Seney National Wildlife Refuge
September 26, 2006
It was a beautiful sunny morning. We walked along the shore of Lake Michigan and sat there at the water’s edge sipping our coffee and enjoying our hot oatmeal. Will took the opportunity to pull out the items from the bottom storage bin that filled with water the other day. We opened everything and let it dry out in the breeze. Four swans paddled out to sea and off, a schooner sailed along the horizon and sea gulls came and went. The air was still for most of the morning. When the sun went behind the clouds we packed up.
We are leaving the northern most tip of Lake Michigan. The leaves are colorful; the air is crisp. Waves roll white-capped to the sandy shoreline. We are heading south. It is flat here for the most part. Trees are maples and long skinny pines. There are towns separated by a distance of open land and for sale signs everywhere.
President FD Roosevelt created Seney National Wildlife Refuge in 1935 to protect wetlands for loons, swans and nesting bald eagles. We took a 20 mile off route trip to see this land that is mostly water with 26 pools on over 7,000 acres of water. We stopped at the visitor center and enjoyed their exhibits. The sand table to make animal tracks was interesting as we had seen so many tracks on walks the last few days. Wolf/Cyote comparison display was also interesting. The exhibit of the loons showing the baby on the mom’s back and a little one diving for a little fish. There was a great viewing deck right off the back of the building. On a nice day we would have spent more time there. A 14 minute film is available.
There is a 7-mile auto tour route to take visitors alongside wetlands and meadows. Here is what we saw along the way:
Trumpeter Swans, geese, ducks, Great Blue Heron, brown duck, diving duck, sleeping swans, Painted Turtle peeking out of the water, honking geese, birds, woodpecker in flight, American Coot, Northern Flicker, Belted Kingfisher, brown squirrel, dabbling ducks, Common Merganser (duck with bright orange bill and green head), eagle’s nests, no wolf or coyote but scat on the road, big furry bees tried to get our windows.
Stopped at the roadside park just out of Germfask and made some hot soup for a late lunch. We played a few round of Boggle, then cleaned up and headed back to route 2. We made it to Manistique where we found internet service, and a wonderful city park with walk along Lake Michigan, water and restrooms. We walked a few tenths of the two mile walk and gave up due to winds and rain. We climbed into our warm dry roadtrek for the nght.
It was a beautiful sunny morning. We walked along the shore of Lake Michigan and sat there at the water’s edge sipping our coffee and enjoying our hot oatmeal. Will took the opportunity to pull out the items from the bottom storage bin that filled with water the other day. We opened everything and let it dry out in the breeze. Four swans paddled out to sea and off, a schooner sailed along the horizon and sea gulls came and went. The air was still for most of the morning. When the sun went behind the clouds we packed up.
We are leaving the northern most tip of Lake Michigan. The leaves are colorful; the air is crisp. Waves roll white-capped to the sandy shoreline. We are heading south. It is flat here for the most part. Trees are maples and long skinny pines. There are towns separated by a distance of open land and for sale signs everywhere.
President FD Roosevelt created Seney National Wildlife Refuge in 1935 to protect wetlands for loons, swans and nesting bald eagles. We took a 20 mile off route trip to see this land that is mostly water with 26 pools on over 7,000 acres of water. We stopped at the visitor center and enjoyed their exhibits. The sand table to make animal tracks was interesting as we had seen so many tracks on walks the last few days. Wolf/Cyote comparison display was also interesting. The exhibit of the loons showing the baby on the mom’s back and a little one diving for a little fish. There was a great viewing deck right off the back of the building. On a nice day we would have spent more time there. A 14 minute film is available.
There is a 7-mile auto tour route to take visitors alongside wetlands and meadows. Here is what we saw along the way:
Trumpeter Swans, geese, ducks, Great Blue Heron, brown duck, diving duck, sleeping swans, Painted Turtle peeking out of the water, honking geese, birds, woodpecker in flight, American Coot, Northern Flicker, Belted Kingfisher, brown squirrel, dabbling ducks, Common Merganser (duck with bright orange bill and green head), eagle’s nests, no wolf or coyote but scat on the road, big furry bees tried to get our windows.
Stopped at the roadside park just out of Germfask and made some hot soup for a late lunch. We played a few round of Boggle, then cleaned up and headed back to route 2. We made it to Manistique where we found internet service, and a wonderful city park with walk along Lake Michigan, water and restrooms. We walked a few tenths of the two mile walk and gave up due to winds and rain. We climbed into our warm dry roadtrek for the nght.
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