Early morning temperatures still routinely hover a few degrees above the freezing point, although early afternoon temperatures now regularly climb into the 60s (and even the 70s).  To experience a temperature swing on the mountain of 30+ degrees in an eight hour period is still a small shock to my system, and I now find myself unsure of just how warmly I should dress for the day.  This should get easier as we close in on the Summer Solstice.  (Or not?)

Hawk flights remain strong, and new songbird species seem to arrive with each passing front.  The contrast from the first weeks of the count in March/April is simply stunning, and with Spring coming so late to the Mouth of the Wolf, I feel I’m no longer in any position to predict how much longer we can expect good flights from atop Brockway.  Even suboptimal winds seem to bring enough raptors to stave off empty binocular scans and navel gazing. (And this is definitely A Good Thing, as Martha Stewart used to say.)  And I now regularly park myself behind one of the stone barriers near West Bluff for a few minutes at a time to listen for songbirds in the valley between Brockway & Rocky Ridge, which functions as much as an acoustic amplifier for faint sounds as it serves as a wind block for the vibrant life taking shelter in the trees below.

In any case, the migration’s still got juice in it.  Hopefully you do, too!  More soon . . .

Pausing for Thought Atop Brockway,
Arthur

The results lately are dramatic.

If there was any doubt this season about Brockway’s importance as a springtime watchsite, May 5 should help put it to pasture: 2500 birds, 13 species of raptors.  Yes, that’s a single day’s count!  What’s even more surprising is that the full week to follow maintained a break-neck pace, with southerly winds ushering a steady stream of migrants into the tip of the Keweenaw.  I’ll allow Skye Haas the opportunity to personally report on that “big day”, but it’s worth noting that the week of May 5 thru May 11 accounts for almost 71% of the season’s total of 7584 birds till this point (with another month still to go!), which is amazing when you consider the count season began March 15.  Of course, Broad-winged Hawk and Sharp-shinned Hawk pad our totals this time of year, and even compared to these birds which move as if rushing to pack into a Tokyo subway car (those of you who’ve been to Japan will know what I’m talking about!), our less numerous migrants (e.g., Rough-legged Hawk) are every bit as important to our study of Keweenaw migration.  It is for this reason we begin the count as early as we do, although (admittedly) we were a little surprised at how slowly the season began.  And it’s easy to begin thinking the birds didn’t start moving en masse until the beginning of May; seasonal variation is reason enough for why it is difficult to anticipate when the bulk of a season’s migration will take place at any given locale.  But the variation each year is also why studying hawk migrations never becomes boring.  We hope you agree!

In any case, I wanted you, Dear Reader, to know that things have been just ducky, and that you have not been forgotten!  Thank you, as always, for your support, and I hope to see you soon on the mountain!  The weather is just fine, and the birds, as always, are magnificent!

Developing a binocular callous on Brockway,
Arthur

Here is Arthur’s post to the UP listserv about yesterday’s sighting.

Today from atop Brockway, under partial cloud cover with NW winds
“gusting” to ~8 mph, I observed a Black Vulture working its way north
over Rocky Ridge and then proceed east towards Copper Harbor at
exactly 13:15 EST today.  My hope is that I’ll catch it on the
westbound flight tomorrow!

Other birds seen yesterday included

30 Turkey Vultures, 1 Osprey, 10 Bald Eagles, 6 Northern Harriers, 45 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 3 Northern Goshawks, 16 Red-tailed Hawks, a non-eastbound Golden Eagle; as well as 25 Common Loons, 4,746 Canada Geese, 44 Sandhill Cranes, and 5 Bohemian Waxwings.

Hope to see you on the Mountain!

~Skye Haas

Common Ravens

Flight-lines of Fridays goose drawn as vectors. (Original map from U.S. Census Bureau.)

For fun, I decided to trace flight vectors on a map of Michigan Counties.  This is a complex topic (for which I claim no viable expertise!), but even this broadbrush treatment suggests the possibility that I observed some of the very same goose spotted by my neighbors to the south, especially if one were to assume that the flocks proceeded directly across Superior in more or less a straight direction of travel.  As to why I had not seen significant movements prior to Friday (even on days of “good” winds) is also interesting to me, and I’m left short of an explanation.

Tucked away from today’s snow on Brockway,
Arthur

This female American Kestrel routinely poses for animal crackers. (Or, at least when they're in season, a crunchy dragonfly.)

