HOME SWEET HOME!

I love my vagabond touring/field worker lifestyle, but I relish coming home to my quaint hamlet along the shores of Lake Superior. Even in the depths of winter, it is a place of peace, restoration and renewal. And as certainly not by chance, the birding is dang good in these parts!

It’s not wildly birdy this winter, finches have not irrupted in large numbers and though Minnesota has had some great owl action, it has been somewhat slower in the UP so far, except here in Marquette where we have had the good fortune of hosting a Northern Hawk Owl since mid November! Its been a real treat to to have this bird as part of my daily sightings!

Equally exciting though far, far less dependable has been a young Gyrfalcon in the region that is ranging widely, but after a month of tantalizing reports, I finally connected with the bird a few days ago and watched it preening itself after a what must have been a successful kill as it’s underparts were soaked in blood! Savage! But amazing all the same! Here’s hoping I get another chance to see this incredible arctic bird again this winter!

A more tradition form of winter birding and touring for me has been regular visits to the boreal habitat of the Peshekee Grade/McCormick Wilderness area and the surrounding wild country that make up the Michigamme Highlands in the western reaches of my home county. I was particularly pleased with my outing yesterday (2/2), where we were walking along only to hear the wild cackle of a Northern Goshawk up from a pine-clad ridge. Much to my surprised, it flew in closer to investigate us, and ended up giving a fantastic look!

Despite the ongoing and upsetting declines of some of the specialty species like Gray Jay and Boreal Chickadee, I have been having decent luck occasionally bumping into these northern goodies. While not seeing them in the numbers that I used to even just ten years ago, I still have some go-to spots that usually produce some great sightings of them. Black-backed Woodpeckers however seem to be very elusive this winter and I have yet to encounter a single one since early December and in a non traditional spot not while I was taking an afternoon stroll not too far from my house!

Finches are a mixed bag this year. Only American Goldfinch seems to be in any great numbers, and recently they discovered my house’s extensive feeding station. There are large flocks out in the wild too, feeding on the robust crop of birch seeds and hemlock cones. Pine Siskins are around as well, though in drastically lower numbers than the Goldies; the siskins so far seem restricted to back country feeding on natural foods and I’ve only seen a few at feeding stations so far. Evening Grosbeaks have been plentiful in the Michigamme Highlands but very few sightings elsewhere. Redpolls have been non-existent this year, I’ve only had one bird back in late December!

However what has been around and encountered somewhat frequently has been both species of Crossbills, the Red Crossbills seem to be lightly coated in pine barrens and in extensive spruce/tamarack bogs or on hemlock coated ridges, there has been the start of a growing presence of White-winged Crossbills. After a few years of being mostly absent from the Great Lakes, perhaps this gorgeous species will stick around through the spring and breed?

Despite lots of open water, waterbirds have been somewhat lackluster this winter. Herring Gull numbers have been few, with only a couple Glaucous Gulls present. No loons or grebes since early December, over all these species and the “sea” ducks have been rare for several winters now, likely a combination of some deep freezes in previous winters as well as part of a potential regional decline of these species due to Botulism-E breakouts in the Great Lakes in the last decade. Hardly any Long-tailed Ducks are present this year and a recent sighting of a White-winged Scoter was my first in a few months! On the inland river here in Marquette I am surprised to have three Wood Ducks sticking it out for the winter, along with a hen Lesser Scaup.

Finally what surprises me the most about this winter is the lack of Snowy Owl sightings here in my hometown of Marquette! Normally we are host to several, even in winters where the species is not being encountered elsewhere in the lower 48. Every time I’ve birded the eastern UP this winter, I’ve had no problem finding multiples of Snowies, but so far, they seem pretty restricted to the farm country of the eastern UP. Unfortunately for most Michigan birders, there hasn’t been too much else in those parts, except for the resident Sharp-tailed Grouse.