Sandy Ridge Reservation

Today we decided to do some hiking and some bird watching.  There are just tons of birding areas around these parts of Ohio especially during spring and fall migrations.  After reading a bit about the various places we decided to head to Sandy Ridge Reservation which is one of the Lorain Country Metro Parks.

What really inspired us to go there was because Sandy Ridge is a wet lands mitigation project.  This area was originally a wetland but had been drained and used for farm land for many years.  After it sat fallow for many years it started to revert to a wetland and the Metro Parks bought the land in 1990.   It took two years to do the planning and construction of the area.  The wetland area of the park was left alone during that year and the wildlife began to repopulate the marsh on their own.  They said that new species were arriving every year.  So it was worth a look.

Park Offices

Pond Behind The Park Offices

Trail through the woodlands

Great Egret

We started out by walking the woodland trail that led into the marshlands.    The trails through the marsh have really been done well and you can walk around sometimes with water on both sides of you.  It is a beautiful place to walk and Lee was able to capture quite a few birds on his camera.  The trails go on and on so it pays to have a morning to walk the whole place.

Wetlands

We took pictures of the signs about the 
wetland mitigation process.

Aren't these beautiful!

Cedar Wax Wing

When we first saw the Cedar Wax Wing we couldn't tell what he was because he just kept posing so that it was hard to tell.  Later Lee was able to get better pictures of him or someone who looked like him!  When we lived at Whitters Way in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, I was working in the den one day and a whole flock of these guys landed on my cherry tree in the front yard and they stayed until they ate every morsel.  It was amazing.  I hadn't seen one since. 

Mallards

Cedar Wax Wing

Cedar Wax Wing

American Redstart

American Redstart

Killdeer

I thought he was a swallow but his beak looks wrong!

Great Blue Heron

American Robin

Blue Heron

Great Blue Heron

Deer

Northern Rough-winged Swallow

Mute Swans

It was a great day and we'll definitely be back to walk this path again before we leave this area.

Our Anniversary: Wandering in Michigan

Today is our 32nd Wedding Anniversary and what better thing to do than what we love best and that is exploring new places!  Our first stop today was the Point Betsie Light Station which is north of Frankfort, Michigan.

Point Betsie Light Station

The Port Betsie Light Station was built in 1876.  It began operation on April 23, 1877 and was manned for over 106 years.  It was automated in 1983.  The light is 52' above lake level and it has a range of 27.5 miles.  The house has been converted to apartments and now serve as housing for families of personnel assigned to Coast Guard station in Frankfort.  The Light Station is very  picturesque and it is often the subject of photographs and drawings.

We walked down to the beach in front of the Light House and I picked up a couple of cool rocks for my cousin.  Hopefully, I'll see her next spring when we are in Iowa.

We then drove over to another picturesque town of Frankfort which is right on Betsie Lake.  We wandered around the park right along the lake and wandered down to where we could see the lake flowing into Lake Michigan.

When we left Frankfort, we saw these Mute Swans in a pond along the road. 

Then we were off to the city of Manistee.  I read somewhere that the town was full of old Victorian Mansions, however, as we drove around, we really didn't see that many of them.  We did find other interesting things to see, however.  

Manistee North Pierhead Lighthouse

The lighthouse is at the end of Manistee River where it empties into Lake Michigan.  There are a couple of paths to the lighthouse.  One on each side of the Manistee River.  We were on the Douglas Park side.

Channel Marker

The Coast Guard Station

The Coast Guard Station is on the other side of the Manistee River. The river at this point looks like a shipping channel rather than a river.

Manistee River dumping into Lake Michigan

Gulls in flight because of a dog intruder

Beach at Douglas Park

Manistee Downtown River Walk

Manistee River

Fountain in Manistee

Some Homes in Mansitee

We left Manistee and headed back to Traverse City and the City Beach and took a few pictures of it.  The beach is actually Traverse City State Park and there is a huge campground across the street from the beach with a pedestrian overpass so the campers can get back and forth to the beach without crossing the busy street.

Since we were pretty sure we couldn't see a sunset from the Traverse City beach, we headed along the lake until we came to a Michigan DOT Roadside Park that looked like a good place to wait for a sunset. 

I was prepared for the wait for we had some shrimp and a couple wine coolers while we waited.  It was a wonderfully romantic way to celebrate our anniversary!

Ahhhhhhh!