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WPBO Trip Report: Winter Birding around the Soo II
Our second Soo birding tour followed the pattern of the first. Rather cool weather combined with rather cool birds. On Saturday we concentrated on the Soo area, while on Sunday we moved to the west side of Chippewa county. Our leader was Jerry Ziarno, a veteran leader of many Soo tours and a top Michigan birder.
Saturday was primarily about birds of open country, like Snowy Owl and Sharp-tailed Grouse. We found two Snowies, a first year bird and an adult. The first was exactly where it had been found on our previous Soo tour, but the second was a new bird that had not been previously reported.
Nine Sharp-tailed Grouse were dancing on their lek at 9 mile and Nicolet and flying around. We had excellent looks when they flew to the 9 mile and Nicolet intersection and perched up.
At Dunbar Forest we found a number of species, including very cooperative Pine Grosbeaks. There were also massive numbers of Common Redpolls and Pine Siskins at the feeders, with smaller numbers of Purple Finches and other birds such as Black-capped Chickadees and Hairy Woodpeckers. And there was one Hoary Redpoll!
Bohemian Waxwings had been reported as regular at the Dafter Post Office, so we took a shot at them. Things looked bad as there was no action for the first 10 minutes. But then a group of about 20 Waxwings flew in. To everyone's surprise, it was a pure flock of Bohemians. (Equally surprising, we didn't get a Cedar during the whole trip.)
We ended the day at the Edison Powerplant, where we had Common Goldeneye, Common Merganser, and a single Bald Eagle. The wind had picked up and it was a bit brutal, but we were gald to add in a few waterfowl to our list.
On Sunday we had three targets: Crossbills, Evening Grosbeaks, and Gray Jay. On Ranger road north of M-28 we had good looks at three different groups of Red Crossbills, including the two in the following pictures. White-winged Crossbills were more difficult, but a few members of the group had views of a pair.
At the entrance to Hulbert Bog we found nearly 20 Evening Grosbeaks at a feeder station. Further on we met up with Jason Bojczyk, a former WPBO waterbird counter who was out with friends doing some birding. He had seen a few Gray Jays, who, after a bit of tape playing, came right in. Everyone got great looks at some rather tame birds. Lots of photos were taken.
That was it for the tour, with our target birds checked off. We headed to the Maple Ridge Restaurant, where some folks had lunch while the rest headed for home after a satisfing weekend of birding.
Trip List:
- Common Goldeneye
- Common Merganser
- Sharp-tailed Grouse
- Wild Turkey
- Bald Eagle
- Rough-legged Hawk
- Rock Pigeon
- Mourning Dove
- Snowy Owl
- Downy Woodpecker
- Hairy Woodpecker
- Pileated Woodpecker
- Northern Shrike
- Gray Jay
- Blue Jay
- American Crow
- Common Raven
- Black-capped Chickadee
- Red-breasted Nuthatch
- White-breasted Nuthatch
- American Robin
- European Starling
- Bohemian Waxwing
- Snow Bunting
- American Tree Sparrow
- Pine Grosbeak
- Purple Finch
- Red Crossbill
- White-winged Crossbill
- Common Redpoll
- Hoary Redpoll
- Pine Siskin
- American Goldfinch
- Evening Grosbeak