially as this means Gerry has to replace the old fence. Anway we're waiting till they were done with the tree before we left for a ride out to the county. We headed straight up to Suttons Bay the water looked rough but was a pretty colour.

Nothing special to see on the way. I had intended going to Leland to get some rocks off the beach but it was too cold. We headed to Sleeping Bear area instead and stopped at Narada Lake.

He took his skateboard with him but really nowhere to ride and he was too cold anyway. Then we went up the back way to Port Oneida.

We came out to the end of the trail in Port Oneida and I love walking in the upper meadows. Too cold today but did take some pictures best we could

Before we got to Glen Arbor I remembered the "new" beach we found last year and went to see if it was worth a visit on a warmer day. Still not a wide beach in that area but we will check it out. I wish the park would fix all the washed out stairs in these places. Still we will be able to get down there when we are ready

We really didn't see much in the way of wildlife but thats OK it was a lovely day

A few random pictures.

Ah well better luck next time right. I totally miss seeing the wildlife.