A bluejay is pictured. (Scot Stewart photo)

“You only need to sit still long enough in some attractive spot in the woods that all its inhabitants may exhibit themselves to you by turns.” – Henry David Thoreau

Bumblebees, American lady butterflies, fidgety squirrels, hungry warblers and maybe a huge flock of blue jays may make their way through a place in the woods of the Upper Peninsula now in late May. This in the days before the onslaught of black flies and mosquitoes descend on these places. Sitting just about anywhere, from the front yard to the open areas at Presque Isle, to a secret place deep in the woods will be rewarding in these borderline days where spring seems to be touching on the coattails of summer.

In Marquette, the dandelions seem to be visited each and every moment by bumblebees, American ladies and red admiral butterflies, and on those recent warmer days them seem to move at hyper speeds to find the next flower full of nectar. Winding through them a garter snake may be hunting to for its next meal. Squirrels are a given in the U.P. just about any time of year, but May is courting, birthing and showing off new young.

Bird migration has pushed on across the entire U.P. as May has continued. Those warmer days, like the one experienced a week ago last Friday, bring new birds northward and often push migrants in the area farther along on their way. Those warm days with south winds balance well with stormy weather days. As some new migrants and vagrants, birds blown off course or just wandering, arrive at a new location, they may linger long enough to get a notice from some of the many fine birders out following their movements this month.

Several new arrivals in Marquette this week have moved up to the area north of the normal northern boundaries of their range. A loggerhead shrike was found on the Dead River near the Co., Rd. 550 bridge Tuesday and a second was reported in White City, in Houghton County. Their normal range extends only into central Michigan and Wisconsin.

A young male orchard oriole was found at the mouth of the Dead River this past Wednesday morning. Their summer range is remarkably similar to loggerhead shrike’s. Both do occasionally wander into the U.P., usually in springtime, and they all invariably disappear, presumably to head back south for the summer. Another orchard oriole was found singing in Rumley, in Alger County last Tuesday.

Because there are a number of active birders out daily in Marquette many great species get seen multiple times and occasionally those looking for earlier sightings come across new species at the older sites. Despite the continuing work at the mouth of the Dead River in Marquette, there have been a number of great birds seen there this spring. Trumpeter swans, an American avocet, and recently a black-bellied plover were seen there by birders. Later on Wednesday a northern mockingbird was also spotted near the river mouth.

Mockingbirds often show up in northern Marquette County, usually near the Lake Superior shoreline. They are yet another example of a species usually found farther south wandering up to the northern side of the U.P. only to leave soon after,

The southern tier of U.P. counties is usually first to note the newly arrived and at places like Peninsula Point in Delta County on Lake Michigan new arrivals are close to peaking. Last Tuesday a birder recorded sightings of 75 different species. The list included many species that have been seen already this spring, but this was the first day list filed on eBird with over 70 species and sixteen different warblers.

It was one of several reports from the southern U.P. with a red-eyed vireo too. The other highlight on the list was a mother American woodcock with at least four newly hatched young in tow. Like chickens and ducks many shorebirds are precocious — young hatched fully feathered, ready to run and even swim shortly after hatching. This family drew attention as the mother drove off a red squirrel.

These squirrels are omnivorous and will occasionally eat bird eggs and young. A lark sparrow, yet another species north of its normal range was found singing at the point on Tuesday.

Shorebirds are beginning to trickle through the area too. A few are being seen daily at the mouth of the AuTrain River, in Alger County. Spotted, semipalmated, and least sandpipers killdeer, semipalmated plovers, and dunlin are all being seen in small numbers there. A flock of 50 dunlin were seen flying past Presque Isle in Marquette on Monday.

These are striking sandpipers, with long bills, plump bodies and distinctive black belly patches. The Lower Harbor breakwall in Marquette should be a good place to look for shorebirds in the next few weeks as the midge hatch there has begun.

Clouds of midges, many bloodworms, maturing at the edges of the breakwall will be hovering over the rocks and concrete and landing on the surfaces. This bounty of insects will attract plovers and sandpipers along the structure and swallows swooping overhead to catch flying insects on the wing.

One of the biggest events this week in May for those watching everything outside at the right time is blue jay migration. Flocks, some very large are heading to Canada.

In Marquette, 250 were seen over Presque Isle on Sunday and at Whitefish Point a flock of 500 on May 21 and on May 20 and estimated flock of 1000 was seen. Relax, sit and see what comes your way!

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