A Bohemian waxwing is pictured. (Scot Stewart photo)

“Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the new year.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

A little bit of winter has finally come to the Upper Peninsula to start the new year as there are signs of January with the temperatures begin to drop and a little snow has begun to appear. Birders enjoyed the milder condition during a number of Christmas Bird Counts recently and some of those results are still coming in.

At Cedarville the Les Cheneaux Island CBC was held December 20. The count tied the previous high of 42 species and featured some great highlights. A total of 150 wild turkeys were found, a new high and a high 55 red-breasted mergansers were also counted. Three different owl species were tallied, great horned, short-eared, and barred owls. The first two were new to this CBC as was an American kestrel also seen. Marquette’s CBC four days earlier had a species count of 48, a few below its record high. Both counts benefited from the open waters resulting from the mild early winter temperatures.

The weather may have also contributed to several other waterbird reports from Mackinac County this past week. At the Mackinac Bridge a large flock of redheads continued, although the numbers have dropped from an estimated 8000 several weeks ago to around 2000. Mute and tundra swans have also continued with a much smaller redhead flock of 250 at Pointe LaBarbe too. Four common grackles, late sightings, were also there January 2.

One of the better sightings occurring across the Upper Peninsula as the new year begins are sizeable flocks of bohemian waxwings. Flocks estimated between 200 and 300 have been seen at the Dunbar Forest in Chippewa County northeast of the town of Barbeau, Munising, and in Marquette. The Marquette flock has been in town for several weeks and has exhibited some unusual behavior, frequently landing in mountain ash trees, possibly grabbing a fruit or two, and then leaving quickly, like a touch and go landings at the airport.

Last Tuesday a group of around 250-300 circled over several trees on the east side of town, stopping at one tree then moving to another group of trees around 100 feet away. This group flew back and forth between those trees and several much taller bare maple trees nearby as can be the waxwings habit evidently feeling more secure at the higher set of perches while digesting the fruit.

Like a roller coaster, birds moved back and forth between the two sites for about twenty minutes before most of the flock left. Surprisingly, a group of about 50 continued there for a while, occasionally joined by a flock of a dozen robins before taking off and joining the rest of the group, all circling briefly before flying off. Many of these birds were juveniles, lacking the red and yellow spots on their wingtips.

This year produced a bumper crop of mountain ash fruits that have surprisingly hung on despite the number of robins and starling that remained in Marquette this fall. If the mountain ash fruit crop is depleted, the waxwing may remain in the area and turn to the smaller fruits on many of the crab apple trees in town.

A few cedar waxwings have also been seen in various places in the U.P. Slightly smaller than bohemian waxwings, the cedar waxwings have yellowish bellies and lack the chestnut patches on the face and underside of the rump the bohemian waxwings. They are summer U.P. residents and nesters, but usually migrate farther south for winter. Several have been seen near Paradise in Chippewa County and one was reported this week in Ahmeek in Keweenaw County.

Another good sighting this new year in Marquette has been a continuing northern shrike. This robin-sized visitor from the far north is a predator, hunting small rodents and birds. Shrike sightings have been noted along the Dead River downstream from the Co. Rd. 550 bridge and more recently near the athletic fields in Beaver Grove south of Marquette. It is impossible to tell if it is the same bird or two different ones in the area.

A more unusual bird also showed up along the Dead River several times this past week too. A ruby-crowned kinglet, a small olive colored bird with an occasionally visible red stripe on the top of its head, white and black wing markings and incomplete eye rings has been seen near Schneider Mill Court. Its usual winter range is across the southern states, the Pacific Coast, and the Rocky Mountains. Some of the best clues to identify it are its tiny size, smaller than a chickadee and the habit of flicking its wings. Normally an insect eater, this Marquette kinglet is eating small, unidentified food morsels at a feeding station along the river, and possibly small insects near the water’s edge when the temperatures reach close to the freezing point.

This kinglet may be imitating the feeding habits of its relative, the golden-crowned kinglet, a sometimes-winter-resident in the area, one that has been seen in a number of places this season. These kinglets feed on overwintering insect larvae living on the branches of poplar trees.

Two other species moving around the Marquette area are good numbers of American goldfinches and some purple finches. Flocks of goldfinches reaching 40 have visited feeders in town and the purple finches have popped up with them occasionally too. 2024 is off to a good start in many places for birds already!

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