Seney Wildlife Refuge

The other day my friends, Lois and Jamey Fite, had to bring their car over to Seney.  I agreed to follow them and drive them home so that we could all take a hike at the Seney Wildlife Refuge. 

This huge refuge was established in 1935 as a refuge and breeding ground for migratory birds and other wildlife. It is located in the east-central portion of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, halfway between Lake Superior and Lake Michigan. The 95,238 acre refuge encompasses the 25,150 acre Seney Wilderness Area, which contains the Strangmoor Bog National Natural Landmark.   In comparison, the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is only 71,397acres, half of which is the non-manged buffer zone.

We hiked down the Marshland Wildlife drive road.

When we drove into the entrance, there was a nesting pair of geese.  First the male that tried to guide us away from his nesting mate.

The nesting female.

One of the many pools.

There was a lot of evidence of a fire from a few years ago.

Sandhill cranes....

Beaver art....

Military helicopters flew over head.

Loon...

Muskrat...

Swan...

Outflow from one of the spillway management gates....

On the drive home, we stopped to document this tree that has been "decorated" by woodpeckers.

I never realized that the Whitefish Point bird observatory is a unit of the Seney National Wildlife Refuge. This 53-acre tract is renowned for its concentrations of birds during migration. Each year thousands of raptors, passerines and waterbirds funnel through the point, stopping here to replenish energy reserves before or after venturing across Lake Superior. The area is recognized as a Globally Important Bird Area for birds migrating between the US and Canada.