Connecticut Warblers at Trout Lake, MI

Last year we hosted several birders who were in the area to look for Connecticut warblers.  One of them shared his copy of "A Birder's Guide to Michigan" by Chartier and Ziarno.  It is an amazing book detailing locations to view various species throughout the state.  We picked up our own copy last winter.

This spring we had more birders in search of these elusive little birds.  The birders only stayed one evening and had no luck.  The next day we decided to explore for ourselves.  We grabbed the camera, the book, maps, and forgot the binocs..good we live in the area!

Forest route FR3344 (aka 3343 on the Hiawatha Forest Map) is about a mile and a half north of Trout Lake, MI off of M-123.  There is a sign on the west side about the Ellis Memorial Snowmobile Trail. 

The viewing area is about 1.5-3.0 miles west of this point.  Note this is a sand two track used by loggers and ORV's so it can be pretty rough.  Also be aware that cell phone reception in this area is spotty at best.  The road passes along a sand ridge between low boggy bottoms.

It is not the end of the earth, but I am pretty sure you could see it from here... 

We heard lots of birds, and we could have seen more with the binocs.  Every time we were close enough to identify, off they flew!

We did see moose and wolf tracks, and a dragonfly which we hoped was a rare Ringed Boghaunter--but it wasn't. 

We decided to try our luck on the area east of M-123.  The road runs along the ridge bordering a large open marsh, which is one of my favorite areas here.  Looks VERY wild.  But it was getting late and we did not see or hear one bird.

  Then all of a sudden we caught a fleeting glimpse of a small bird, khaki brown green and yellowish underneath.


 And it was gone... I know the odds are against it, but maybe it was our warbler....and I could swear I could hear it laughing....