We spent the day on the Curley Lewis Scenic Byway, where we have made a slow-paced drive from M-123 to Brimley (about 30 miles) since 2011. It usually takes us about 5-6 hours to make the trip stopping at every spot we can. Typically we find 16-19 species of breeding warblers.
This is Naomikong Creek, close to the half way point in the drive. Waterthrushes, Mourning Warblers, and others nest here.
This is the view from Naiomkong Point looking across Whitefish Bay, towards the town of Paradise, which is 11 miles south of Whitefish Point.
Our reward, reaching Brimley around lunch is stopping at the Dancing Crane for rolls and coffee.
The most common warbler (and most likely most numerous bird) were American Redstarts.
Northern Parulas are quite common, usually occurring at most stops we make.
Black-and-white Warblers are also a common nesting bird here.
Close to M-123 there are a small number of Cape May Warblers where there are scattered spruce trees.
Northern Waterthrushes can be found in most wetlands and streams.
Ovenbirds are the second most abundant warbler found wherever there are deciduous woods.
Pine Warblers are common where we find stands of red pine.
After lunch we followed a sandy road west of Naomikong and found this batch of Canada Tiger Swallowtails on some coyote scat. I like to think of this as “Eat shit and live!” There is a lot of nutrition in the scat and insects make good use of it.
We finally got back to M-123 and had reached the end of our day.
More tomorrow…
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