Follow Migration - Part 5 - Lake Maria snap decision

I got up before 6AM on May 13th looking to get a good circuit in before my extended run up highway 35 to the north shore. I was well on my way to Charles Lindbergh State Park when I realized it was nearly 7AM and I wanted to be birding immediately. I was at the exit for Lake Maria at this point and made the snap decision to get into that park first and catch some early morning singers.

4 State Park year birds argued that was as solid idea as I snagged Eastern Wood Peewee, Caspian Tern, Marsh Wren, and Green Heron.

The park was active with song as I heard several good warbler species and a Wood Thrush singing while driving in the main entrance and snagging my sign selfie to start the day.

 

My snap decision for venue change had another nice benefit as I made a restroom stop at the trail center and came out the door to see Tony Lau birding in the area. Tony is working on a big year in his home county (Wright) and Lake Maria is in that space. We had talked about maybe trying to team up on a day and nothing had really worked out so this was as nice surprise to see him in the park also.

We agreed to head towards the main lake and see what birds might be working along the shore line or out over the lake. This strategy worked as Northern Parula was singing nicely along the shoreline of the lake when we arrived. As we worked the interpretive trail we found the Marsh Wren sounded off a little bit and a few other nice birds like Veery. As we wrapped up that trail I spotted a Mourning Warbler in an evergreen tree that we got a super short look at before it pulled a Houdini and seemed to disappear from existence.

Tony and I both had never heard this nickname for an American Woodcock before. I'm sure it is an older term that fell out of use, but it made me laugh.

A few minutes later we spotted the Caspian Tern bouncing around the lake hunting for something to eat. As we checked a few other small lake areas we noted very few birds moving around those areas for some reason.  I got the feeling I needed to keep moving for the day as our numbers topped off quickly and I noted a lot of forest and not much other habitat easily accessible without a large hike. I knew I wanted to hit a few more parks on the day and continue to explore. Tony was going to continue hitting some road segments to try for Ruffed Grouse in the park as well.

The Great: This park seemed large with an expansive network of trails even though I didn't explore many of them in reality. I was surprised how little was moving on the main lake, but it seemed like this area could produce really nice lists. It is hard to say much else as I did not hike extensively at the location to know for certain what excitement hides around each corner.

The Meh: I'm not very impressed with parks that offer as many hike in camp sites as ones like Lake Maria. When I arrived at the park it was before 7AM and the main lot was packed full. While consulting the map I noted many hike in camp sites right along major trail segments. My problem with this is the creepy factor. I'm out birding at 7AM or earlier and I'm going to be walking right through these spaces. How excited is a tent camper going to be with a dude getting their binoculars trained on a bird in a tree above their tent. I nearly always avoid campgrounds when hiking, but it seemed like this would be nearly impossible at this park for many segments of trail. I'm a identify them all kind of person so having to suspend birding by sight when I cross a camp feels annoying at the least. I'm also a type of person to ensure others have their space to enjoy a park also so tromping by campsite after campsite just feels bad to me when people are trying to sleep in an enjoy a morning away from the city.

The Verdict: Great park that offers a nice opportunity to get out into nature a bit. Still not a fan of the campsite setup so I'm not sure how often I'll make time to visit the park. Really campgrounds need to be separate from major hiking facilities. Campers are trying to enjoy the outdoors and do their thing and hikers/bikers/etc are trying to do their thing without standing in a campground the whole time. I'm sure the thought process is along the lines of offering a fun pack-in/pack-out experience so people can rough it a bit, but all it does to me is muddle the entire use area to the point of making it all a campground where hiking feels like being an intruder.