I’m not sure how many times I’ve mentioned this, but there is one thing that holds true for me: Weborg Marsh never disappoints.

Sunset over Weborg Marsh, Sept 25, 2008

I can drive the whole park and see nothing noteworthy, unusual, particularly special, odd or new (not counting the park’s inherent beauty, of course — and I’m not at all discounting that!), but get at least one treat, for sure, on a drive through Weborg Marsh. It is incredible, the power of that one little spot to deliver.

In however many years I’ve been frequenting the park, I cannot think of the last time Weborg Marsh let me down. I’ve seen everything you can imagine… Bald Eagle, Osprey, Red-Tailed Hawk, this year’s very first … Read the rest of this entry

May 10, 2008, saw first blooms of:

• White Trillium (Trillium grandiflorum)
• Large-Flowered Bellwort (Uvularia grandiflora)

A few straggling Bloodroots (Sanguinaria canadensis) continue to bloom at the trailhead next to the old Weborg Cemetery (at Weborg Point).

The Forget-Me-Nots (Myosotis spp.) are barely poking their heads above the leaf cover, in clumps. Ditto for common grasses, which will flow over the forest floor like a lush green carpet; right now it is still mostly dead brown leaves with young clumps of grass poking through.

Some wise-cracker planted a few daffodils along Skyline Rd between Middle Road and Sven’s Bluff. Please rest assured that daffodils are not native ;) they were very much planted by some creative visitor …….

The Dwarf Lake Irises (Iris lacustris) are supposed to be blooming right now, but I didn’t see any sign of them at Weborg Marsh on Sunday May 11th. It has been an average of 10-15°F below normal most days this spring, so I expect the dwarf lake irises to follow the same pattern as other flowers thus far, and probably bloom sometime in late May. ##

Happily, all 3 nests atop cellular towers in northern Door County (at least the three I watch — Fish Creek, Ellison Bay and Gills Rock) have been reoccupied as summer residences for pairs of ospreys.

The first nest activity I witnessed was on April 4th, which I thought was a little early? and it was definitely very cold for those poor things to be back. But by April 6th both the Fish Creek and Gills Rock nests were occupied and being repaired/redecorated by fastidious females.

Where the Fish Creek and Gills Rock pairs have been rather flamboyant in appearances (they don’t seem to care who sees ‘em coming or going), the Ellison Bay pair has been very low-key. Honestly I thought there wasn’t even a pair at the Ellison Bay nest this year, until last week … I hadn’t seen any nest-building activity, and I’d only seen an osprey perched out on the tower two evenings since early April. (Vs. the Fish Creek male, who seems to spend the majority of every day perched atop his Tower, overseeing his Kingdom, LOL)

Well, finally last week I drove my mobile bird blind (car) up to Tower Storage, and watched the Ellison Bay nest for a good 15 minutes through high-powered binoculars. After about 10 minutes of nothin’, the female osprey poked her head up and looked around. :-P So she’s there; she’s just not one of these “let’s stand out on the edge of the nest and screw around with stuff” types, perhaps. :)

I read online that often the same pair returns to a nest year after year. The Fish Creek and Gills Rock ospreys, I would definitely believe that is the case … they seem very familiar and comfortable with their surroundings. However the Ellison Bay pair, I’m not so sure. While last year’s pair wasn’t excited about human presence, they were nowhere near this low-key. I saw them perched out on the tower, or moving around in the nest fixing it up, a lot more (daily). This year it’s nothing like that.

Without tagging them, of course, we’ll never know. And no, I’m not calling for tagging them either. No need to stress them out like that. I’m perfectly content to watch them from afar and leave them be. ##

Took a quick run over to North Bay yesterday (Wednesday) and saw 2 pairs of common terns (Sterna hirundo), as well as 3 pairs of green-winged teal (Anas crecca).

It felt great to hear the terns’ hoarse screeching again. It’s not a pretty call, but it is part of the backdrop that makes a Door County summer.

I awoke yesterday to a persistent, endless cacophony of bird song that I didn’t recognize. It was noisy, unique, and there were lots of birds singing the same song. And I hadn’t heard it before.

I peeked out my 2nd-floor bedroom window and saw a few little brown birds with black-and-white striped heads hopping around on the trees and in the grass. I thought they were white-throated sparrows (which are very common around here), but in the back of my mind it seemed rather odd that they were so noisy. I didn’t remember the white-throats being that ……. obnoxious?

