My wife and I just returned from a driving trip to Minn. And Mich. To vis=
it
relatives and get as much birding as possible. In Minn. we were at my
brother=92s house on a lake about 100 miles no. of Mpls. He has 40 acres=
of
woods with an undeveloped state park next to his property. He has a numb=
er
of bird feeders which attract a great variety of birds. It was a delight=
to
see the colorful birds at the feeders and nearby trees. At one time I co=
uld
see 8 Baltimore Orioles, about 12 American Goldfinch and a number of Purp=
le
Finch. He has four woodpecker species visit his feeders=97Downy, Hairy,
Red-breasted Woodpeckers and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. We there at the st=
art
of the spring migration thru his area. We were there five days and I had=
56
species with five "life" birds: Cape May Warbler=97Veery=97Blackpoll
Warbler=97Canada Warbler=97Blackburnian Warbler.

We stopped at the Seney NWR in northern MI, but it was during the middle =
of
windy day and not too productive with only 24 species, but did see Turmpe=
ter
Swans, Solitary Sandpipers, and both Caspian and Common Terns. We had ma=
de
reservations with the US Forest Service in Grayling, MI to go on a Kirtla=
nd=92s
Warbler on May 22. We heard a lot of them at two different areas and fin=
ally
were lucky enough to have one perch on top of a tree long enough for good
looks with binocs and scope.

One morning at the Dahlem Environmental Center in Jackson, MI resulted in=
30
species with a Blue-winged Warbler as a lifer. Using the ABA Directory a=
nd
the internet I had contacted a few people in the Ann Arbor area and got a
number of suggestions, including the Nichols Arborteum along the Huron R.=
in
Ann Arbor and an opportunity to go on a field trip on Sun. I visited "Th=
e
Arb" on a nice Sat. morning and was fortunate to meet Chuck Delatorre on =
the
trail. He new the bird songs and let me walk with him for two hours. We=
saw
30 species and thanks to Chuck I got four more life birds: Black-throate=
d
Green, Hooded, Bay-breasted, and Tennessee Warblers.

Sunday morning was very wet when I picked up Ron Haaseth, one of my e-mai=
l
contacts. It turns out Ron grew up in Seattle and went to Ballard HS and=
the
U. of Puget Sound. We met five others, but the trip leader did not show =
up
so another woman agreed to lead the way. We birded the boardwalk at Irwi=
n
Prairie in the rain. It is near the MI-OH border north of the Toledo airp=
ort.
After lunch in the cars, the rains stopped so we walked the boardwalk ag=
ain.
Then we went to the Girdham Dunes area near Oak Openings which is west o=
f
the airport where we saw a lot of Lark Sparrows, Grasshopper Sparrows, an=
d
another life bird for me: Yellow-throated Vireo among the 33 species we =
saw.

I also visited the Haehnle Wildlife Sanctuary, about 10 miles NE of Jacks=
on,
where I saw Black-billed Cuckoo, 1st Cedar Waxwings for the year , and a
Pileated Woodpecker among 21 species. On the way back home, we also stop=
ped
at Warren Woods SP, about 3 miles from I-94 off exit 6 in the SW corner o=
f
MI. Both of these per Ron=92s recommendations.

I had hoped to visit the Ottawa NWR and Crane Creek area in OH and the
U.Mich. Environmental Study at Dearborn, MI., but time did not permit. A=
ll
in all I had some pretty good birding in a limited amount of time and I d=
id
add 12 birds to my life list.

The ABA Directory, e-mail and the WWW really helped make the trip success=
ful.

Hugh Jennings
Bellevue, WA
hughbirder at aol.com