North Park, April 13, 2008

It has been 10 days since my last outing and I really needed a break. It’s been raining in my area just about every day for the last week. I checked the forecast the night before and saw that I’d have a 2-3 hour window to try for pictures this morning.

I arrived at Marshall Lake at North Park about 30 minutes after sunrise. I parked the truck and proceeded to get my gear ready. I looked across the lake and saw a Wood Duck drake perched atop one of the nest boxes in place there.

I made my way to the island across the foot bridge and happily saw that the woodie was still there. I started snapping pictures of him. My loyal reader already knows how I feel about Wood Ducks, I think they are the most beautiful duck to visit and reside in Pennsylvania. After about 75 pictures of the woodie I felt that it was time to search for new targets. The way that the woodie was acting I expected him to be there for quite a while yet.

The first new target that I saw was a Red-Winged Black Bird that was perched in a nearby tree. He was happily greeting the morning with his song. Yes, that picture really is a Red-Winged Black Bird. It is uneditted except for cropping to size.

A second new target was a grackle that was calling from a pine tree on the island. The light was hitting him perfectly so that his head was glowing a brilliant iridescent blue.

When I first walked onto the island this morning there was a Canada goose in the water just a few feet away from me. The goose just stayed there and watched me for most of the last hour. It seemed to me as if he was fascinated by me and my actions. So, to keep him from being insulted and needing goose counseling for my neglect of him I snapped a few pictures. Sure enough, after he saw me focus on him for a few minutes he swam away.


While I was helping the goose with his identity crisis I saw that the wood duck drake was still on the nest box. The sun had risen further into the sky by now and was casting some excellent light directly onto the woodie. I had a rare opportunity to get pictures of a woodie in the same position but under different lighting conditions in the same day. Woodies are normally just too skittish for that to happen too often.


After shooting another 50 pictures of the woodie I saw that it was time to go home; I still had a lot of work to get done there. It wasn’t my best morning of digiscoping this year but any day spent enjoying nature is a good day.

Day Three “Up North” – The Journey Home, April 3, 2008

Today would be the last day of this trip, I had to be back to work at both jobs tomorrow. I decided to pack-up and leave camp early so that I could stop at Moraine State Park/Lake Arthur on the way home. I set the alarm for 4:30 AM so that I could be packed up and on the road by 6 AM. My plan worked, I was on I-79 south by 5:50 in the morning and made it to the boat launch at old Route 422 on Lake Arthur by 6:45.

I previously wrote about the wildlife viewing area near this boat launch. From this little platform I was able to see and get shots of buffleheads and wood ducks. Some of the woodie pictures are really outstanding if I do say so myself. I used up the remaining space on the 2GB memory card that I started yesterday. It was time to move to the next spot for the morning.

I drove to the South Shore Recreation area and saw some ducks in the end of the cove. I parked the truck and checked out the ducks, they were Mallards so I passed on the pictures. I also saw a Red Winged Black Bird perched upon a sign near the edge of the water. I set up the digiscope and got some pictures of this guy as he was doing his spring mating calls.



After the Red Winged Black Bird flew off I caught some movement near the shore across the cove. This turned out to be a handful of Hooded Mergansers, unfortunately they were too far away to get any decent pictures.

I moved again, this time to the point of land where this cove meets the main lake. Out on the main lake, maybe 150 yards away, I spotted a Common Loon. I was ecstatic!!!! I had never seen one of these birds before and wanted to take full advantage of this opportunity. Luckily, the loon cooperated with me.



The entire time that I was shooting the loon there was a song sparrow singing away in a tree about 12 yards away from me. After I took about 50 shots of the loon I swung the digiscope towards the song sparrow. It was almost as if he was singing and posing just to get his picture taken.


My next stop would be the boat launch at McDaniel’s Road. I had stopped here before when the lake was frozen and the area showed some potential. I wasn’t even in the parking lot when I saw two osprey in a nest across the cove from me. I parked the truck and walked to the lake shore with the digiscope in hand. The osprey nest was about 150 yards away but the light wasn’t perfect so the pictures weren’t as good as those that I got yesterday.


I left the ospreys and walked to another small cove because I heard wood ducks calling from that direction. I just can’t pass up a chance at pictures of wood ducks in their mating plumage which they are in now. They have the most vibrant mix of colors of all of the waterfowl that visit PA. Try as I might I just couldn’t find the woodies that were doing the calling though.

