For the Birds

For the Birds

“The waves are too loud,” I tell Dane through the screen door. “I can’t hear any birds, and Merlin can’t pick any up. I only see seagulls.”

I’m standing on the deck of our friends’ Washington Island cabin, Sunrise Lodge, close enough to throw a stone into Lake Michigan. Dane’s in the kitchen making coffee.

We took the ferry here yesterday and have been looking forward to sitting on the deck, watching the sun rise, and discovering birds different from the ones we have at home. But the wind and waves are overpowering any bird songs other than the squeal of gulls, and it’s cold out.

I retreat back into the lodge and sit with Dane at a wooden table large enough to seat 10 people comfortably. We look out at the lake through the large picture window and drink our coffee. This is one of our greatest pleasures in life: to be in this lodge and watch the sun rise, either from the deck or a bench near the water’s edge, or while sitting warmly inside.

The wind has been strong since we drove onto the final ferry at 6 o’clock last evening. It was the first time we didn’t sit on the ferry’s open upper deck, huddled together, with grins on our faces, heading for one of our happy places. We tried, but we were too chilled and returned to our car to wait out the 30-minute ride. 

Dane and I have some routines that are as natural to us as brushing our teeth every morning. Stopping at the Albatross Drive-in once we get off the ferry is one of them. It’s a short mile and a half from the dock, and we have to pass it to get to the lodge. After savoring one of their signature Swiss cheese and bacon Alby Burgers, we were ready to settle into the cabin.

This morning, we decided that since it’s cooler today than we anticipated, we’ll drive to our favorite breakfast place, WIS-CO, and ride bikes later. If you get WIS-CO's daily trivia question right, you get 10 cents off on your order. The thought of this makes us happy as we hurry to get dressed and start our day. Today’s question doesn’t fool us: What do you call the blob of toothpaste you put on your toothbrush? A nurdle! We decide to split one of their breakfast sandwiches so we have room for Dane’s favorite: their freshly made cinnamon rolls with a scoop of cream cheese frosting balancing on top like a hat.

Once on our bikes, we ride up and down the back roads, stopping to hike along the way. We’re anxious to listen for birds at the Domer-Neff Nature Preserve, which boasts over 200 recorded species!

After parking our bikes, Dane opens the Merlin app on his phone, and we wind through open meadows and low shrubs while watching and listening for birds. We hear the American redstart, northern flicker, black-throated green warbler, indigo bunting, common raven, ring-billed gulls, and black-capped chickadees, among others.

Next, we ride through the Little Lake Nature Preserve, where we cautiously hike down the rocky trail until it levels out and passes between the Lake Michigan shoreline and Little Lake. Once again, the wind and the waves block out the sound of the birds, but we feel lucky to spy two loons diving.

We ride the bikes to the Detroit Harbor Nature Preserve, which is a new trail for us. It’s lovely and complicated; there aren’t many signs, and it’s easy to lose the trail in spring. We’re thrilled to be enjoying trillium, bellworts, trout lilies, and columbine. It’s like a second spring for us, since all those flowers are already on their way out at home.

Our last stop before heading back to the lodge is the Carlin’s Point trail. We’re surprised to see a pile of snow that hasn’t melted yet. There is a large flock of gulls on the lakeshore. At the same time, we both notice one much larger bird in the mix. Dane turns on the Merlin app, but again the waves and wind are overpowering, so we keep walking closer, wishing we had brought the binoculars. The closer we get, the more excited we are: this big bird is clearly a pelican!

As we ride down the driveway to the lodge, we’re surprised to see we’ve been out for over eight hours. Exhausted, we grab some water and settle down onto the deck chairs, where we’re pleasantly surprised to witness two Canada geese with their five downy goslings while cormorants perch in a nearby tree.

Finally, we squirt a nurdle of toothpaste on our brushes and are ready for bed after a long day of biking and birding.