A male pine grosbeak is pictured. (Scot Stewart photo)

“While it is February, one can taste the full joys of anticipation. Spring stands at the gate with her finger on the latch.” — Patience Strong

February has already become a wonder for the unexpected sights in Marquette this year! Over the past week swimmers in Lake Superior, roller skaters, wind surfers, busy boat landings on Lake Superior with fishermen and fisher women heading out to try their luck, a male runner wearing only shorts and shoes, and a pair of cat (on a leash) walkers on Presque Isle, and lots of bike path walkers in T-shirts and shorts have all been spotted taking advantage of the unseasonable weather. Fog has also reappeared, creating some serious traffic problems in the area as well.

Wildlife, usually taking shelter from cold temperatures and deep snow has also been more active lately. Signs and sightings of both raccoons and striped skunks picked up last weekend with the warmer temperatures and bare lawns in Marquette. Eastern chipmunks are usually still hibernating for a few more weeks. They were also seen last Sunday and Monday

In the natural world warm weather continues to create unusual occurrences across Upper Peninsula too. On the Dead River in Marquette, there has been more trumpeter swan activity both above and below Tourist Park, with two pairs showing up there. A pair has been seen irregularly there in recent weeks, including right at the mouth of the Dead until a walker with a dog showed up. They moved back on the west side of the Lakeshore Blvd. bridge. The second pair showed up Tuesday farther upstream from the Tourist Park Lake and joined the first pair there with a joint chorus of loud trumpeting.

Trumpeter pairs (same one?) have made irregular stops of the Dead River for several years, frequently in March but more frequently in the past two years. They seem to know the ropes for finding food and are not very shy, swimming up to locations where feeders are present along the river, and even swimming up to observers on the shore, possibly looking for food. Last fall three tundra swans also showed up in the “marshes” between the bridges over Co. Rd. 550 and Lakeshore Shore Blvd. There have not been any signs of nesting by swans on the river, but they have become quite familiar with that stretch.

Several species of birds have also become more vocal this past week. In Marquette both northern cardinals and mourning doves have begun singing in the early morning hours. House finches are sometimes one of the earliest to begin singing here, but with their numbers down a bit, they are a bit more difficult to find this winter.

A number of winter guests continues at sights across the region. Large flocks of pine siskins, frequently mixing with American goldfinches continue in Marquette and parts of Delta County, occasionally in groups over 100. The siskins are mostly brown with streaked breasts, small heads, and varying marked wing bars and tail feathers, sometimes beige, sometimes bright yellow. Male goldfinches are beginning to molt into their brighter yellow plumage. Both have been seeking out black-oil sunflower seeds but have turned to thistle seed when other feeders are busy.

The siskins are excitable birds, often exhibiting threat behavior when other birds approach to closely and flushing from feeders and the ground regularly at the slightest noise or movement. Blue jays in particular create a stir in the flocks, causing them to flush, and wait at the edges of the feeders until the jays leave. Small groups of pine grosbeaks have been popping up more frequently in the eastern U.P. too.

In both Delta and Marquette Counties, Cooper’s hawks have been seen. These hawks are about the size of a crow and feed almost exclusively on other birds up to the size of rock pigeons, the local pigeon in the Upper Peninsula. In Marquette, one was seen hunting near dusk along the hillside north of Lakeshore Blvd. near Mattson Park last Monday night.

They and their smaller relatives, the sharp-shinned hawks will hunt in towns where there are better concentrations of birds. Both hawks belong to a group called accipiters. They have moderately broad wings and fly with their tail feathers folded in slightly. Their flight pattern often involves an alteration of flapping and gliding.

A rare winter visitor, a varied thrush, has been visiting a residence near the Marquette-Alger County line. It’s either a female or juvenile. Most the winter on the west side of the Rockies. They do travel as far north as Alaska and northwestern Canada in summer but are for the most part solitary except during breeding season and occasionally to forage on the ground where food is abundant. Most reports of birds east of the Rockies in winter are of single birds. Their plumage has colors similar to robins, but they are smaller and sleeker.

Owls have shown up in a few places the past two weeks to the delight of birders too. There have been just a few new sightings of snowy owls in the far eastern part of the U.P. between Pickford and the Soo. Occasionally barred owls can be seen at dusk hunting along M-35 between Menominee and Ford River where one was seen recently. Another was found on Presque Island this past week. They often near the edges of openings looking for rodents, rabbits and hares, and some birds during the winter months. With hope, some cooler temperatures and snow will bring things back to something closer to normal for birds and people.

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