'Wapiti' weekend!

I remember using the word 'wapiti' during a game of Upwords with Robin and her 90-year old grandmother. Totally messed their heads when I told them it meant 'elk'. Neither were very happy w/ me since that word pretty much logjammed the whole game. Grandma died shortly after...
This past weekend we took a trip up to Antrim Co. (Central Lake, MI) to dodge the storms. Leaving town early Friday afternoon we arrived in Elk Rapids at dinner time, and after a great meal at Pearl's Restaurant we stopped at the Elk Rapids Sewage Ponds. Shorebirds were everywhere! I roughly counted the following in the first pond next to the fence:
(20) Lesser Yellowlegs
(11) Greater Yellowlegs
(8) Solitary Sandpipers
(1) Baird's Sandpiper
(1) Stilt Sandpiper
(1) Pectoral Sandpiper
(23) Least Sandpipers
(4) Spotted Sandpipers
(6) Killdeer

Unfortunately time was short so I could only enjoy the flocks w/ binocs. After a heavy rain Friday night Saturday was gorgeous. We took a drive to Sutton's Bay to visit an aunt, but stopped along the way to photograph several of the Elk that were penned up on a farm just north of Central Lake (on M-88). It's getting to be rutting season as the velvet could be seen hanging from the massive racks of antlers. The only other highlights of the weekend were a Bald Eagle along the shoreline between Traverse City and Sutton's Bay, and numerous Red-tailed Hawks along the freeways driving home (I-75 and US-127).