Later in the day I Googled the white-throated sparrows, and realized that I didn’t recall seeing any yellow on these little birds’ heads. Hmmmm. I listened to the white-throats’ calls online, and they did not match. Not even remotely. And yet Cornell didn’t list any similar-looking species; to hear them tell it, the white-throated sparrow was the only sparrow with that obvious black-and-white striping on it.

Now I was obsessed. :) What were those birds???? I grabbed my camera and went outside. I tried to creep gently, quietly, unobtrusively to the side yard… no matter, all the birds spooked and flew off, sort of in a brown wave. *grin* Except for one brave little soul in a tree. I took his picture.

There were several more in a tree below my porch, so I took their pictures, too. After a few minutes, another puffy little fellow hopped out of a bush and onto the grass. He was particularly photogenic. I snapped his pic and he flitted away.

Good pics in hand, I ran back upstairs and cracked open my trusty, worn copy of Peterson’s. I downloaded the pictures, although I didn’t really need to, I had gotten a really good look at the little guys out there. A-ha! There they were, no question: white-crowned sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys).

They hadn’t been here the day before. They were here all day Wednesday. Literally, they were yammering from sun-up to sun-down. And when I awoke this morning, they were gone.

This morning my Mom wrote to tell me that all 3,000 of the white-crowneds were at her house today (11 miles north of me, as the crow flies) … and that yes, their song was definitely different than the white-throated sparrows. See? I asked … now you know why I was obsessed with them yesterday!!

Nothing like a new bird on a bright spring day. :)

This was a wonderful year for ospreys in northern Door County.

I previously reported the was one nest atop a tower in Fish Creek. Well, there was a second nest I wasn’t talking about ;) and a 3rd that I discovered after young had hatched. Wow!!!

The Fish Creek ospreys quickly grew accustomed to the thousands of cars roaring up the hill directly below them. They also grew accustomed to human presence at Gibraltar School. The last time I visited, they couldn’t have cared less that I was there.

The Fish Creek pair successfully raised two beautiful young fledglings.

The second osprey nest was just south of Ellison Bay, on the cell tower on Old Stage Ct. This pair is not pleased at all about human intrusion, so the closest viewing spot that didn’t upset the birds was at Tower Storage. This pair also successfully raised two young.

The third osprey nest was atop the cell tower on Sawmill Road (just off Isle View Rd) in Gills Rock. This nest is in a very remote location, so the adult ospreys are very sensitive about activity around their nest as well. The best viewing that didn’t upset the birds was on the north end of Sawmill Rd., just off Highway 42. I parked my car at the top of the farthest hill and used 16×50 binoculars to get an amazing view.

Best I was able to see, this pair successfully fledged one offspring.

I have a number of pictures of all 3 nests and will post them later this week. :)

Went for a quick birdwatching stint at Weborg Point this evening. I was dying to give my new 16×50 Bushnells a workout. :-P What can I say!!!

Saw a Spotted Sandpiper perched on a rock on the north side of Weborg Point. I had accidentally flushed it from the rocky shoreline near the pier. The sandpipers are very late migrants, and this was the first sandpiper-type bird I’ve seen this season. I patiently watched him preen, his nondescript brown back toward me, for better than 10 minutes. Then, I lucked out! He turned around and ta-da! there was his very clearly spotted chest. :D What a rewarding ID! After a few seconds he hopped off the rock and flitted over toward shore, out of sight. Way, way neat.

There was a flock of Cedar Waxwings feeding on some kind of buds or seeds in the soft-wooded trees on Weborg Point.

A beautiful male Yellow Warbler was pointed out by a very nice couple also birding on the point. (Thank you!!) The warbler appeared like he could not have cared less about the 3 cedar waxwings sharing his branch. :D

A screaming Killdeer flew along the north shore of Weborg Point… in both directions, as if once wasn’t enough. LOL :-P

American Redstarts were present in force, flying around energetically, once again re-proving my theory “if it’s in a tree and making a lot of noise, it’s a Redstart” … doggone, those birds yammer a lot.

A fisherman came by and told me that he had seen a Great Blue Heron off the point this morning. I don’t mean to sound insulting by saying this, but I have to assume he knows the difference between a Great Blue Heron and a Sandhill Crane. The only reason I mention that is because I’ve been watching for the herons and haven’t seen them yet. I’ve seen Sandhills off Weborg Point all spring — but no Great Blue Herons yet.

