Debbie Jarve was walking around the Calumet Lion’s Park with her grandkids recently and they spotted this Great Blue Heron. She quickly snapped a few photos before it took off in flight, away from them, to the other side of Calumet Lake. She said it was so cool to see it there and she was excited that her grandkids got to see it, too. I like the first photo, as you can see how the Heron curls its neck into an “S” shape, which is pretty neat. These large birds are smaller and much less bulky than a Sandhill Crane, but both birds have a long dagger-like beak. Always fun and impressive to see them and watch them take off in flight.

We head to Sault Ste. Marie and join MI Playground for a tour through the Soo Locks. The Famous Soo Locks Boat Tours take you through the locks themselves where you’ll see massive freighters and possibly a cruise ship, too. It’s an iconic experience on the St. Marys River and a must see part of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

Laurium Manor Inn is in the running (again!) for Newsweek’s Best Historical B&B, and this time, they’re aiming for the top spot. If you’d like to help achieve that honor, you can cast your vote by clicking here: Newsweek’s Best Historical B&B, then click the black button that says: “Vote for the best historical B&B!”. That will take you to a pop-up window with the list... scroll down to “G. Laurium Manor Inn – Laurium, MI”, click on it, then scroll down and click the “Submit” button. The contest runs until August 14th at Noon ET, so we’ll have a reminder here each day if you’d like to vote. Thanks in advance.

Nice set! Cranes always
remind me of the song
Lady Godiva;
“ And people now are
craning their necks to
see her”
(Peter and Gordon)

Such cool birds. There's just beauty
everywhere. You just have to look.

Wow...way cool...and it looks like a statue!
Beautiful!

The air quality has been bad almost everywhere lately. A website called Ventusky provides an animated graphical forecast for a variety of thing including air quality across the UP.

This video shows the air quality getting back to normal around Thursday afternoon and staying that way at least through Saturday, which is a far out as the forecast is issued.