The trees speak. Through a concerted effort of mystical orchestration, they take the wind and turn its voice into their own. It is a language I cannot interpret; no matter how hard I try, the rustling of branches remains unfathomable, and the message simply dissipates in the breeze. Still, as I watch the horizon for any sign of a migratory raptor, I cannot help but watch the treetops sway in the gusts. The wind off Lake Superior is ceaseless and bone-numbing, once again bringing snow squalls that threaten to keep my psyche locked away in a distant memory of a place where I once knew the warmth of the sun.
Then I realize trees have hypnotized me, swaying back and forth, side to side, all purposefully in sync with the whims of the wind. I swear these beings of wood and root have come alive and begun to rearrange themselves in Tolkienesque fashion. After all, I have seen people go into those woods but have never seen any come out…have the ghosts of Fangorn come for me?
Yeah, I got an imagination alright, and it’s what keeps me company up here on the hawk deck where the days and hours in April mostly go by with very few hawks. Sometimes I find myself in the aforementioned forests of Middle Earth; other times, I imagine myself having been banished to George R. R. Martin’s Night Watch. Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is a lot like a real-world representation of The Game of Thrones “North of the Wall,” at least more than anywhere I have ever been. But seriously, the only words I want to hear right now are “Spring is Coming.”
While the arrival of certain birds act as a signal that spring is on the way, such as the Eastern Phoebe that arrived this week, I will believe spring is here when I am able to spend a day on the hawk deck in shorts and a t-shirt. Did I just hear what I thought I heard? Did some of you just scoff at that??? Then perhaps you know the U.P. better than I do. Well, mark my words. It will happen!
Luckily though, the weather gods have deemed to allow at least one nice day a week, for which I am forever grateful. This past sunny Saturday, all my rowdy friends came out to play, especially the Sharp-shinned Hawks, which kept me company all day. I had American Kestrels and Merlins competing for the title of flashiest entrance, and the season’s first Broad-winged Hawk was a welcome sight. That hawk, in particular, is indeed a harbinger of busier and warmer days to come. Days on which I will probably wish I actually had the time to imagine a visit from old Treebeard or getting a reprieve from the Night Watch.
Author: Rich Couse, Hawk Counter
Photo: Couse
If you are considering visiting the Point, please read this important message from Michigan Audubon and WPBO Field Staff.
Maneuvering the ever-changing implications of COVID-19 has necessitated constant adaptation and evaluation for us all. Michigan Audubon and WPBO have been proactive in taking measures that protect our staff, our physical community in Paradise, and the Michigan birding community, and we have found American Birding Association’s recent guidelines on birding and social distancing a useful resource for guiding bird-related travel decisions. While there are hopeful signs that we are rounding the corner with this virus, Michigan Audubon does not want to sow precocious optimism that encourages long-distance travel. Please take a minute to read these ABA guidelines, and to imagine them through the lens of the eastern Upper Peninsula, which does not have the medical resources of Michigan’s more-developed areas. Chippewa County and its adjacent counties have just three hospitals, and only one of these has more than 100 beds; they all are at least an hour’s drive from the Point. WPBO appreciates and requests your continued conscientiousness as the season’s migration begins to ramp up, and does not condone birding travel that is not local. Keep in mind that the Owl’s Roost Gift Shop and public observation of owl banding are currently closed. In the meantime, we will virtually share the Point with you as best we can until it is safe for all parties to enjoy it together. We hope that will be soon.