While I was looking for the woodies, I heard a Blue Jay calling repeatedly. I looked around and saw the blue jay perched at the top of a tree nearby. I swung the digiscope around and started snapping pictures. I’ve seen blue jays quite often but I’ve rarely had a chance to get good pictures, here was my opportunity.

When the Blue Jay flew away I decided to pack up and move to the North Shore of Lake Arthur. I checked a few of my spots and found nothing. I stopped at one of the points overlooking the lake. As I was getting out of the truck I spooked two wild turkeys that were no more than 25 yards away from me; I never saw them before they spooked. These were two long-bearded gobblers and this was the start of the mating season so I used my turkey call to try and bring them back. Although they were gobbling in answer to each of my calls they wouldn’t come into the open for pictures.

After a few minutes I decided that the turkeys didn’t want to be sociable so I scanned the lake with my binoculars. In the water just off the point that I was on I saw a group of four Double-Crested Cormorants. I set up for some pictures and was able to get several before they went out of range. These pictures aren’t as good as those from yesterday but for a rare bird for this area I’ll take them.

After the cormorants were out of range I decided to pack up and head home. I had only 75 pictures remaining on my last memory card anyway. I also wanted to download the pictures to my computer at home to see what I captured over the last few days.

I was slowly driving down one of the back roads on the North Shore when about 150 feet in front of me something very tall and hairy walked across the road on two legs. This thing walked just like the Bigfoot in the famous footage from the 60’s. It crossed a 20 foot wide road in three steps!! I said to myself “Holy Sh*t it’s Bigfoot!!!!!” The camera was packed in its case so I couldn’t get pictures. This creature knelt beside the road with its back to the road. I pulled my XD-40 from its holster and said to myself “If this sumbitch really is Bigfoot I’m gonna give my taxidermist a heart attack.” I wound down the window and slowly drove towards the creature.

I was maybe 50 feet or less from it when I saw that its body wasn’t covered in fur but in canvas. I got a little closer and was able to make out the faded lettering on its back that read “PA Parks and Recreation Maintenance”. It was a maintenance guy with long dark hair and a long beard both the same color as his suit!!!

I pulled up to him and said “I thought that you were Bigfoot.”

His answer was “People say that all of the time. I saw you down on the point and I figured that I’d play a trick on you.”

I replied “You played a trick alright, you were almost on your way to the taxidermist.”

We both had a good laugh about the encounter and I went on my way. After 2 ½ days I drove some 600 miles and took more than 1700 pictures. I saw and photographed 20 species of waterfowl and birds as well as white-tailed deer, elk and turtles. It was an outstanding trip.

Day 2 “Up North” – April 2, 2008

Since I was staying in the area I could sleep an extra hour and still be at my first stop for the morning before sunrise. That was my plan anyway. The sun was supposed to rise around 7 AM; I would set the alarm for 5 AM so I would have an hour to get everything ready and be on my way by 6 AM. Like I said, that was my plan. However my mind wouldn’t let that happen, I was wide awake at 4:30.

I made it to Erie National Wildlife Refuge in Crawford County at 6:40 and in the twilight of early morning I was able to make out Canada Geese on some of the ponds that I drove past. I knew that I would have better opportunities before the day was through so I didn’t bother to shoot those geese. At the Erie National Wildlife Refuge there are lakes and ponds scattered throughout the area, some along roads and others accessible only by hiking to them. I decided to drive past the ponds visible from the roads and if I didn’t see anything worth shooting I would hike to some of the other ponds.



I was driving past one of the ponds and saw a small flock of nearly 20 Ringneck Ducks; it was time for some pictures. The wind was still blowing quite hard from the storm last night; the temperature was in the mid 30’s but the wind made it feel like the high teens. It wasn’t a very comfortable first stop for pictures. While I was shooting the ringnecks, I noticed something among a flock of geese at the far end of the pond. I continued to get shots of the ringnecks as the new creature worked its way closer to me. Eventually he was close enough so I swung the digiscope in his direction. It was a diving duck but I hadn’t positively ID’ed him yet. I got into his rhythm as I do with all divers that I shoot and was shortly getting acceptable pictures. This little guy turned out to be a Pied-Bill Grebe! I had only seen one of these before and was unable to get pictures of him. Getting the pictures of this Grebe made passing up the photo opportunities earlier worth while. It was time to leave Erie National Wildlife Refuge. You could spend days there and not see everything but I had other places to get to today.

