By Tim Callahan
It’s the peak of spring waterfowl migration here in the U.P. and it’s my first field research trip to Seney National Wildlife Refuge to paint and photograph ducks. I don’t live too far from there, and I’ve got all day.
It’s still morning, so I decide to change directions and head North to Grand Marais to check out the pier. It’s been a real late spring, and there’s still huge icebergs out on the pier. Nobody is fishing, and there’s only one lone boat trolling the channel and busting white caps. I’ll be back in a couple of weeks to paint and fish, so it’s back down to Seney!
I stop to gas up at Gregg’s B.P., and as I walk in through the door, I notice the place looks different and everything is gone. All the glass cases full of tackle and old photos – gone – and the great collection of mounted trout and whitetails that graced the walls – gone. “New owners!” the gal behind the counter said.
Seems like change up here often takes away the things that make it special. My first time in here, I fell in love with the hand carved brook trout that hung on the wall and Greg reluctantly parted with it. It was hand carved and painted back in 1980 by a friend of his father. It’s now hanging in my studio on my wall and every time I look at it, it reminds me of the Fox River and my many trips there to fish and paint. Enjoy your retirement, my friend, you deserve it!
At the Seney refuge, I see open water on the show pond and channels with a few ducks hanging around but bypass them and head to the refuge headquarters. The sign on the main entrance said “Closed – Open May 17”. I’m too early, so I backtrack to the show pond down the road and set up shop on the edge of the water and get to work.
Then I heard them. High above me, a flight of peeping pintails and chuckling mallards were descending into the pond right in front of me. I only had a moment to grab my camera and shoot a couple of photos before they all lifted off the water and into the wind. They flew right over me and into the main refuge to join all the other birds. Unfortunately, I had a long telephoto lens on and most of the shots were too close and most of the photos are blurry and out of focus, but I’ll never forget that moment.
I’ll be back in Seney here in a few weeks and although most of the migrating waterfowl will be on their northern breeding grounds by then, there will be lots of local ducks like blue-wing and green-wing teal ducks, woodies, and a few mallards and Canadians, not to mention those famous loons I’ve heard so much about. Who knows – I might luck out and get a few photos of them and paint their portrait. I’m also looking forward to seeing the new visitor center.
See ya soon at Seney!
