July 7 - Tawas Point: Dipping on Cerulean Warbler and Little Gull

I woke again around 6 a.m. and ate a quick breakfast at the Lapeer Best Western before driving out to the Lapeer Game Management Area, where Cerulean Warblers have been recently reported on eBird, and walked along the roads and access trails to Watz Lake.

Once again, I “dipped” on the Ceruleans.  But, it was a pleasant walk along the roads of the Michigan woodlands.

Gray Catbirds were pretty common, here

Green Heron

After spending the morning there, I got in the car and drove north on Highway 23 to Tawas Point State Park, where a Little Gull has been seen somewhat regularly.  The State of Michigan charges a non-resident day use fee of $9, but it might be worth it to see a “Lifer”?  If, indeed, the bird isn't avoiding the recreational users!

I'm just jealous I wasn't windsurfing . . .

I walked from the lighthouse on out to the tip of the peninsula, and back along the foredune on the lake side.  There were several flocks of gulls, and I spent quite a while scoping through the ones on the beach, as well as offshore.

Noooo!  Don't walk through the gull flock and scatter the birds . . .

But once again, I “dipped” on the Little Gull, which is today’s current “target species”.  I am not doing well at this.

But, ya gotta love the duckling on the Mama Merganser's back!

Also, this evening, I noted that I had totally missed that there’s a Little Egret – a European species – that has been seen in Maine.  I had been 75 miles from where it has been seen since the middle of June!  This is a testament to my poor planning and poor research for doing a “Peregrination” year . . .

The trails were flooded in several areas . 

There were a lot of Northern Leopard Frogs along the pathways, no doubt due to the high water levels in Lake Huron.

Taxonomic Note: This species was placed in the genus Lithobates by Frost et al. (2006). However, Yuan et al. (2016, Systematic Biology) showed that this action created problems of “paraphyly” in other genera.  (Paraphyletic groups do not include all of the descendants of a single common ancestor. This means that while the group has a common ancestor, we are artificially ignoring a subset of its descendents.)  Yuan et al. recognized subgenera within Rana for the major traditional species groups, with Lithobates used as the subgenus - rather than genus - for the Rana palmipes group.  The taxonomy seems all very unsettled.

Rana (or Lithobates, or something . . .) pipiens

Anyway, after scoping through the gull flocks for nearly two hours,
I bagged it and headed north and west toward the town of Grayling, and checked into the Motel 72, where Douglas, the Albanian clerk, signed me in for the night.  Tomorrow, my goal is to walk through the Jack Pine stands, looking for a warbler species I’ve not seen before.

Bonaparte's Gull is small, but it's not a Little Gull

Lapeer State Game Area eBird Checklist is Here

Another Lapeer State Game Area eBird Checklist is Here

Tawas Point State Park eBird Checklist is Here

My favorite Timothy is 1 Timothy 5:23 . . .

July 6 - Dipping on Little Gulls

I woke up around 6 a.m. and packed to leave, on another humid, overcast morning.  I did a short walk down toward the river, but the mosquitoes were so voracious that I turned back around.

At least the mayflies don't bite . . .

I gassed up and headed toward the Lake Erie town of Port Dover, where eBird reports of Little Gulls had been posted in the last week.

I arrived at 11 a.m., and there were a lot of terns and gulls on the breakwater on the east side of the Lynn River.  There was also a thunderstorm just off to the south over the lake, which was threatening.
I scanned the bird flock, but although there was a large flock of Bonaparte’s Gulls, with Herring and Ring-billed gulls, and some Common and Caspian terns, there was not a Little Gull to be seen.
I did see at least one banded tern, but was unable to read any numbers.  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been conducting status assessments on the Common Terns for decades.

This tern is banded; couldn't read any numbers . . .

As the rain changed from ‘gentle’ to a heavy downpour, I went into the Harbor Pizza place and had their chicken wings for lunch.  The service was a little slow, but they tasted fine.

This next-door business caught my eye, since Friday the 13th is my Birthday

Several lightning flashes and thunder claps had scattered the bird flock, and there were few remaining when the storm ended, so I got on the road and headed west.

Nearby thunder and lightning sure spooked the birds!

Going through town, I see that Presbyterian Pastor Pam has a great sense of humour.

And, who could resist the opportunity to go through a hamlet called Frogmore?

I kind of zig-zagged through western Ontario, arriving at Bkejwanong, the Walpole Island First Nation Reserve.The Bkejwanong First Nation operates the Ferry across the St. Clair River, which is as full as has ever been recorded this year due to the continual rains.

Walpole Islander Ferry

It cost me $8 to make the 7-minute crossing from Walpole Island to Algonac, Michigan.

City of Algonac Ferry

The U.S. Customs and Border Patrol is pretty lax here, compared to the havoc they wreak along the U.S.-Mexico border.

America!  Freedom!  Yess?

Back in the States, I worked my way north and west, avoiding Detroit, to Interstate 69 and pulled off, taking a room at the Best Western in Lapeer, Michigan for the night.

Calling it quits for the night . . .

Shannonville eBird Checklist is Here

Port Dover eBird Checklist is Here