Woodcock Creek Lake is a small recreational lake near Meadville, PA. I had no idea what to expect to see when I got there. I pulled into a parking area on the east end of the lake and before the truck even came to a stop I saw more new-to-me species. These were all black, long necked birds a little smaller than geese. I found out later that they were Double Crested Cormorants. I had never seen this species of bird before and enjoyed the time that I spent photographing them, The stayed in range for more than 30 minutes so after my initial rush to get pictures I could settle down to pick and choose which shots I wanted.


After more than 50 pictures of the cormorants I packed up the truck for the drive to my next spot. I was crossing the causeway on Woodcock Creek Lake when I looked to the west and saw some Buffleheads less than 50 yards from the base of the causeway. I immediately pulled over and grabbed the digiscope. I’ve rarely had chances with this species this close to me. I was able to get 25 shots before the birds were out of range again. Now it was time to go to Cambridge Springs.


Cambridge Springs is a small village nestled along French Creek in Northern Crawford County. Just outside of town is a Pennsylvania Game Commission Game Lands/Wetlands area and this is where I was going.

My first stop in Cambridge Springs was a boat launch/picnic area on French Creek. As I was pulling into the parking area I saw eight Wood Ducks in a small marshy area near the side of the road. I parked the truck as quietly as possible and grabbed the digiscope. I was dressed in full Realtree Hardwoods APG camo as usual. I slowly crawled about 25 yards closer to the wood ducks but they were still spooked by my initial arrival. I made some greeting and feeding calls on my duck call but the woodies weren’t buying any of it. I tried a few more calls but had no luck with the woodies. Less than a minute after I finished with the last calls I heard a splash behind me. It seems that although the calls didn’t work with the woodies I did manage to call in 3 drake mallards. I laughed to myself for a few minutes about the mallards showing up like that. I was able to see the woodies the entire time but I wasn’t able to get them into a decent picture. The drakes were at the back of the marshy area and the hens were in trees.


My next stop was about ¾ of a mile down the road. This spot is a pond set up by the PA Game Commission as a feeding and resting place for migrating waterfowl. There is an access road/trail beside the pond with brush on the pond shoreline. This brush would provide cover for me to make my way along the pond without spooking any of the waterfowl.


I parked the truck across the road from the pond. I got my equipment ready and prepared to cross the road and walk along the pond. Just before I crossed the road, a guy on a LOUD Harley rode past. As he did a mixed flock of Blue-Wing and Green-Wing Teal flew away from the near end of the pond. It figures, two new-to-me species that I could have gotten great pictures of disappear because of a bonehead that thinks his obnoxious bike is cool. Don’t get me wrong, I like Harley’s but you don’t need to have the exhaust earsplitting loud.

Anyway I crossed the road and soon found a break in the brush alongside the pond. I used the Tetons to find that there was a nice mix of waterfowl still on the pond including Canada Geese, Mallards, Blue Wing Teal, Green Wing Teal, Northern Shovellers, Wood Ducks and Mergansers that weren’t spooked by Harley Boy. I continued walking along the access road until I came to the end of the brush. From this point I was able to set up and get some good pictures but not as many as I had hoped to get. Most of the ducks were on the far side of the pond which was 250 yards away. I couldn’t go on that side of the pond because it was privately owned and posted against trespassing. I filled the memory card that was started yesterday and drained the battery before walking back to the truck.


On my walk back to the truck I ran into some local folks that were just out for a walk. They told me of another place west of Cambridge Springs to try for waterfowl. (I did go there but there was nothing to be seen).

When I got back to the parking area I saw a guy in a pick up truck watching the waterfowl; I waved as I walked past and went to my truck. I had the battery changed and was in the process of changing the memory card when the guy from the truck walked over and introduced himself. I put the camera case in the truck, sat the full memory card case on the roof(remember this) and shook hands with the guy. We spent about 20 minutes talking about digiscoping, waterfowl and elk. It turned out that he is an elk hunting guide in Idaho every fall. I’ve met several people that work/live in this area most of the year but work as guides during the hunting season out west. Well we finished our conversation; he drove off as I was putting the digiscope and tripod into the truck.

