funny otters, daring hawks, radiant warblers, and vibrant wild flowers
Most of my 20 hours each week were filled with peace and solitude.
Born in New York, just north of NYC, I spent my entire adult life in North Carolina. In the spring of 2019, my wife Sheree and I purchased a home in Marquette, MI. Recently retired from teaching high school science, I found a new (seasonal) job in Marquette with The Nature Conservancy. Outdoors, real outdoors.
My first visit to Echo Lake showed me I had made the right choice. WOW!
Most of my 20 hours each week were spent in peace and solitude, monitoring public use, maintaining trails, and studying the preserve’s flora and fauna. Being a “southerner,” it was almost like beginning over again when it came to vegetation, many new trees and flowers. Some of the fauna was easy to spot – initially, I was shocked by the lack of reptiles, amphibians, insects, and spiders. Still, they slowly appeared to me as the summer moved on, except for one, the pesky mosquito, which made its presence known on every calm, warm day.
Calm as in winds less than ten mph, warm as in above freezing. Out they came, but it was never as bad as I feared. The head net was worn only for a few awful days in June, but DEET was used liberally almost every day. Sorry, I do not have any photos of the mosquitoes; they were the only living things I did not try to protect. Maybe next time.
Located just a few miles outside of Marquette, Echo Lake Preserve is a serene environment where pristine waters flow unimpeded from surrounding wetlands, creeks, and Harlow Lake to Lake Superior. The 480-acre property features a mixed deciduous and conifer forest. Echo Lake, the primary water source for Harlow Creek, is a 20-acre natural lake set amid a landscape of dramatic relief, with high bluffs of exposed bedrock. The site also safeguards several high-elevation glacial lakes.
VISITING ECHO LAKE
Echo Lake is a “nature preserve”. The person who donated the land wants it kept in its natural state, forever. I think that is great, and that requires some strict rules. Please leave your pets at home, clean off your shoes before entering, walk softly, stay on established trails, avoid walking over sensitive areas (moss and lichen rock outcroppings, etc.), do not remove anything from the preserve, and fish with artificial bait only. Please read all the guidelines here, or at the entrance kiosk.
As a dog owner who loves walking in the woods with my dog, I needed to better understand NO DOGS policies at certain parks and preserves, so I compiled the following (unofficial, not TNC-approved) paper.
LEARN MORE ABOUT “NO DOGS” in NATURE
Timing is Everything
When I drove up to Michigan in early May, the bird migration was passing its peak in North Carolina. But in the Upper Peninsula, warblers, in particular, were flowing through, some settling locally, many moving on into Canada. As you might have noticed from my other blog posts, I bird!
My Lord God Bird of the Summer
Of all the birds I found at Echo Lake, the spring/summer of 2019, the best of the best was a Northern Goshawk. I “lifer” bird for me, but more than that, a stunning deep-forest raptor of immense size and stature. I was able to get some photos and record calls of TWO Goshawks communicating across the ridge. A funny thing happened on the way to the opening, where I could get a picture: I fell. The camera went flying, followed by binoculars, phone, and sound recorder — the best fall of my life.
Critters of Echo Lake
In retrospect, I did not pursue four-legged, six-legged, and non-bird flying critters as I could have. I spent a lot of time looking and listening for birds and learning about the trees and flowers of the Upper Peninsula. Nevertheless, some of the fauna of Echo Lake presented themselves to me now and then. Often, I became aware of them by sound, smell, foraging evidence, and scat.
Eastern vs Least Chipmunk
Hey, who knew? I do now. There are two species of chipmunk in the U.P. The Eastern Chipmunk was the only one I could find at Echo Lake. I was able to see the Least Chipmunk out on Presque Isle (below)
Bear scat was scattered here and there, as was Coyote. I might have found some Moose scat, but I decided not to say I did; deer scat was common. Visually, I observed many Red Squirrels, White-tailed Deer, Eastern Chipmunks, and two awesome Otters.
The Birds of Echo Lake
On my first walk into the preserve, I was a little disappointed by the back of birds, but in time, things improved. Warblers, in particular, had not yet arrived in force in the Upper Peninsula. They flowed through over the next two weeks. Echo Lake is a little off the beaten path, requiring a bouncy ride down a logging road to the parking area, so it doesn’t get many birders. My highest species count came on May 29 when I recorded 38 species. On average, from late spring into early summer, I recorded 24 species per day.
Echo Lake currently has 98 species documented within the preserve. I have seen 89 of them. I was hoping to get into the preserve during the winter, but without a snowmobile to carry me to the entrance, I did not make it.
Trees and Flowers – so much to learn
I didn’t label the plant pictures, but if you visit my iNaturalist page, you can see the IDs, assuming my iNaturalist is correct. Next year, I hope to get back to keying plants out, a long-lost skill.
Plant (and a few insects) Collection
