Southeastern Michigan

The flight to Detroit was uneventful for most of us. I noticed a nice glory out the window on the Miami-Memphis leg. This was then followed by some crepuscular rays that converged on the spot the glory had been.

One of the flights to Detroit was delayed, which set us back about an hour. Once we had all arrived, we got the vans and headed to lunch. As we hit the road, we noticed a Woodchuck (Groundhog) on an embankment. Just after arrival at our lunch spot, I noticed a problem with my van. We had to head back to the rental office to exchange it, putting us perhaps two hours behind schedule.

Due to the time, we skipped our stop near Port Huron, and headed straight for Grayling. We spotted some birds on the way, including Mute Swans, which were lifers for some of the group. White-tailed Deer were seen by some along the roadside. A stop at a rest area added Baltimore Oriole, Cedar Waxwing, Yellow Warbler, and others.

A Chipping Sparrow was found near the hotel. After dinner, a few of us saw a Common Nighthawk over the hotel parking lot. This brought our day's total to 24 bird species and 2 mammal species.

Ramada Inn, Grayling, MI