First off, I’d like to apologize to you, my dear reader, for not posting as of late.  A spate of computer issues came to a head and left me backlogged with preparing data and posting observations.  In any case, I’ll be writing more frequently in coming weeks, as we’re approaching a most lively time of the year for both birds and people alike.

This past week has been eventful!  The roads atop Brockway have been clearing as temperatures remain often above freezing during normal observation hours, with the sun doing a fine job of finishing off the remaining patches of snow.  A pair of nesting American Kestrel have taken residency nearby, with both male and female making routine passes by the watchsite throughout the day.  March 13 brought a pair of Broad-winged Hawk high over Brockway, marking the entrance of this long-distance migrant as it makes its way through Michigan’s upper Upper  (Upper-Squared?) Peninisula from Central and South America.  An Osprey, also a distance flyer among the raptors, was observed hugging the Superior lakeline before finally making a water crossing and disappearing from view on March 14.  And Buteo flights have been energetic, with good showing of Red-tailed Hawk and Rough-legged Hawk; I’ve enjoyed observing both species kiting into the wind as they scan the forest understory in search of an early afternoon bite.

This week has also seen the appearance of several non-raptorial species for the season, including Common Loon, Hermit Thrush, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Winter Wren, and a remarkable movement of both American Robin and Northern Flicker that suggests that these birds are finally working their way inland after spending some time jammed up against the Superior lakeline (where they can still be seen in abundance along Route M-26 only a few miles west of Copper harbor).  And in sure anticipation of a wintry storm that’s still underway as I muse behind the glow of my computer, a brisk flight of 4620 Canada Goose (59 flocks!) came in waves throughout the morning of March 15, a day with the kind of fickle winds that could only spell trouble for raptor enthusiasts.  It stands to reason that this may not be the last significant goose flight we see this season, so stay tuned!

It occurred to me that this marks the completion of my first month serving as a most unusual seasonal fixture atop Brockway.  It’s a little hard for me to fathom that the season has, in a very real sense, only begun!  The weeks ahead promise some of the most exciting flights of the season, so now is the time to consider making regular trips up the mountain.

Sharing in Fine Feather atop Brockway,
Arthur

The Skytop Inn, 11:00 AM

Attired as if I were about to step onto a Maine lobster boat, I hauled up Brockway Mountain Drive’s east end on the ATV while shielding my face from the sting of another icy rain that had moved over the mountain only minutes after I left the house.  Conditions on the top were hardly ideal:  Bands of rain were still passing over the mountain, the southerly winds would periodically walk their way around the compass rose, and the fog was straight out of a badly made horror film.  But within minutes after I had unpacked and was standing at the ready outside the count shelter, something dropped out of the fog and landed on the exposed gravel of West Bluff within fifteen feet of me: a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, which seemed as surprised to see me as I was her.  Birds were still moving in this miserable weather!

But after two hours on the mountain, the fog still showed no sign of abating, and I’d heard and seen nothing else.  I opted to cut my losses.  Back at my cabin in Copper Harbor twenty minutes later, I cut the engine on the ATV and could now hear birds all around me!  I looked up at Brockway Mountain and realized the “fog” enveloping the mountain was actually a low Stratus cloud (i.e., it’s technically not fog at all, since the base of this cloud doesn’t touch ground level), leaving a relatively clear, open space below the cloud ceiling for birds to move in.  This may explain why my sapsucker was on the move; had I stayed up on the mountain, I would have had no real context for this sighting!  I decided to bird Clyde Wescoat’s property near the Copper Harbor Visitor Center (with his permission, of course!), and soon ran up a list: Song Sparrow, Fox Sparrow, Hooded Merganser, Mallard, Canada Goose, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Dark-eyed Junco, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Pileated Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Rusty Blackbird, American Crow, Blue Jay, Herring Gull, Common Redpoll, Pine Siskin, White-winged Crossbill, Northern Saw-whet Owl.  Not shabby!

