A red-breasted merganser is pictured. (Scot Stewart photo)

“Spring: a lovely reminder of how beautiful change can truly be.” –Unknown

Just a few raindrops, a few warmer days, and presto, it seems like the season moved to a whole different level, with green grass, willow trees full of bright yellow flowers, quaking aspen leaves dancing in the glory of their pastel greens and tiny deep forest green leaves just beginning to open next to bright red maple flowers. Each day over 50F brings more noticeable changes to the vegetation and definitely new assortments of birds, butterlies, and other animals.

The second week of May is usually a phenomenal time for birding in the Upper Peninsula. Migration continues to speed up in places like Peninsula Point at the tip of the Stonington Peninsula where birders are catching up with over 80+ species on recent outings, just a week after 60+ species had been found there. In the past few years May has seen a stopover of large flocks of both diving and dabbling ducks.

This past week it was difficult to estimate the actual number of ducks between the Picnic Rocks and Presque Isle on Lake Superior in Marquette, but it was in the hundreds. Around feeder stations the glorious week has arrived when hummingbirds, orioles, indigo buntings, and rose-breasted grosbeaks all arriving for the summer.

Peninsula Point has become a favorite spring visit over the past dozen years or so for a large number of individuals discovering the number and diversity of birds on days when favorable winds have pushed large numbers of birds along the Lake Michigan shore up Wisconsin’s Door Peninsula, and across the stretch of open water between Wisconsin and Michigan. Eventually days will come when over 100 species can be seen there on a warm day.

On those days 25+ species of warblers can be seen gleaning insects like midges from the cedar trees at the point. Three or four scarlet tanagers may be seen, occasionally in the company of a summer or western tanagers. Six Baltimore orioles, showing off their brilliant orange breasts may be looking for the orange halves placed there to recharge the weary birds. Three or four red-headed woodpeckers and a handful of indigo buntings may also be spotted.

A week ago early morning birders were treated to a huge expanse of Lake Superior stretching out almost quarter of a mile dotted with hundreds of ducks. Although most were out to the point where a spotting scope was needed to clearly identify species like the scaups and teals, there were plenty of chases and moving flocks to make the observations very interesting. Lesser and greater scaup, blue-winged teals, and bufflehead made up the majority of the ducks, but a few redheads and other species were in the mix. A sizeable number of double-crested cormorants were also mixed in.

As the majority of ducks move on birders have learned to look in the nooks and crannies of Marquette’s harbors for a few birds that do not head out with the main flocks. A pair of red-breasted mergansers were found in the Upper Harbor near the Marina that day, and they may have already been there before the large flock arrived, but they definitely liven up the shoreline where they will feed before heading to summer nesting sites.

They do next in a very wide variety of habitats, mostly in Canada, Alaska and even Greenland. They do spend summers in the northern part of the western Great Lakes and a few isolated sites in New England and Maine.Their primary food is fish, but they will eat aquatic invertebrates. They may make up to 300 dives a day to get the twenty or so fish and crayfish they need.

Another duck was found in the Lower Harbor just south of the ore dock. It was a male ruddy duck. While they do nest in the Lower Great Lakes, their primary range is mostly in the Central Plains up into Canada. Male ruddy ducks are mostly chestnut colored with black caps, white cheeks and undertail coverts (patches under the start of the tails). Breeding males have bright robin-egg blue bills, changing to black in fall. This male was seen feeding near the longer walking pier, but moved over to the pilings near the ore dock to rest.

Northward migration of many songbirds seems to be stretched out a little more this spring, at least through the Mississippi Flyway and for birds moving north through areas just east. Many birds, like ruby-throated hummingbirds have appeared in very small numbers so far, making their arrival all the more tantalizing.Ruby-throated hummingbirds had appeared in some larger numbers across the central U.P., with a bunch rolling in earlier this week as UPBirders listserve began to light up last weekend, through Tuesday. Similarly, species like sandpipers, warblers, and white-throated sparrows have also appeared in small numbers, in many spots.

This past week highlighted two more unusual bird species seen in the area. In Marquette a Eurasian tree sparrow showed up at a home in north Marquette recently. Another sighting came early this week in Harvey. It is not possible to tell if it was the same bird or not. They appear in Marquette occasionally.

One was in Marquette on east Arch Street last fall and five were seen downtown in Marquette around ten years ago. They were introduced into the St Louis area in 1870, and while most have stayed in the general area, a few do wander.

The other was a white-faced ibis seen recently at a retention pond on the west side of Escanaba. It’s a large wading bird from the west. Most rare here. Watch the changes keep coming!

EDITOR’S NOTE: Scot Stewart is naturalist at the MooseWood Nature Center, a writer and photographer.