I had hoped to get lunch at the Wooden Nickel Buffalo Farm and Restaurant in Edinboro but they were closed. Apparently they changed their hours. I did see plenty of buffalo at the farm but I didn’t bother taking any pictures of them.

I made my way to Pymatuning, making some of the stops that I did yesterday. The ponds that I stopped at yesterday still held nothing of spectacular so I proceeded to the spillway and nature center. I walked a trail from the nature center towards the closed part of the lake. While on this walk I was able to get pictures of a small group of Buffleheads. The excitement didn’t really pick up until I walked through the remainder of the loop trail to the far side of the nature center. I found an older man sitting on a bench with a spotting scope set up in front of him. He told me that he was there waiting for the eagles. It wasn’t long before we spotted one flying almost directly overhead of us. I turned the digiscope in the direction he was flying, just in case. I continued to watch the eagle soar out over the lake and back again until he landed in a tree about 800 yards away. I had the digiscope on him in a matter of seconds. The camera was satisfied with the focus so I started snapping pictures. Unfortunately the eagle was just too far away for the pictures to be clear. I didn’t realize this until I was home and viewed the pictures on the computer.

While I was busy watching the eagle I failed to notice the small flock of Bluebirds flying around the area. Again I quickly moved the digiscope and was able to get a few good shots of these birds.

It was now early afternoon so I decided to make my way back towards Lake Wilhelm; I wanted to try for the eagles and osprey there too. My first stop was where I got the osprey pictures yesterday. I was able to check the nest from the road but the birds weren’t there.

My next stop was an access area below the bridge that I was just on. I was told by a local that from this access area you can just make out the active bald eagle nest. I couldn’t find the nest but I was able to see an immature bald eagle perched above the water some 500 yards away. Again the distance was too great, even for the 40x eyepiece, for the pictures to be clear. I did however get some nice shots of Herring Gulls that were perched on a submerged log. I decided to drive back to camp before going to my next stop so that I could put a battery in the charger.


My next stop for the day was a small pond near the Lake Wilhelm marina. On my way to the camp I drove past this pond and saw some Ringneck Ducks. I parked the truck and didn’t even have my equipment out of it and set up before I saw a photo opportunity. There were Killdeer frolicking all over the parking lot of the marina. I got some shots of these hyperactive birds before starting my walk towards the pond. I was about half way to the pond when I noticed two Ospreys in a tree near the back of the pond. I immediately set up the digiscope and got some pictures in case they flew away before I got to the pond. After about 35 pictures I walked to the small observation deck on the pond. The ospreys were still there so I took another double handful of pictures before they flew off.


When the ospreys departed I busied myself taking pictures of the ringneck ducks in the pond. I was lucky enough to get some really good pictures of these ducks. Soon enough the ospreys returned and I was able to get great shots of these birds, almost at will, for nearly 45 minutes.


An older couple joined me on the deck and I explained to them how the digiscope worked. I went to the camera case in my pocket to get the memory card that I had switched out earlier in the morning and it wasn’t there!!!!! I double checked all of my pockets and still no memory card. I grabbed the digiscope and walked to the truck. I checked all through the truck and on the ground around it, no memory card. I went back to the camp and checked inside, no memory card. I ripped apart the truck again, no memory card. I was starting to panic, yes, really panic. That was a 2GB card, the card itself is easily replaced but the pictures on it would be next to impossible to get again. I went to the previous two stops that I made before I came back to camp the first time this afternoon and had no luck, the card wasn’t there. The last place that I knew that I had the card was Cambridge Springs, 40 miles North of where I was. It was nearly 5 pm now so I better get moving. A little over an hour later I pulled into the parking area at Cambridge Springs and saw my memory card lying on the ground next to where the truck was parked in the morning. I immediately tried the memory card, it was just fine, no damage and all of my pictures were still there. I suppose that I forgot to take the memory card off the roof of the truck before I pulled away this morning. I crossed the road to see if there were any waterfowl on the pond but it was empty. I turned the truck around and started the drive back to camp. I was done for the day. It was after 6 pm and I still had an hour to drive. I did have a truly outstanding day though so I was happy about that.

