Impressive performance by singer/songwriter/guitarist Willy Porter at Freshwater on Saturday evening.  This guy has been around having opened for Jeff Beck, Jethro Tull and other big names.  Watching Willy play his guitar was almost enough to make me give up trying.  A highly entertaining act.  Great songs with plenty of humor tailored to BC thrown in.  Too bad the venue is so claustrophobic which spoiled it for some people.
http://willyporter.com/

Back up to the Straits for a couple of hours on Friday afternoon for some more raptor watching. Unfortunately, the wind had not shifted to the south as forecast so I did not see the large numbers of last week. I think I've now got the differences between a Buteo and an Accipiter, Red-tailed Hawks are pretty obvious from below if the light is right. We had one red tail fly low and slow right over our heads. The official six hour count for the day by Steve Baker was 174 birds heading north across the Straits (as compared with 602 for the previous Friday):
59 Turkey Vultures
2 Bald Eagles
4 Golden Eagles
1 Northern Harrier
26 Sharp-shinned Hawks
1 Cooper's Hawk
1 Red-shouldered Hawk
6 Rough-legged Hawks
71 Red-tailed Hawks
2 American Kestrels
1 Peregrine Falcon
For access to the North American Hawk Count database go to http://www.hawkcount.org/
Tried a bit more digiscoping on the using my Alpen 20-60x80 spotting scope, Alpen's (well made) bracket adapter and my little point and shoot camera but the results were not encouraging even for close, static and therefore very easy subjects like this Morning Dove:

This Northern Flicker was about 100 yards away and relatively well lit and static. Even with a stack of post image enhancement, a very poor result:

There's no getting around the fact that for serious bird photography I'll need a serious big lens for the Canon which will have to wait.

Alex Wulff discussed bamboo rod building at a Friends of the Boyne River meeting yesterday evening and has invited me to see the process at his shop here in BC.  From what  he said, the process is not so much difficult as it is tedious. I'd like to build a rod under his guidance if he will take me on.

Interesting presentation last night at Petoskey Audubon by Vern Stephens of MDNR discussing the restoration of Michigan's grassland ecosystems and specifically the work at Arcadia Dunes near Frankfurt.  Grasslands are immensely diverse and beautiful ecosystems.   Prior to European settlement Michigan had approximately 2 million acres of grassland and now, according to the Michigan Natural Features Inventory, less than 1% of the original prairies remain. 
Apparently, restoration is worth considering for parcels as small as half an acre.
http://www.gtrlc.org/land-stewardship-project/grassland-restoration/
If you don't go that far, there's much that can be done with garden plants to attract wildlife to the yard and this book is recommended:
http://www.amazon.com/Bringing-Nature-Home-Wildlife-Expanded/dp/0881929921/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1334160126&sr=1-2

The spring migration of raptors is in full swing as I witnessed up in Mackinaw City yesterday afternoon.  Saw dozens of birds high up in large kettles staging for the flight north across the straits. I was told they were mostly Buteos with a few Bald Eagles and a couple of immature Golden Eagles. With a forecast southerly component to the wind, today should be even better. Working on my hawk identification skills so that I can begin to tell one from another up high.  Also saw two large flocks of Sandhill Cranes passing through.  I'll be back in Mackinaw City on Tuesday with the Petoskey Audubon outing. Followed yesterday's hawk watch with a pot-luck at the Headlands Beach House; then nets and audio lures were set up for (Northern Saw-whet) Owl capture and banding followed by star gazing.

The Headlands is one of only six dark sky parks in the USA as designated by the International Dark Sky Association. Another fabulous Northern Michigan resource:

http://www.emmetcounty.org/darkskypark/

If you prefer to look at stars from the comfort of home:
http://skysurvey.org/

Although there was a full moon, on this night we saw a great many more planets (three) and stars (millions, who knows) than owls (zero as of 10:45pm when I left).  Here's somebody else's image of a full grown Northern Saw-whet Owl.  And here's a link to hear what they sound like.  Big noise for a little bird!

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Saw-whet_Owl/sounds

Continued my hill training this morning with an eight miler including the challenging "Ridge Run" up the back side of Avalanche Preserve and now recovering watching opening day from Comerica Park. Tigers look poised for victory but wait...now Boston just tied it up at the top of the ninth!
Avalanche is another great Boyne City resource.
http://gov.boynecity.com/uploads/1215019708Avalanche_map_062708.pdf
Wondering about creating the Boyne Trail Challenge, a run linking the trails on Avalanche Preserve, Young State Park and The Hill Preserve.  Perhaps include the swamp section and beach in Young and the broken bridge crossing of the Boyne River to spice things up.  Start and finish in downtown. Maybe 20 miles, not marathon distance. The hills and rough going would be challenge enough.

Hiked up "The Hill" yesterday.  100+ wild acres on the other side of Lake C. from the house. Thank you Messrs. Herzog, Mrstik and Herzog. The trail we created last fall seems to be getting plenty of use.
http://landtrust.org/Newsletters/Fall2011.pdf

Looking south from "The Hill"

Not much wild-life to be seen - just a few deer and the usual escorting group of Chickadees. But the views made up for it.

Looking north at "The Hill"