With two days in the 80s, followed by two nights of intense thunderstorms, the window for seeing cherry blossoms was narrower than usual. By the time I got out on the weekend, most of the blossoms were spent. While disappointed, I found solace in the beautiful greens that had popped up.
I was traveling the boonies when I came across two new birds for my life list. The first had a long bill and I immediately thought sandpiper. Turns out, this American Woodcock is part of the sandpiper family. I watched it rock its stocky body back and forth as it probed the ground for earthworms. The other new find was a raptor, a Northern Harrier. It was mantling prey and watching me with its bright yellow eyes so I didn’t stick around long. I guess I don’t have to travel to exotic places to see new birds.
So many colors and varieties! As a good friend would say: Oooooooeeeeeeee!!
When the sun came out Saturday afternoon, my first thought was SUNSET. So at 8:10 Gracie and I headed to the scenic turnout on Old Mission Peninsula. Right away, I saw the site was perfect for a spring sunset. I arrived a half hour early and got the last front row parking spot. In my side-view mirror, I watched others jockeying for the next-best place. Even though it was 44 degrees, people were out of their cars watching the sun set across West Bay and the Leelanau Peninsula. It did not disappoint.
