Munishing Falls and Sand Point Marsh

Pictured Rocks 2012 con't:

After leaving Miners Castle we drove back towards Munising for a quick look at Munising Falls. It was near 11am by then, and the place was a bit crowded. It's actually within the city limits, and there's a nice big paved lot with bathrooms, and the walk to the falls is short and also paved, so lots of people stop there. We didn't stay long. I took the obligatory photos of Munising Creek and the falls.

 

Munising Creek

Munising Falls. Pretty dry for this time of year.

As I knew would happen after discovering the Red-eyed vireo at Sleeping Bear Dunes, I now see them everywhere. This one was performing some acrobatics in an aspen near the creek.

Red-eyed vireo

From Munising Falls we drove out to Sand Point, a beach on Lake Superior just north of town. We had a few snacks then walked the Sand Point Marsh Trail. The sky was beginning to darken but we figured we had time to complete the short paved trail. I was hoping for birds, of course. Places near water are always best for seeing all sorts of critters.

Sand Point Marsh

There were plenty of people on the beach as it was quite warm that morning but since there are no waterfalls in the marsh there were also no people. It was very pleasant once we moved beyond earshot of the screaming children.

Bunchberry

I had packed one camera body and two lenses for this trip. I had decided to suck it up and bring my bigger telephoto lens into the backcountry. This is, after all, what I do, and I didn't want to take the chance that I'd miss a great shot because I didn't have the right gear. This lens weighs over two pounds so it was something I'd had to really consider. What I did not bring, though, was my tripod. Remember, we were supposed to be in the wilderness, not walking a paved trail watching for birds. I wish now that I had at least thrown it in the van, even if I wasn't going to carry it into the backcountry (it weighs over five pounds!) because I was left having to hand hold my camera. That's not always a problem but when your subject is over your head you get tired in a hurry!

That was the case with this American redstart. Lori spotted him overhead, singing away. I struggled to hold the camera still and get some shots.

American redstart

Not quite in focus but I like the composition

We would encounter a few more warblers as we made our way around the trail, but that's for next time!