Grand Island Scenic Overlook — with a Bonus

There’s a point of land that juts out into Munising Bay between Munising and Christmas. It’s the hill behind which the sun sets in my sunset photos. Here’s the view from the overlook on that hill. (I cut way back on the saturation on these photos because it reduced the haziness.)

Here’s a close up of the center of the above pan. The East Channel Lighthouse on Grand Island is right in the center. The closest of the three points of land on the right is Miner’s Castle. The far distant one is Indian Head.

On our way down the short road from the overlook, I spotted a Ruffed Grouse with two chicks in the grass next to the pavement. By the time I’d hit the brakes, backed up and fumbled for my camera, the adult had disappeared into the grass, but I did get a shot of one of the chicks.

Not to worry. About twenty hours later, on Sunday morning, as we were driving south through the middle of the Upper Peninsula on our way home, I spotted another one along the road. I made a quick U-turn and pulled over across the way. This one was a male, and he was doing his demonstration strut.

My point-and-shoot camera was refusing to focus on the bird. I wanted to yell, “It’s the large bird, stupid! Why would I want a photo of gravel?” The picture came out much better than I expected. A vehicle went past and the bird ran into the grass. At the same time, three smaller ones (either half-grown chicks or females) flushed into the trees. I managed a couple shots of one of them.

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