Day 1 “Up North”, April 1, 2008

I left the house this morning at 3:50am. Since I had this time off from both jobs and had better directions to it, I wanted to find the trail head for a trail in Elk County. Last September my friend Michelle and I spent most of a day looking for this trail with no luck at all. I drove North on Route 28 to Interstate 80 then east on I-80 to the Route 255 exit. I followed Route 255 to the Route 555 split in Weedville, Elk County, PA. Route 555 is the main highway through the heart of the Pennsylvania Elk Country. It’s rather funny to call a 2-lane blacktop a main highway but when most of the other roads in the area are dirt that’s what you get.

What most people do not know is that Pennsylvania is home to one of the largest herds of wild elk (wapiti) east of the Mississippi river. The herd numbers close to 800 animals and covers an area of 3,750 square miles in Elk, Cameron, Clearfield, Clinton and Potter counties, otherwise known as the PA Wilds area. The last native Eastern elk in Pennsylvania was killed by a hunter in the middle 1800’s. The present herd is from stock brought in by sportsman and the PA Game Commission in the early 1900’s. If you are a Pennsylvania resident and have never been to this area to see the elk, make the trip, it’s worth the time.

I stopped at the 255/555 split to set up the digiscope so I would have it ready right away if I needed it. In this area you never know when you’ll see or get a chance to photograph wildlife. I drove east on Route 555 through Medix Run and onto Benezette, PA. I turned left onto Winslow Hill Road and started my way up the mountain towards the PA Game Commission/Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation viewing areas. I was barely started up the mountain when I saw my first elk of the day; 4 cows were in the yard of a church enjoying a salt lick. I didn’t get any pictures of these cows because I had no place to pull over. I didn’t want to get too close and spook them from the area either.

I continued my drive to the top of Winslow Hill, when I was almost on the plateau at the top I saw a lone elk in a field. He was walking into the woods at too great of a speed for me to make an attempt at pictures.

I continued to drive along Winslow Hill Road; I saw 5 elk already but I wanted more. I stopped at the first viewing area to see what was there. I saw nothing in the valley but as I looked around through the binoculars, way off in the distance, I saw seven more elk on the edge of a strip mine. Finally I was able to set-up for pictures. Sadly the herd never stopped moving so every picture was blurred. The distance could have been a factor as well; I estimated the herd to be close to 800 yards away from me.


I left that spot and moved on to the “Official” PA Game Commission/RMEF Winslow Hill viewing area. This was the first time that I was there that I had the place all to myself. It really didn’t matter though because I didn’t see any elk anyway. It was time to get back on the road and off of Winslow Hill. I drove off the mountain and followed Route 555 East to Hicks Run Road and to the camping area where I stayed during my first trip to Elk County. I saw no elk during the ride through the state forest but I did see 14 deer.

Finally it was time to find this trail head. As I was driving down Route 555 I almost ran over a Turkey Vulture. This guy must have been very hungry because I was able to get within a few feet of him with the truck before he flew away. As the turkey vulture was flying away I saw a bull elk cross the road about 200 yards east of me. I slowly drove closer to the spot where he crossed the road and saw two spike bulls and two raghorn bulls. A raghorn bull is a young, branch-antlered bull that hasn’t developed the size needed to defend a harem of cows. I snapped 40 or so pictures of the four bulls before they grew tired of watching me and made their way into the forest and up the mountain side.

A short way further east I found the intersection for Huston Hill Road. According to the directions that I have, I’m supposed to turn left onto Huston Hill Road, make a few right turns and I’ll be on Castle Garden Road which is where the trail head is located. None of these roads are paved and only Huston Hill Road could be considered an “Improved Gravel” road. The rest of these roads are basically improved logging roads or Jeep trails. I had Skeeter the Truckie in 4wd and was having a blast. Yes, my truck is named Skeeter the Truckie, what’s wrong with that? After maybe 20 minutes I found the trail head and marked a waypoint on the GPS. The Elk County Crew and I will definitely be able to find this trail during our October trip this year.

I had heard that Castle Garden Road from Route 555 to the trailhead was a rough road but I wanted to check it out for myself. Before I got to the rough part of the road I spotted another road that appeared to lead to a mountaintop overlook. You just know that I had to check this out. WHAT A VISTA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It seems that this is the highest point in the area and no matter which direction that you looked you saw nothing but mountains and trees, no signs of civilization at all!!! This is what Pennsylvania looked like hundreds of years ago. I tried for some panorama shots and marked a waypoint for this overlook, the Elk County Crew will love this when October finally rolls around.

