— John Burroughs

Winter has already a week of experience in hand. Of course, it has been rehearsing since early November, but it has already expressed its prowess. Most all of the local ponds and lakes are frozen over leaving the local waterfowl with limited access to quieter waters. While many mallards, black ducks, common goldeneyes, red-breasted and common mergansers can all occasionally to head out onto Lake Superior, the rivers — Carp, Chocolay and Dead, along with a few smaller creeks, provide most of the feeding and resting areas for them during the daytime.

With a number of residents providing seed for a wide variety of species along the rivers, there is usually lots of food for the blacks and mallards, and plenty of company and watching eyes for the divers. One of the best public sites to see the ducks and a great variety of other wildlife like mink, river otters, beaver and bald eagles is the dead end of Granite Street on the Dead River in north Marquette. Upwards of 550 mallards can be seen there at certain parts of each day and with them a continuing array of other species.

A few black ducks are usually mixed in with the mallards and a several male goldeneyes and a female or two are usually foraging in the area too. They spread out along the entire stretch of river visible, so binoculars are very helpful for sorting through the swimmers and ducks resting on the ice along the river’s edge to check the varied assortment of ducks plus look for the possibility of a rarity or two. At least two male wood ducks are currently hanging out with the flock and later in the winter American wigeons, northern pintails, green-winged teal, canvasbacks and even a few trumpeter swans may join the ducks.

Scot Stewart

A least one river otter has also been seen along the river several times lately, and last Saturday a beaver made several appearances right off the end of Granite. The ducks often offer tips about the whereabout of the mammals by creating loud choruses of quacks, and occasion mass flights of groups of others leave small areas where otters and the herbivorous beaver are cruising. Bald eagles make occasional passes over the water looking for injured or ill birds. Great horned owls also live in the area and may be on the lookout for smaller birds, mink and other animals especially late in the day.

Marquette’s northern hawk owl has continued to hunt on the east side in the former composting area. It is frequently seen perched atop trees in the fenced-in block. Viewing from the perimeter has become more challenging with the ongoing work on Lakeshore Blvd., the closed road sections due to rocks washed up on the roadway and bike path and now the truck traffic bringing collecting snow from city roadways being dumped at the east end of Wright Street.

Last Sunday the hawk owl left a perch atop one of the hills in the southeast corner of the enclosed site and circled westward out over the fence only to be intercepted by a single crow. The crow began a pursuit driving the owl back into the enclosure to perch in a thick stand of poplar trees. The crow landed above it but left after four or five minutes and the owl moved to a perch near the center of the rectangle to continue hunting.

There was also an interesting apparent hybrid discovered at a feeding station in Trowbridge during the Marquette Christmas Bird Count on Dec. 14. What appeared to be a cross between a white-throated sparrow and a dark-eyed junco was found on a feeder next to a residence. The bird had a white throat, white epaulettes, rusting marking on its primary feathers, a grayish body and a pink bill. Hybrids involving these two species apparently are not exceedingly rare as the Sibley Guide to Birds has an illustration of this bird on the white-throated sparrow page. No sightings of the hybrid have been reported since Dec. 14.

As start of winter came last Saturday, the weather has definitely tempered a bit, with relative mild temperatures and only light snow, giving birds a bit of a break on conditions and keeping some of the rivers more open. It just takes a slight change in the weather or a unique sighting to get birders back into serious winter birding mode though. On Dec. 21, a birder in Skandia reported a quartet of pine grosbeaks at their residence. The sighting immediately set birders into motion checking mountain ash and crab apple trees in the area watching for other grosbeaks and the cedar waxwings seen at several sites lately including the north side of Marquette. Early on in winter, both birds often seek out trees with smaller fruits. Crab apple trees at the Marquette County courthouse are among the first waxwings and grosbeaks tend to feed in upon arrival to the area.

It is a great time with the holidays to get outside, especially since the days are so short, and see some of the beauty of what seems the longest, but quietest season of snowflakes, icicles and winter wonder lands.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Scot Stewart is a teacher at Bothwell Middle School in Marquette and a freelance photographer.