By Ron Smith Queen Isabella, Mighty Mac and the Blue Water. A romantic fantasy tale? No, this is about bridges. Recently, my wife Sharron and I spent so long crossing one into Canada that we began a "bridge bird list." We were en route to the famous Stratford, Ontario Shakespeare Festival to see some plays. This annual trip includes entering Canada via the Port Huron, Michigan---Sarnia, Ontario Blue Water Bridge. Blue Water Bridge, Canada Suspended high above the cold waters of vast Lake Huron, we crept along at a rate of ten feet at a time while trucks the size of Blue Whales spouted fumes and rolled thunder inches from our van. Way up there for an hour and a half, I was beginning to regret ever having read Thornton Wilder's "The Bridge of San Luis Rey" in which several travelers meet Death on a bridge in South America. We talked; we read; and then we heard, even above the noise, a Great Crested Flycatcher! It came from somewhere on the girders. Far below, bright in the sun, Herring Gulls glided in slow motion around the masts of sailboats and the stacks of freighters. We smiled and said, "Let's make a list!" Then a pair of motorcycles growled alongside overwhelming the sounds of nature. Great Crested Flycatcher Eventually, we dropped toward the shoreline dotted with trees and houses, and a Northern Cardinal burst into song. Nearing the row of Canadian Customs booths, we saw a House Finch warbling from a fence line. When we pulled up to the booth, the agent asked the usual questions about citizenship and destination. Then came a puzzler: "Did you bring any presents?" I felt like responding with, "No, I'm sorry. Maybe next time after we know you better." We then assumed it had something to do with competition beteen U.S. and Canadian merchants. However, we still love Canada and had a wonderful time. One cannot blame them for delays after 9/11. It is still a great country, possessing almost everything we have...plus tundra and minus palm trees. And the exchange rate is welcoming, although our economy has begun to alter that. Queen Isabella Causeway, Texas Now we come to the Queen. In South Texas, there is a another bridge, the graceful Queen Isabella Causeway, arching over the warmer waters of the Laguna Madre to the great barrier island tip known as South Padre. There is no traffic crawl here, but you have to be aware of loco drivers . The birds are also very different. Brown Pelicans perch on the railings. Laughing Gulls whirl with mirthful calls above you. They almost seem amused by earthbound humans. Starkly white egrets wade in the shallows. After a storm, you might see a Magnificent Frigatebird sailing in from faraway places. Great and Snowy Egrets   On the island during migration, the small woodlots become green landings for orioles, warblers, tanagers, thrushes and buntings, to name only a few species. The rare ones come, too. Not long ago a Flame-colored Tanager from Mexico visited the feeders at the lots owned by the Valley Land Fund, and for an extended period, a Yellow-billed Loon from the Arctic fished in the dolphin-graced waters of the bay. Pine Warbler Finally, there is the Mighty Mac. (title banner). This is one of the world's longest bridges, spanning eight miles with five miles over the cold blue passage of Michigan's Straits of Mackinac (that last syllable rhymes with gnaw, not knack...don't worry, it confuses everybody). This splendid attraction connects the Lower and Upper Peninsulas of the state, two very different worlds. It also divides two Great Lakes, Huron to the east and Michigan to the west. The story is that the great supporting concrete pylons footed deep into the strait are tombs of the men who fell to their deaths during initial construction years ago. There are other tragedies. Very rarely, a motorist has sped across, encountered a strong wind and jumped the railing. With updated safety measures, it seems nearly impossible to do this. For those with phobias for bridges and heights, the state provides drivers who will take you and your car across. For the rest, it is a spectacular experience to view both peninsulas and both lakes at once. This bridge will connect you with the land of moose, wolves, Boreal Chickadees, Spruce and Sharp-tailed Grouse, bog-nesting warblers, and in the winter, Great Gray, Snowy and Hawk Owls, Gyrfalcons and Harlequin Ducks. Harlequin Duck Drive across the peninsula to Whitefish Point which pushes into Lake Superior for bird banding observations in the spring. This includes many hawks and owls netted as they fly down the corridors of small trees.    Northern Harrier Whitefish Point Bird Observatory; Paradise, MI Bridges have always been symbols in literature and movies for transitions, connections from one stage in life to another, one relationship to another, one race or religion to others, et al. We all remember the bridge over the river Kwai, the bridges at Toko-ri, the Remagen Bridge, the Bridge of Sighs, or the London Bridge. And we remember what happened on them and what it means. They can also teach you patience, make you braver, show you new worlds, or give you something to do, like make a new bird list. Maybe there is never "a bridge too far." PHOTO CREDITS: Our Thanks To: Peter Wallack: Great Crested Flycatcher, Great and Snowy Egrets, Pine Warbler. Photos taken at Sanibel, Florida. WEBSITE: Peter Wallack's Birds of Sanibel Ken & Sandy Hoover: Mackinac Bridge (title banner), Harlequin Duck, Northern Harrier Blue Water Bridge: Courtesy of the Michigan Department Of Transportation. Queen Isabella Causeway: Courtesy of South Padre Island, Texas, Chamber of Commerce. All text copyright of Ron Smith. Visit Ron Smith's Bird Carvings website, too!