You and I both know, it’s late April and things are supposed to be warming up. You would think that nature would at least provide some advance warning for the migrating birds so they could stay south another week or so. But no. I guess they didn’t get the bulletin either.

A trip to Copper Harbor was my idea this time. I figured that even though it was in the mid 30’s and very windy that it would at least give me a chance to see some early raptors in migration. Well, halfway up there it was snowing so hard you wouldn’t be able to see a bird if your life depended on it. But by the time we reached the harbor the wind died down and the snow stopped. At least for a while.

The bad news was that Brockway Mountain Drive or Hawk Highway as it is known during this time of year was still closed for the winter. The good news is that there was plenty of other wildlife to point my camera at.

This time of the year lots of birds stop in Copper Harbor before crossing Lake Superior. For many this is just a layover on their trip in to Canada. We were fortunate to see a few “travelers” out and about in this ugly weather.

The Bufflehead and the Lesser Scaup are diving ducks. They were all over the place.

They would fly in a group a few feet off the water and then land with the precision of a jet fighter landing on an aircraft carrier.

And of course they live up to their reputation as being diving ducks.

And then there was Harold and Wilma.

They were the so called “early birds” this season. I think they were regretting that right about now.

We finally drove around them. They weren’t about to leave the road for fear of losing their way I suspect.

But as I was taking photos a little ways down the road guess who comes honking along…

I did get some interesting photos of the lake.

And a surprise sighting of the day… The Kewadin Beaver.

A closer look at his tail and fur.

He was walking along side the road heading towards the lake.

And just when we thought we had enough pics guess who we happen to find along the road… Harold and Wilma. Looks like they found a little better place to rest and wait for the weather to change.