Howdy all!
It was so great to get back up to the top of Brockway. Arthur Green, Greg Cleary & I headed up the Mountain to assemble the counter’s shack. Brockway Mt. Drive is still snowed in from the winter leaving us but one option for the day- saddle up the sleds!
Of course, many thanks must go to Ken Stegers (the proprietor of the Pines Resort) for helping house Arthur and getting snowmobiles for KRS to use. Be sure and stop in his place for some hot food when you come up for some hawk-watching later this spring!
Not to be melodramatic, but it was pretty harsh up there when we got to the West Bluff overlook. A strong northerly wind off the lake with a heavy snow was challenging to say the least, we could barely even see the bottom of the valley. Also “amusing” was the discovery that the tarp covering the shack pieces had been shredded over the winter, but thankfully the wood was not too frozen to the ground.
Thankfully nothing had warped too bad, and after a few hours of digging, hauling and assembling the shack began to take form. A gang of passing snowmobilers were drafted to help get the heavy roof up and no one got frost-bite!
Well, of course the big question, were there any birds??
No raptors were seen, but a small flock of flyover Redpolls passed by and just before we left for the day a Barred Owl hooted from the valley. South winds are forecasted for the rest of the week so hopefully this count will start with some migrants! Tune back in to get Arthur’s report from opening day (Tuesday!).
Welcome to da Yoop Arthur!
What a beautiful winter view.