Ok, back to Castle Garden Road. I made my way down from the mountain top to the rough part of the road. According to my topo maps there was an 1800+ feet elevation change in a little over a mile. A little further down the road I was glad that I had good tires and solid 4WD. The road was rock and mud and for the most part maybe 4 feet wider than the truck. The road clung to the side of the mountain for the entire descent. If I went off the road I was either going straight up or straight down the mountain. There were no guardrails and the berm on the edge was no more than 18” high. The mud on top of the rock made the road a little slippery as well. I truly enjoyed the experience but the pucker factor was an honest 8.5!!!

I eventually got to the bottom of Castle Garden Road, took the truck out of low gear and 4WD then turned west onto Route 555. It was time to leave the PA Elk Country and go to the wetlands of Mercer and Crawford Counties. On my west I saw three more groups of elk: 12 cows in the front yard of a camp; 2 bulls near the river and 3 bulls near the intersection of Rock Hill Road and Route 555. That brought my total to 33 elk in 2 ½ hours. I wasn’t done for the day yet, not by a long shot.

I had a stop to make south of Franklin, PA, before I headed to what would be my base camp for the next two days. I wanted to check out a wetlands area near Polk, PA. This stop was just to scout the wetlands to see if it would be worth the trip back in the future. After seeing the area, I believe that it would be worth the trip back, especially in the Fall.

From Polk I drove to the village of Sandy Lake which is near the camp where I’d be staying for the next two nights. I followed the GPS directions to the dam on Lake Wilhelm, from there I’d use my memory to get to the camp. I followed the south lake road along the lake shore for a few miles until I got to the intersection where the camp sits. Instead of going to the camp I turned and drove down to the cove on Lake Wilhelm that sits below the camp. I should have been more cautious on my approach because I spooked a large flock of Hooded and Common Mergansers from the cove. Luckily they didn’t fly too far and I was able to get some shots of them with the 40x eyepiece on the digiscope.


It’s now 1:30 PM, I’ve unloaded the truck, have the camp set up, had lunch and put a camera battery in the charger. I suppose that it’s time to check out a few of the areas I have marked on the map and GPS.

My first stop of the afternoon was at a place called “The Wells”. It’s the site of an artesian well on the edge of Geneva Swamp in Crawford County. Due to the heavy rains and snow melt the area was flooded. I stopped at a few other places around the swamp and they were flooded as well. There was supposed to be a cold front moving in during the late afternoon and evening. Already the predicted high winds were picking up and the temperatures were falling. It was going to be a rough afternoon.

I left the swamp and drove to the Pymatuning area. There are some ponds near the park maintenance buildings that I wanted to see. The ponds were very accessible but they held the usual Canada Geese and a few Ringneck ducks.


The next stop would be the spillway at Pymatuning. By now the wind was steady at 20-25 miles per hour so at the spillway there wasn’t much to be seen. I was able to get some good shots of some coots, turtles and deer in the vicinity of the spillway. I saw but got no shots of a Bald Eagle.


Due to the increasing wind speed I figured that I would work my way back to the camp. I drove along some back roads looking for photo opportunities the entire way. That is something nice about being able to do this: I wasn’t rushed or had to worry about taking care of other business for three days, I could go at my own speed and get any shots that came my way. I stopped at a few places that I had marked off on my map and GPS. These were in the game lands portion of northern Lake Wilhelm/Goddard State Park. Before I left Pittsburgh I was told of an eagle’s nest in that area. I saw the nest but didn’t see any of the eagles. I saw and got shots of two ospreys on a nest but due to the high winds very few of those shots were usable to me.

My last stop for the day would be the marina at Lake Wilhelm. I saw the usual geese and a hen Common Merganser but again the wind caused me problems and very few of those pictures came out.

I finally got back to the camp around 6:45 PM. I was hungry and worn out from a long day. I put in nearly 16 hours already, took about 300 pictures and drove over 300 miles. It was time for some chicken, a shower and bed. I have another loooooong day ahead of me tomorrow. Hopefully the wind will die down like it is supposed to do and I’ll be able to get some good shots.

Stay tuned for the next post “Day 2 Up North”. I’ll be going to Erie National Wildlife Refuge, Woodcock Creek Lake, Cambridge Springs, Edinboro, Pymatuning and Lake Wilhelm again.