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What’s Flying: May brings a certain sweetness

A male ruby-throated hummingbird is shown. (Scot Stewart photo)

“When April steps aside for May, like diamonds all the rain-drops glisten; fresh violets open every day; to some new bird each hour we listen.” —  Lucy Larcom

May has brought a sweetness to the Upper Peninsula, the embracing warmth of warm winds, the subtle aromas of warming soil and maybe, just maybe the sweetness of a few flowers. It has brought the continuing sound of geese and cranes off somewhere in the distance overhead or in a hidden bend in the swamp or river to join in with the choruses of wood frogs and spring peepers. It has brought a flood of color — reds of red-headed woodpeckers and rose-breasted grosbeaks, crimson hummingbird bibs, blue bodies of indigo buntings and backs of black-throated blue warblers, the yellows of nearly a dozen other warblers, and even a bit of orange of blackburnian warblers and a Baltimore oriole that popped up in Manistique on Tuesday. How could anyone not love May?

Willow blossoms began opening late last week and between May 6th in Gwinn and May 10th in Copper Harbor, ruby-throated hummingbirds had nearly made it across the U.P. Males were first to arrive but with the stretch of 70-degree temperatures across most of the area, the females will be right behind.

At Whitefish Point sandhill crane migration has continued with 97 seen this past Monday and nearly 243 on Tuesday pushing the total to nearly 13,000 for the season. White-winged scoters started a big movement on Tuesday and Wednesday with the exceptionally warm weather and sharp-shinned hawks finally got some bigger number this past week with 311 counted on the hawk platform in the dunes there and more than 1,250 on Tuesday raising the total for the season to more than 5,870 for the spring migration at the Point. Broad-winged hawks (nearly 4000 this spring) and common loons (over 2,000) have also had good showings at the Point. Wednesday saw the first big push of shorebirds there with eight species seen.

As would be expected, warbler migration is still beginning to ramp up. The latest sightings have included ovenbird. Northern parula, black-throated blue, blackburnian, black and white, common yellowthroat, Cape May, American redstart, and more Nashville, black-throated green, yellow-rumped, pine and yellow warblers. One huge surprise though, was a yellow-throated warbler seen in Ishpeming May 4. Cornell’s range map, https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Yellow-throated_Warbler/maps-range does not include Michigan and only a tiny bit of Wisconsin along the Illinois border. It is distinguished by its bright yellow throat and black cheeks and eye-stripe. One was seen last year along the Dead River in Marquette, but U.P. sightings are usually quite rare.

A second, equally exciting warbler that reached the southern U.P. on Wednesday was a hooded warbler. After wintering in Central America, they return to most of the eastern U.S. except New England/Maine and the Great Lakes Region. Their ranges just touches a small part of southern Wisconsin and southern Michigan. The males’ black hoods stand in sharp contrast to their bright yellow bodies. One arrived at the tip of the Stonington in Delta County on Wednesday with a great flock of spring migrants that included shorebirds like dowitchers and dunlin and songbirds like warblers, vireos, dickcissels, and red-headed woodpeckers. This weekend should provide great birding there and at other points of land like Portage Point in Escanaba.

There are plenty of less flashy but most welcome migrants too — eastern phoebes, least flycatchers, chipping, vesper, clay-colored sparrows, brown thrashers, gray catbirds, northern flickers, purple finches, sedge and house wrens, red-eyed and blue-headed vireos, yellow-bellied sapsuckers, tree, barn and rough-winged swallows, and thrushes. It seems like every new report contains information about another new arrival. Their return does seem to be well timed with the warmer temperatures and the emergence of insects. Along Lake Michigan between Escanaba and Menominee there have been prodigious swarms of midges – enough to actually make seeing through the windshield driving longer distances a challenge because of their collection on the glass.

Thrushes are truly welcome summer residents. The most common is the hermit thrush, distinctive with its rusty tail. A few Swainson’s thrushes will be staying in the U.P. to nest too. Their melodic songs at dusk often help settle forest dwellers down for the night ahead. Gray-cheeked thrushes pass through on their migration from the Amazon Basin to the northern half of the boreal forest in Canada and Alaska.

One other thrush occasionally seen In the U.P. is the wood thrush. After wintering in most of Central America, they return to a summer range that includes nearly all the eastern U.S. except southern Florida and Louisiana, and most of Minnesota. While the entire U.P. is included in its summer range, it is rarely seen here except during spring migration. Like most thrushes they are more frequently heard than seen, and for thrushes that is definitely a good thing. Thrushes, thrashers, catbirds and other birds using the cover of bushes to hide while singing need strong, often melodic songs to attract a mate The wood thrush song is particularly spectacular – it starts with a “ee-oh-lay”, but the ending contains a special self-duet as it sings two notes simultaneously from two parts of it syrinx, or voice box. The note sounds almost mechanical and unlike any other North American bird.

With the warm spell this week, bird migration will ramp up in a hurry, and with the upcoming explosion of new leaves coming soon bird watching will be at its best right now!

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

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