And of course, there were the obligatory Red-Winged Blackbirds. Not just males, but the females have just arrived!!! So now the males actually have someone to show off to… no more posturing amongst themselves! The territories have been set… now the boys have to win the girls’ hearts. As I drove through the marsh, I wondered which ones will have the biggest harems?? (Red-winged blackbirds are notoriously polygamous… a flashy male with a primo territory may have up to 15 females in his harem!) Well. Good luck to them all. ;)

Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend, and Peninsula was arguably chock-full of thousands of visitors… yet by some wonderful twist of fate, I had upper Skyline Trail completely to myself!! Well, unless you count the light rain, 3 deer, arguing wrens, whisper-quiet blue jay and perfect blue carpet of forget-me-nots. *wink*

The palette reminded me of my six weeks of summer camp at Treehaven… except that six weeks of forestry camp is not an exercise in spiritually uniting oneself with nature. Six weeks of camp is more like endless hours of tromping through tangled brush along unforgiving gridlines, pushing through no matter how crappy the weather, how bad your feet hurt, nor how desperately you need to pee. (The latter being much more an issue for us girls than it is for the boys)

But it looked like Treehaven, and reminded me of my fleeting romantic memories of how pretty it was there. (Sans the creepy ticks which rained upon us from the treetops. Ewwww.)

Flowers, pictured left to right:

Carpet Bugle (Ajuga reptans), Wood Betony (Stachys betonica), Dwarf Ginseng (Panax trifolius) – two pictures – including close-up of flower cluster, Gaywings (Polygala paucifolia), Lily of the Valley (Convallaria majalis), and Wild Honeysuckle (Rhododendron canescens) which smells divine but is all over the park!!!

I wasn’t able to get pics of the wildlife, since it was late afternoon and the light was low. Something about blowing kisses to a yearling doe and having her go from wigging out and scared, to totally relaxed and moseying about, that is just the coolest. How beautiful.

Peninsula is such a big park, so it sort of cracks me up how I end up focused on the smallest details. I drove out the other night thinking, “dang! I just spent the last hour looking at pinhead-sized flowers!” LOL! :D OK, they were a little bigger than pinheads, but not a lot.

My favorite moments are where I’m just chugging along and I glimpse something out the corner of my eye. My breath catches – I stop – and I carefully, quietly creeeeeeeeeeep backwards.

Such was the case with the mated pair of Common Mergansers on May 14th. I was tooling down Shore Rd. just below Eagle Bluff Lighthouse when I spied them near shore. They don’t like people, so I had to grab the shot quickly before they rushed off.

The mergies have been paired off since mid-April. In fact they arrived to Door County already paired up this year. In years past they have arrived in mixed flocks, but not in 2007. This year they were already cruising along two by two.

Anything purple catches my eye ;) and I was just tickled to catch these **EDIT** Dame’s Rocket (Hesperis matronalis) … see, I’d always thought these were phlox, but no! Turns out phlox has 5 petals, but Rocket spp. have only 4 petals on each flower. Rocket it is. Found these near the park superintendent’s house.

Peninsula State Park revealed a few more signs of spring’s arrival this evening… not the least of which were tree buds bursting with new green leaves, persistently drumming ruffed grouse, and the melodious chorus of not one, but two hermit thrushes!!!

Tonight I started at Weborg Point, took Hemlock Trail over to Sunset Trail, and hiked north on Sunset Trail to Tennis Court Trail. It was getting late… about 6 PM… so I didn’t dawdle. I sacrificed silence for speed. There are few things I dislike more than being caught out on the trails in the dark. I can do it fine, I just don’t like it. *wink*

The wild honeysuckle and other trees are absolutely bursting with life. The sight of fresh, bright young green leaves soaking in the evening sun, cheered my heart. The birches and aspens were also just starting to pop:

But the raucous — and I mean raucous :D — hermit thrush singing from high atop the trees at the intersection of Sunset and Tennis Court Trails is really what pulled my chain.

I’ve heard many hermit thrushes. Theirs is my favorite bird call. I have never not stopped to admire the almost-magic, mystical, ethereal perfectly tuned chords that these amazing little birds just seem to spill out.

