A red crossbill is shown. (Scot Stewart photo)

“At home, I love reaching out into that absolute silence, when you can hear the owl or the wind.” — Amanda Harlech

This week it is possible to hear both. Storms, yes, but January for many is the month of owls. While the woods are uncommonly quiet on windless nights, the sounds of owls can ring out as they begin their early efforts to establish territories for their late winter territorial claims. Owls are among the first to begin nesting across the U.S. They can start as early as February in the Lower Great Lakes.

January sends many birders to a number of great spots in the Upper Peninsula. Two are more specific locations to see species hard to find elsewhere in the Upper Great Lakes, the area east of I-75 between Sault Ste. Marie and Pickford in Chippewa County, and – the Peshekee (Huron Bay) Grade – County Road 607 along the Marquette-Baraga County line past the McCormick Wilderness.

Sault Ste. Marie (the Soo) lies at the east end of Lake Superior along a natural pathway for birds in the tundra and boreal forest that are heading south in the winter. When food sources are in short supply, snow buntings, pine grosbeaks, northern shrikes, owls, rough-legged hawks, and other species flock south and many find the forests, semirural locales, and open, old agricultural fields good foraging areas. In some places, Mackinac Island horses are pastured and fed during the wintertime, leaving large amounts of hay spread. Seeds can attract seed-eaters, and rodent hunters, like the predators looking for mice and voles also drawn to these areas.

For a number of consecutive years now, solid numbers of snowy owls have wintered in this corridor. Multiple reports are comeing into eBird, https://ebird.org/region/US-MI-033/activity, each weekend from birders from across the Midwest driving the backroads. Recent reports have also included two other species of owls, a barred owl near Dunbar location, and a much rarer northern hawk owl. Barred owls are fairly common year-round residents in northern Michigan and are easy to distinguish at close range with their dark brown eyes and barred chest markings. Their call is the familiar, “Who cooks for you?”

The northern hawk owl is a smaller hunter, active day and night. A normal winter usually finds just one or two in the corridor. A few northern saw-whet owls are being heard near the town of Barbeau and to the west in the Paradise area. These tiny owls prefer thicker vegetation found in cedar swamps and other conifer stands. Some years, the large, great gray owls appear in the corridor, on Sugar Island or on the Canadian side, but these sightings have been rare in recent years.

Northern shrikes and rough-legged hawks have also been regulars seen there this year. Winter also provides better views of grouse, and sharp-tails have been reported commonly this winter too, especially at the south end of Chippewa County. Backroads in this part of the U.P. can be slippery in winter and are subject to drifting because of the open terrain, so clear sky sunny weekends are good choices for making a trip there.

Birders have had great luck working along the Peshekee Grade, as it follows its namesake river, for the past year. It is well known for its boreal species, boreal chickadees, Canada jays, black-backed woodpeckers, and in winter, finches – white-winged and red crossbills, common and hoary redpolls. Last year a small feeding station was developed at the McCormick Wilderness parking lot and trailhead. Boreal chickadees were seen there regularly. Near the start of the trail black-backed woodpeckers were also seen frequently.

This year has been an exceptional year for white-winged crossbills. This ebird link at https://ebird.org/region/US-MI-103/activity provides reports for all of Marquette County, including the Peshekee area. On January 3, some amazing pictures were taken by a birder of crossbills gritting — eating sand and grit along the shoulder of the road to aid in the digestion of seeds. One image shows a male picking up a grain of sand with its tongue as the crossed tips of the bill evidently are not able to grab small objects on the ground. The specialized bills have evolved to poke into cones of spruces, tamaracks and hemlock, spread the bracts apart, and extract the seeds with their tongues. The chickadees, jays and red crossbills, pine grosbeaks have already been reported this month, the woodpeckers were last reported in mid-December.

A third place birders, local and visiting, have been checking for good birds is a little different. It is the widespread, dispersed crab apple and mountain ash trees of the area. Hundreds of these fruited trees in Marquette can make a trip around town an adventure, looking for cedar and bohemian waxwings, pine grosbeaks, robins and even an occasional Townsend’s solitaire are possible. The bohemian waxwings and pine grosbeaks descend from the Canada, robins, lingerers from summer, and the Townsend’s solitaires, thrushes wandering from the west to the area in some winters. A solitaire was found in north Marquette near the Dead River this past week. If conditions are right, they can remain in the area for days or even months during the winter, much to the delight of birders. Even rarer, some tanagers may also pass through. A western tanager was found in a mountain ash tree in Munising for a couple days several year ago, attracting dozens of birders from downstate and even Canada. So, pick a spot and do some fun winter birding for owls and other great winter visitors.

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