The Pesheeke Grade & Other Adventures

[byronkbutler_06@comcast.net]

First the list, then the story. 
 
Highlights of birds seen in the UP, 1/12 to 1/16, 2007. 
 
Black-backed Woodpecker (1) 
Gray Jay (3) 
Common Raven (60+) 
Boreal Chickadee (5) 
Common Redpoll (22) 
Gray-crowned Rosy Finch (1) 
Red Crossbill (7 for certain, likely more) [All on the Baraga Plains] 
White-winged Crossbill (100+) 
Pine Grosbeak (35-40) [All on the Baraga Plains] 
Eurasian Tree Sparrow (1) 
 
Due to the lack of winter here in Indana, Maggie and I packed our gear and headed for western Upper Peninsula Michigan this past Saturday. Although we didn’t get off until 6:30 am CT, we found driving through Chicago on I-94 to was very fast and easy. We reached the Michigan border at Iron Mountain six and a half hours later, then proceeded on to the L’Anse to see the Gray-crowned Rosy Finch, which appears to be wintering there. This bird has been seen daily for several weeks. We arrived on site at 4:00 pm ET and waited until nearly dark without seeing the bird. We then went to the head of Keweenaw Bay where we saw only goldeneye and mergansers. We’d been told the rosy finch was a mourning bird so we stayed in a local motel, which was easy to do due to the lack of snow and, hence, lack of snowmobilers. Out before first light the next morning we held a vigil until the bird appeared at 9:50 am. This bird is very calm and cooperative, affording everyone good looks and photos, and clos
e approaches. Suz Jondreau was able to get within 8 feet of the bird; I came nearly that close. Three more have been reported from Duluth. 
 
>From L’anse we drove east to the mouth of the Peshekee River, then north up the Peshekee Grade—our first time there. Many Michigan birders have recently reported successful hunts for boreal species on this road. Arriving at noon, we soon encountered Erik Enbody, a high school student from East Lansing who was one of a group of five high school and college birders, including David Pavlik, Craig Bateman, Skye Haas and Zack Gayk. Eric, detached from the others, was then alone working a flock of Black-capped and Boreal Chickadees. We joined him. Thus, two miles up the grade we had already ticked five Boreal Chickadees. Maggie and I drvoe  11.8 miles up the grade, working the road until low light levels forced us to leave, and recorded over a hundred White-winged Crossbills, including one group foraging on Black Spruce cones that stayed put while I scoped them. We were able to observed the birds removing cones from the branches, holding them in their feet, then excising the seeds from t
hem. We also encountered a small flock of badly backlit birds we believe were probably Red Crossbills.  A flock of Common Redpolls did not permit us to scan them for the few Hoarys that have been reported from this location. A quick flyby Black-backed Woodpecker and a stately perched Gray Jay finished our list before the sky darkened. I believe that all, or almost all, of these birds were the same as those already reported by David.  
 
We then drove up to Houghton, where we got a room on Sunday night and had dinner at the Ambassador. Monday morning we drove to the Hancock home of Russ Hansen, who holds the distinction of having seen more birds in the Keweenaw Peninsula than any other birder. The current count for all of the UP is 328 birds, Russ’s list is 294—pretty impressive. Russ, Maggie and I then headed up the Keweenaw in search of our two primary target birds for that day, Hoary Redpoll and Bohemian Waxwing. The Hoary Redpoll was the major reason for this trip since this is a good year for them in the UP. In contrast, this is a particularly poor year for Bohemian Waxwings up there. In most winters, Bohemians are more numerous than Cedar Waxwings in the Upper Peninsula. Not so this year, even though there is a very good crop of Mountain Ash berries. We saw no waxwings at all. 
 
A snow storm hit the UP on Monday and it snowed all day on the Keweenaw, heavy at times, especially on ridge tops. All major roads were snow covered; there was no chance of getting off blacktop to get into spruce forests. Maggie drove the roads ever so carefully, while Russ and I watched for birds. Though we drove over a hundred miles we saw almost no birds at all. At known good sites Russ and I got out and walked the road as Maggie followed us in the car. Still we found few birds. At one burn, where at least five Black-backed Woodpeckers are know to be, Russ found a Hairy WP. As he was looking at it I caught a quick view of a probable BBWP, the closest we got to one all day. We found no Hoarys or Bohemians. The Hairy Woodpecker turned out to be the bird of the day—that is how bad it was!     
 
Only a couple days before Maggie and I drove to the UP the temperatures, which had been unseasonably mild, finally turned cold, in the teens for daily highs. Now many bodies of water were frozen. Russ and others had been throwing out fish heads at the mouths of major rivers to attract gulls, and were successful in finding Iceland and Glaucous gulls. We went to these sites despite frozen water in the desperate hope the gulls might still be found, but they were not. Neither were the scoters or Long-tailed Ducks. Maggie and I were just a few days too late. That night we returned to L’Anse having seen only six species for the day. Yet, we had experienced a most beautiful winter day in the Keweenaw and were very happy about that. 
 