But I’ve never actually watched a hermit thrush sing. Not only did I get to watch this little fellow, but he humored me for over 10 minutes. I stood right below him (her?), snapping pictures, my head jacked backwards, just watching and listening in awe. It was a delight!

Finally the light was getting low, the raccoons were crashing about in the understory (LOL!) and I knew I had a bit of a trek in front of me. I headed back south on Sunset Trail.

As I passed the old gravel pit, I spied a male wild turkey wandering around. And in the distance, to the east-southeast, I heard yet another hermit thrush. It wasn’t the same as the first one, as I’d just left earshot of it not 30 seconds before. The 2nd hermit thrush was probably around the north end of Weborg Marsh, a bit south of Mengelberg Lane.

The sun set about as I reached Nelson’s Point. It was truly a picture-perfect ending to the day.

A pair of ospreys is treating Fish Creek to a rare and amazing view this year, having built a nest atop a cellular tower near the Top of the Hill Shops right in the middle of bustling Fish Creek.

I spent a little time watching the nest on April 28th. The evening before, I had spied an osprey fishing in Weborg Marsh at Peninsula State Park. Needless to say I was surprised — ospreys are not a common sight. Well! Surely that was the male osprey catching a fresh dinner for his mate. On the 28th, though, fishing was done… he was now perched next to the nest, overlooking their territory:

If you would like to watch these beauties, please do not park under the tower. Do not stop your car under the tower. And do not walk under the tower. All of these things will freak out the ospreys, and they literally need every ounce of energy they can get, just trying to hatch those eggs and rear their young. Humans freaking them out by getting too close, may well cause the young to die. Please keep your distance.

That said, there are some great viewing spots. :D Try parking at Gibraltar School (after school hours only, please) and walking through the playground. I have sat at the picnic tables in the grassy area… this is an amazing spot to watch their nest!! Bring binoculars for a really close-up view.

Across the street you’ll find Sonny’s Pizzeria. Ask for Early. He can tell you all about the ospreys, he and his family watch them carefully every day. While you’re there, get one of their made-from-scratch pizzas, or my favorite, a cheeseburger & fries. Seriously The Best cheeseburger & fries in town. ;)

Was treated to a small, active, talkative flock of Bonaparte’s Gulls in Sturgeon Bay, just off the shores of Potawatomi State Park.

It was a blustery, snowy, windy afternoon in Porte des Mortes passage. It was, frankly, miserable………. much more typical of an early March afternoon than early April. But the snow was flying, the waters were rough, and I was waiting patiently on shore at Northport Pier, watching for my favorite ship on the Great Lakes, the Edward L. Ryerson, which was supposed to be upbound to Escanaba. On a clear day, she’d be perfectly visible. Not that day though. Snow squalls blocked the view.

But what did keep me happily entertained was a flock of delightful divers, clearly on a rest-stop during their migratory journey northward. The mixed-flock appeared to be Buffleheads and Scaups at first glance, but once I downloaded the pictures and carefully scrutinized them, only then did I realize I’d seen even more!!

Picture #1: Male and female Buffleheads (Bucephala albeola), the smallest of the diving ducks, were present in force.

Picture #3: Also present were many male and female Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis) … I suppose it is possible that a couple of Greater Scaups were in there as well, but the water was rough, and the wind brisk, making the necessary really clear pictures impossible.

Picture #2: Without a doubt, however, I did capture at least one male Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris). His white shoulder patch and white ringed bill are unmistakable.

The birds were still there on April 8, 2007 when I returned for the actual passage of the Ryerson through Porte des Mortes. The weather was no nicer on the 8th, though.

March 25, 2007 broke with unseasonably warm temperatures, glorious bright sunshine, and the undeniable chorus of new birds!!! The distinct calls of several species echoed across the fields. I tugged on my boots, grabbed my camera and was out the door.

At Site #1, I found the season’s first pair of Sandhill Cranes (well, first for me) hunting grubs deep in a field along Pioneer Rd., near Townline Rd., in the township of Liberty Grove.

At Site #2, between Welcker’s Point and Eagle Bluff Lighthouse, I spied a couple of Canada Geese snoozing on an ice floe. They were oblivious to the sound of my car atop the bluff above them. The picture they made was gorgeous.

Farther down the road, I marvelled at the joyous, raucous, energetic diving ducks which dotted the water’s edge at Peninsula State Park. The male Common Goldeneyes showed off their distinctive, impressive courtship dance as both males and females chattered amongst each other.