Pictured swans

Kayaking under a cavern in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. More photos are now available.

Swan refuge

Today was rather like the first few chapters of "Trumpet of the Swan." Seney National Wildlife Refuge is a natural wonderland of bogs and swamps in the middle of the UP. Trumpeter swans, unlike anywhere else east of the Rockies, are everywhere here--we saw 48 on one pool alone. Other sightings included an osprey, on nest, ruffed grouse, common loons and pine siskin.

May ice

Kayaking in Lake Superior, we had a stunning realization. The rock wall above us wasn't draped with quartzite, but with ice. Our guide spoke of a Memorial Day a few years back with ice floes on the lake.

It's hard to put into words what we saw today, but of course I'll try. Emerald waters, multi-hued sheer rock walls, sea caves, waterfalls plunging over stories of rock.

Blue water

There's no doubt that this trip is perpetuating the world demand for petroleum, but the scenery so far has been worth it. In Munising right now, camped in nearby Christmas right on Lake Superior. There's a merlin in our campground, and they sell sake at the local supermarket.

Late spring

Blogging live from Green Bay, Wis., where summer still seems a long way off. Most deciduous trees still don't have leaves (though it's quite balmy tonight and probably over 50). We're headed even farther north tomorrow--to Munising, Mich., and Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Hope to have a chance to blog from there.

Field glasses

Today, after 18 years of using the same field glasses, I received a new pair of binoculars in the mail. The new nocs have an 8x objective lens and 42 mm field of view. I can already tell that the binoculars will improve my birding--images are incredibly crisp, the 8x42 setup allows for much more light and detail in dim conditions and the field of view is bigger than what I had before.

Also, the Lower 48 low for yesterday was 23 degrees in Tomahawk, Wis., about 325 miles north of here. There's a chance I could be reporting from a similar latitude this weekend. More to come...

Getting birdy

Today was one of those days for warblers at Montrose Point that is hard to top most anywhere in North America. We had 56 total species, and 18 species of warblers alone. And missed a few, too, according to Internet reports. The american redstarts and magnolia warblers really put on a show; they were everywhere flitting about just a few feet away at eye level. There weren't any especially rare birds at Montrose today, but species like wilson's warbler--typically elusive--were everywhere. We had several close-up glimpses of black-and-white warblers moving up and down tree trunks like nuthatches do. The weather today is impeccable, 69 and sunny right now. We're still about one week behind in terms of migration, but this is worth the wait.