The Skytop Inn, same day, 3:00 PM

After roughly an hour and a half of stepping through fields and splashing in wetland, I felt the warmth of sunshine on my face, and looked up to the mountain to see that the veil of Stratus had dissipated.  There was still time to see if hawks were moving, so I headed back to the cabin, packed up my things, and made a second trip to the top of the mountain where I was greeted by sunshine, good visibility, stabler (albeit, gusty) SSE breezes, and almost  immediate gratification as an adult Sharp-shinned Hawk blew by on the windward side of Brockway.  The remaining two and half hours of observation yielded 53 eastbound raptors, including 13 Turkey Vulture, 8 Bald Eagle, 2 Northern Harrier, 7 Sharp-shinned Hawk, 19 Red-tailed Hawk, 2 Rough-legged Hawk, 1 American Kestrel, and 1 Merlin before Stratus again enveloped the mountain in the closing minutes of the count.

Atop Brockway, the weather demonstrated a Janus-like disposition today, and I feel that I made the best of it.  I now close my day delighted by the satisfying illusion that, somehow, I fit two days experience into a single twenty-four hour period.

Burning gas up and down Brockway,
Arthur

But it seems that Spring does cometh: The god(dess?) of hawk migrations smiled upon me April 7, when the proverbial river lock finally opened and I was blessed with an eastbound flight of 191 raptors, including 50 Bald Eagle (1 for each state of the Union, I suppose!), 3 Golden Eagle, 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk, 1 Cooper’s Hawk, 1 Northern Goshawk, 77 Red-tailed Hawk, 1 Red-shouldered Hawk, 11 Rough-legged Hawk (including 2 dark morph), 4 American Kestrel, 1 Merlin, and 2 Peregrine Falcon.  Notable non-raptor observations included 5 Sandhill Crane, 51 Snow Bunting, and 1 American Pipit, beating the Spring Earliest Arrival Date (SEAD) cited for that species in Binford 2006 by over three weeks!  All in all, a very good day, that (almost) makes up for monotony of the past several weeks.  Let us pray we don’t hit another such impasse this season!

Before long, smarter folk who stayed indoors in this unseasonal weather will be able to venture up the mountain with an ordinary automobile (i.e., vehicles without skis, 4WD, or British Secret Service-style aftermarket modification) and see spectacular hawk flights over a humble beer and sandwich.  When my Honda coupe ably scales the mountain, you’ll be the first to know!  That is as sure a sign, as any,  that the time has come for you to join us on the mountain!

Counting (at last!) from Brockway,
Arthur

Well at least we don’t have to change the acronym. This morning was marked by a strong Common Redpoll flight with 148 birds recorded flying by in small flocks. I noted several flocks on my way up the coastline on my way to count as well. Early for Keweenaw County was a singing Song Sparrow in Copper Harbor and my most interesting sighting of the day was a flock of 7 Red-necked and 3 Horned Grebes off Hebard Park. Pretty early for these birds to be on the North Shore of the Keweenaw.

World's worst redpoll photo

It was wonderful getting a chance to count again as I gave Arthur a well deserved respite for the day. I was able to get my 4-wheel drive Jeep Cherokee up the west end of the Mountain (smaller cars beware of the late afternoon slush-fest I came off in!), so soon all will be able to get up and visit Arthur (he accepts bribes of cookies for Golden Eagles btw….).

And this what greeted me when I got up to the top.

So the raptors- it was a fun day, not too crazy, but good diversity. The first Turkey Vultures of the season were recorded, and yet another Red-shouldered Hawk along with 2 Northern Goshawks were a treat.  A couple of  Red-tails punctuated by a juvie Rough-legged Hawk wraps up the buteo report and 18 east-bound Bald Eagles and 2 Golden Eagles were also record, with of course the local ravens chasing one of the Goldens out of the valley.

Can’t wait to get back….

~Skye

We couldn't go too long without a photo of a raptor eh?

Birdwise, we’re still slogging through a stretch of slow days.  But diversity is increasing, even if numbers are not: March 26 brought us our first Rough-legged Hawk (a juvenile light morph, should you care!), March 29 a vanguard of 4 Red-tailed Hawk, and March 30 a gorgeous adult Red-shouldered Hawk.

Vic Berardi would cringe at the quality of this shot.

Other additions to the list include Red Crossbill, with Snow Bunting and small flocks of Common Redpoll now trickling though almost daily.  And a Northern Shrike (left) has taken up the same spruce in easy binocular view from West Bluff on the mornings of March 29 and 30.  Things can only get better from here . . .

And so the end of another winter in the UP draws neigh.  I think I will miss it!

Thinking of you from atop Brockway,
Arthur