A bohemian waxwing seems to be on. (Scot Stewart picture)
“Counting in octal is just like counting in decimal, if you don’t use your thumbs.” — Tom Lehrer
It is with a lot anticipation the 124th Christmas Bird Count will begin throughout the nation and past. It will contain quite a lot of counting programs to make certain. Some will snap fast images to provide actual counts of flocks. Some flocks shall be so massive the observers will depend smaller parts and estimate the fraction of the overall group to create a great guess on the whole quantity. For fly-by flocks ornithologists typically use hand-held tally counters. Here within the Upper Peninsula most birders will have the ability to depend people on their fingers and will not even want their thumbs. Even which may be simpler this yr with the hotter temperatures, they could not even want mittens and might see their naked fingers as they depend.
Yes, there shall be some bigger flocks — 70 frequent goldeneyes have been seen on the AuTrain River in Alger County final Sunday. There is at all times the potential for locating an enormous, swirling flock or murmer of European Starlings, a lot of bohemian waxwings or pine siskins, requiring extra fast strategies of counting them earlier than they disappear, and that can absolutely add to the joy of the day.
But for essentially the most half, fowl numbers will come simply one after the other or a clump right here or there with an opportunity to benefit from the magnificence and conduct of every earlier than shifting on to the subsequent discovery. The variety of uncommon birds within the space has dwindled over the previous two weeks, however birders are persevering with to test every day haunts, feeder stations, and ever-changing stretches of open water on rivers and the large lakes for brand spanking new arrivals with hopes they are going to stick round till counts are full.
In Marquette the “Dead River Marshes,” the open water simply above the Lakeshore Blvd. bridge continues to stay almost totally open and is seeing a seesaw battle of the ice throughout the water’s floor, internet hosting frequent goldeneyes, red-breasted mergansers, and mallards. In Marquette’s Lake Superior harbors these species have additionally been seen with a lesser scaup, long-tailed geese, horned grebes, and each frequent and red-breasted mergansers. There appears to be no fear alongside the shores, Superior’s edges shall be ice free most all over the place round city for the CBC depend.
It does look as if the swans seen over a great a part of the autumn alongside the Dead River have once more moved on. Swans make periodic stops on the river each above and under the Tourist Park and this fall included each trumpeter and tundra swans. Both species have been seen on the St. Mary’s River in Sault Ste. Marie this previous week. Tundra swan flocks typically cease on the river east of the Soo on their method to the Chesapeake River throughout fall migration. Eleven have been discovered close to Sugar Island final Sunday afternoon. Two trumpeter swans have been seen final Saturday afternoon south of city on the river. A harlequin duck was discovered final Friday on the river on the west facet of city. All could be nice additions to the Soo Christmas Bird Count that covers either side of the border on Dec. 16, the identical day as Marquette’s.
Escanaba has additionally had a great displaying of waterfowl at Ludington Park together with almost 200 bufflehead, frequent goldeneyes, hooded, frequent, and red-breasted mergansers, 30 Canada geese, a horned grebe and three swans. Because of viewing situations, it was not doable for the swans to be recognized to species.
The Mackinac Straits proceed to supply the very best numbers of geese within the space, with an estimated 5,000 seen underneath the bridge final Monday, considered largely red-breasted mergansers. Other good sightings within the jap U.P. included a really late killdeer close to Hessel and a only a few hawks — red-tails and rough-leggeds.
There have been another regular wanderers discovered within the Marquette space apart from the harbor and rivers waterfowl. Numerous bohemian waxwings have been cruising round city, nibbling on mountain ash and crabapple fruits. There are telltale indicators of their visits seen when learning the bushes round city. In bushes with loads of fruits, the treetops are sometimes naked or bearing few fruits, the place the birds typically begin when feeding. The decrease branches are sometimes nonetheless filled with berries. Just one of many 4 crabapple bushes on the entrance to Presque Isle Park bore fruit this yr and it has had only a few waxwings feeding there with some regularity this month.
Another customer has been a northern shrike. This is likely one of the extra uncommon birds of North America. Robin sized, it’s a predatory fowl able to catching mice and small birds like chickadees and juncos. With no talons, it depends on fast responses and a pointy hook on the tip of its payments to shortly seize and dispatch its prey. They typically safe their meals on a thorn, a fork in a department, or on barbwire to assist maintain onto it whereas it feeds.
For birders eager about becoming a member of a depend as an energetic participant or as a feeder counters, there are many alternatives from Recife, Brazil, essentially the most easterly depend, to the North Mariana Islands, a U.S. territory within the western Pacific, to Arctic Bay within the far north of Canada, to a number of in South America together with one in Paraguay and presumably one within the Drake Passage close to Tierra del Fuego on the southern tip of the continent. Search “Christmas Bird Count circles” for extra info. Some early outcomes shall be lined right here subsequent week.
Scot Stewart is naturalist on the MooseWood Nature Center, a author and photographer.
