American Golden Plovers

Year 2

Decided I needed to do some exploring this morning, and I was rewarded with finding some American Golden Plovers. A small flock of about 15 birds was at the Beaver Bay sewage treatment ponds just inland from Lake Superior on hwy #4.

Finding these plovers was an “exclamation mark” near the end of a beautiful drive inland from Lake Superior along various back roads. A worthy explore is to drive northeast from Finland on Lake County #7 (Cramer Rd) as far as the Trestle Inn (about 20 miles from Minnesota #1). This road snakes through a gorgeous river valley. The Fall foliage is nearing peak color and was gorgeous in the early morning sun … Uff dah!

American Golden Plovers
Y2-M09-American-Golden-Plover-2 Y2-M09-American-Golden-Plover-1

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Nine Mile Lake Reflecting the Morning Sun
(just south of the Trestle Inn)Nine-Mile-Lake

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My route this morning
Finland-Minnesota-Map-1 Finland-Minnesota-Map-2

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Dive, Captain, Dive!

Year 2,

The migration is now in full force along the North Shore of Lake Superior. Whether a duck or a hawk, diving for food is a common task! These sequence of photos show both a Redhead and American Kestrel (Sparrow Hawk) in the act of diving.

Redhead Diving
Y2-M09-Redhead-2-Swimming Y2-M09-Redhead-3-Diving Y2-M09-Redhead-4-Diving

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Sparrow Hawk Diving
Y2-M09-Sparrow-Hawk-1 Y2-M09-Sparrow-Hawk-2 Y2-M09-Sparrow-Hawk-3 Y2-M09-Sparrow-Hawk-4

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Sparrow Hawk Preening Poses
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Magical Night at Crisp Point Lighthouse

Year 2

My wife and I just finished our gig as lighthouse keepers on a remote stretch of Lake Superior shoreline near Whitefish Point. Crisp Point Lighthouse may only be accessed via a 19 mile long dirt road, and is 40 miles from the nearest town. In short, it is very remote!

Learn more about our experience as lighthouse keepers via my wife’s blog. Molly regularly writes articles for Lake Superior magazine and better describes our experience in words than me!

However, here is the magic of a Crisp Point night in photos … from sunset to sunrise! (access photos directly via Flickr)

Here are two still images / excerpts from the slide show. The Northern Lights shined upon us our second night at Crisp Point, but only after a gorgeous sunset!
Crisp Point Lighthouse Magical Night 01 Sunset Crisp Point Lighthouse Magical Night 08 Northern Lights