Monday, August 4

Been a busy week since our return from the land of lard. I’m thinking of entering detox. Does the Betty Ford clinic take on Lebanon Bologna abusers?

After getting back from Lebanon I had to make a quick trip to the eastern Upper Peninsula to check on some bat monitors we have up there. Lise came with to help out and see some new U.P. areas. Except for some particularly vicious mosquitos, it was a fun trip. We usually head further west to Marquette which doesn’t have the limestone formations. This area had cliffs, sinkholes, and cave openings. Small cave openings. Not the caves with walk-in entrances that TV’s Daniel Boone and Mingo would hide in. These were just small holes in the ground. Good enough for bats though.

After doing the monitors we drifted east along the Lake Huron shoreline. Beautiful area with lots of coastal wetlands, small rivers flowing into Lake Huron, and the Le Cheneaux Islands just offshore. We hit Cedarville and Hessel, the jumping off points to the Le Cheneaux Islands and home to one of the larger antique wooden boat shows in the country. A good number of which are still used to ferry people out to the islands.

Lake Huron wetlands at Trout River in the morning fog.

Looking through the fog to one of the Le Cheneaux Islands.

Eventually we hit De Tour Village, population 325. I’m pretty sure that number includes pets. DeTour Village is where you pick up the ferry to Drummond Island which we unfortunately didn’t have time to visit. Drummond has an area of 249 square miles and a population of 992 people, making the population density less than four people per square mile. Drummond has the distinction of being the last British outpost on what would eventually become American soil after the War of 1812. The Treaty of Ghent ended the war without any territory concessions but a later international commission gave Drummond to America.

I got a merlin and an alder flycatcher during the trip. That brings my total bird species for the year to 201 and Lise’s to 202. We also got to see out first porcupine in the wild. It was easy to see why these are usually seen flattened on the road. This thing slowly ambled across the road, stopping midway to sniff around, and ignoring the cars that stopped to avoid making it one with the pavement. Apparently it thought those quills were sufficient protection against a ton of moving steel. Not real bright but it was pretty cute.