Back at our previous motel in L’Anse we were told to expect eight inches of snow that night. If true, that amount of snow would kill our plans for the following day, too. Tuesday morning we awoke as dawn was breaking. The air temperature was less than ten degrees Fahrenheit. We hurried to get into the field, excited that no snow had fallen overnight. Skipping breakfast, dinning only on a bag  of Harry and David Moose Munch given to us for Christmas, we hurried to the Baraga Plains. On this beautiful, clear winter morning, our strategy would be to cruise the roads among the Jack Pine, before other vehicles were out, for birds eating grit. Surprisingly, to me, these pines harbor the Big Four boreal birds, Spruce Grouse, Gray Jay, Boreal Chickadee, and Black-backed Woodpecker. This is very different from my experience with the habitat of these species in northern New England and in Montana. 
 
Passing by Alberta at the mouth of Baraga Plains Road and a stand of spruce, the vista opened as we encountered the first Jack Pines, and also our first birds, a nice flock of Pine Grosbeaks and four Red Crossbills. We were able to get good close looks at these birds. Continuing down the road a flock of small birds, probably redpolls, passed overhead, disappearing before we could exit the car. A Gray Jay flew over the tree tops to our left, dropping out of view, but we could hear it and another calling from a hidden location. Next a Pileated Woodpecker cruised across our front, over the pines and out of sight. Further up we located another group of grit-eaters made up of Pine Grosbeaks, Red Crossbills, and two Common Redpolls. These birds have not been previously reported by anyone. 
 
Now, it was getting late in the morning and we had to get on to our next location, the Topaz Way Station. We had no time to walk into the habitat around Big Lake to search for Spruce Grouse. About an hour west of the Baraga Plains, on M28, is the small community of Topaz, which is now a ghost town save for a few farms. Here lives Kitt Wulf, on an old farm she calls the Topaz Way Station. This all has a very Emersonian ring to me! Kitt calls the place the Topaz Way Station because the site is situated such that wind patterns carry birds her way from different directions. So far she has hosted many birds who have come to see her rarities: Oregon Junco (unusual up there), European Goldfinch, Green Violet-ear hummingbird, and “E.T.,” the Eurasian Tree Sparrow. Maggie and I were there to see the latter bird. Arrangements must be made ahead of time, which is why we had to leave the Baraga Plains so abruptly, but Kitt and her mining geologist husband, Bob, are very accommodating. 
 
We arrived at Topaz Way Station just before noon. Kitt led us directly to her dining room window, chairs already strategically placed. After a short period of searching vainly through skittish House Sparrows, ET showed up. The Eurasian Tree Sparrow is a very attractive bird, with a rusty cap and clean white face and neck feathers. This particular bird also has a wonderful personality, full of attitude. I commented on the skittishness of the House Sparrows, which I thought unusual. Kitt explained that she thought the birds were not city birds, but migrants from Canada. They flushed at any movement from within the house, making photography a real challenge. Not wanting to overstay our welcome, after about 30 minutes we signed her log book and took our leave. 
 
Now we had to head for home. We drove southeast to Iron River where a shop there has the best pasites I’ve we’ve ever eaten. There we made up for the missed breakfast by dining on fresh pasties, then loaded the two dozen frozen pasties I had ordered ahead of time. Except for more ravens we’d seen no special birds after leaving Topaz Way Station. A few minutes south of Iron River we passed into Wisconsin and the Chequamenon-Nicolet National Forest. At a forest station office in Lakewood we stopped to inquire about locations for boreal birds for a future trip. There are sites as far south a Laona, WI. 
 
We now worked our way east and south to Green Bay, arriving there just about dark. In Wisconsin we’d just seen several ravens and one Bald Eagle, and a flock of Snow Buntings. On our way up, in Wisconsin, we’d seen ravens, Bald Eagles, and several Rough-legged Hawks. We shot down I-43 to Milwaukee, then continued on I-94 through Chicago and on to Chesterton. Arriving at Chicago at 9:00 pm (CT), we again found the drive through the megalopolis very easy and uneventful. We reached home just in time to catch the end of the South Bend, IN local news report. 
 
In addition to the birds we missed due to Monday’s storm, we also had to skip a side trip to Louie Taccolini’s house in Marquette to see Topper, the Green-tailed Towhee, a bird which has been coming to a private feeder for months and which is still there today. That was a tough decision, we really wanted to see that bird. Several Townsend’s Solitaires, two in Copper Harbor and one in Marquette were skipped due to time and distance. Two birds have apparently left, at least they have not been seen in a while, the Keweenaw Black-billed Magpie and the Munising Western Tanager. Two American Three-toed Woodpecker sites were also skipped due to difficulties of accessing them. So, we won some, lost some, and some were snowed out, but we had a wonderful trip and came home with ten target birds for our Michigan and Midwest Regional lists. We met some very nice people, saw some beautiful country and winter weather, and had some very good food. As a bonus, on the way home we stopped at an anti
que store southeast of Bruce Crossing where Maggie found a beautiful Victorian pitcher. At home our yard was covered with about six inches of snow, our first snow of this winter. 
 
Maggie and I wish to thank those most responsible for the success of our trip: Gary Campbell, Greg Cleary, David Pavlik, Russ Hansen, Joe Kaplan, Louie Taccolini, and  Kitt Wulf. We made a trip to the Keweenaw this past October also and wish to thank Art Weaver and Gary Campbell for their help with that trip, too. Much of the information we received in October was used on this trip, especially in the Baraga area. Thank you all. 
 
We hope to be back in a couple months. 
 
Byron K. Butler
Chesterton, Porter Co., Indiana  
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