Week 10: Birds, Ice and Waterfalls: A Perfect Trio

bird

Sorry, it's another chickadee.  I was busy during the week so I didn't get any shooting done.  Friends of ours arrived on Friday so I  visited (read: talked non-stop) instead of getting the camera out.  Donna loves her camera too so on Saturday we made a trip to Whitefish Island to feed the birds but the birds were playing hide-and-seek (more like hide-and-hide).  Only the chickadees and some crows/ravens showed up but it was gorgeous and sunny so we didn't mind too much.  It did mean however that I didn't have my photo for the week if I didn't use a chickadee.

We were discussing whether the huge black birds we see here all the time are ravens or crows.  We had no idea what the differences are but Donna had helpfully brought her bird book with her.  The main thing we could see is that the crow's tail is flat across the bottom and the raven's tail is scooped.  I inform you of this not because I think you will be interested but because by next week I will forget which is which and now I will have this note to remind me.  Genius!

After that beautiful afternoon, we drove to St. Joseph Island for Gilbertson's pancakes.  I can't believe I haven't ever been there before.  We got there too late to get the tour in the bush but we did have time to talk to the man in the evaporator room.  What a fascinating process the making of maple syrup is.  We saw about a million deer so the drive home in the dark was remarkably slower than the drive there.

On Sunday we made my annual trek to Whitefish Point to see the ice caves (even though I was pretty sure there were no caves this year).  The ice certainly wasn't as spectacular as in previous years but it was beautiful in its own way and we spent quite a bit of time exploring and taking photographs.  The point is sandy so as the ice is forming, sand is caught in it and as it melts, the sand becomes more prominent.

This one reminds me of toasty meringue.

 From Whitefish Point we headed to Tahquamenon Falls with our tripods.  Unfortunately, the sun decided to shine more brightly through the clouds, so we weren't able to get the falls to be as smooth as I would like.  Here are some getting closer each time.

As I write this Donna is doing something really cool on my light table.  I will copy her idea and you will see those next week.  I am so excited.