Thank you for waking me up. A warm good morning, after sweet dreams of last night, wish you a good day with good morning. — Unknown

The sounds of morning are the ticket to true happiness in June! Migration has wound down to just a few late arrivals, mostly a few shorebirds. Sanderlings and spotted sandpipers have been seen at the mouth of the Dead River this week, suggesting they are still on the move north, An American pipit was also seen with them. The focus now is turning to songsters and young of the year. The morning chorus of all the males singing on territory can be just amazing, whether it is just in town, with robins, mourning doves, cardinals, house wrens, red-eyed vireos, American redstarts, and song sparrows, or along some of the brushy creeks like the Carp, Escanaba, or Yellow Dog, with veeries and hermit thrushes, winter wrens, white-throated sparrows, blue-headed vireos, Nashville warblers, yellow warblers, common yellowthroats, and others.

The parades of young have also begun. Fuzzy, yellow, young Canada geese first appeared over two weeks ago as mallards and other ducks sat on their nests. On Wednesday residents of the Dead River above the Tourist Park saw the first line of hooded merganser chicks chug down the river. At least nine young were seen following the female as she took them to a good, quiet site to feed. As bald eagles, merlins and sharp-shinned hawks and other predators patrol the river regularly they are always on alert.

Birders have some great opportunities to see warblers right now. The Peshekee Grade is always a great place to bird through all four seasons. Besides the boreal specialties — black-backed woodpeckers, boreal chickadees, Canada jays winter finches, and occasional spruce grouse, it is the summer home of a number of great warblers, northern parula, ovenbirds, magnolia, blackburnian, Cape May, black-throated blue, Nashville, and others.

Kate’s Grade-Ross’s Grade in southern Marquette County off County Road 438 might possible be the best place to go warbler hunting this summer. Last Wednesday on an early two- and one-half-hour excursion a birder found 20 species of warblers along the grade southwest of Gwinn. Along with all the warblers mentioned above except the black-throated blue, blackpoll, golden-winged and Tennessee warblers were among the variety seen. Also seen were rose-breasted grosbeaks, purple finches, winter wrens and yellow-bellied flycatchers. A wood thrush was heard too.

The area around Kate’s Grade is relatively undeveloped, squeezed in between Gwinn and Ralph, north of Arnold, Felch, and Theodore. It is one of the richest areas for town names too! The stretch along Co. Rd. 438 also contains several MDNR G.E.M.s Grouse Enhanced Management sites. These areas have had forest improvements to provide better cover and food for ruffed grouse.

The Kate’s Grade area also includes the West Branch of the Escanaba River and Bryan’s Creek, and a section containing a good chunk of boreal type forest of spruce, tamarack, and some aspen. The mix of this variety is what provides for the needs of so many warblers. Eastern wood-pewees, yellow-bellied sapsuckers, a black-billed cuckoo, and sandhill cranes have also been seen down there recently.

There are some bird species that seem to be more common this summer in the central Upper Peninsula. Common grackles lead the way with literally dozens of them working through the various neighborhoods in Marquette. They began nesting across town several years ago and now seem to be seen on almost every block. With them, one lone, lingering common redpoll has also visited feeders in Marquette this past week.

Blue jays also seem to be uncommonly prevalent throughout much of the central U.P. too. They have become regulars at many feeders across Marquette too. What seems to be most prominent is how vocal they are. They are almost always heard before they are seen.

Crows also seem to be everywhere this spring, feeding along roadsides, in fields and on the tails of bald eagles and other raptors. Last week in some open wetlands east of Big Bay a bald eagle carrying something in its talons was being pursued, or at least driven off by five crows. Another eagle, this one in Marquette, was also being driven off, that time by a single crow not satisfied with its work until it had pursued the eagle nearly half a mile.

Birds becoming even more difficult to find include chimney swifts, and all the swallows. One family of swifts was here early in May over Marquette, but they have not been easy to come by since. A pair of tree swallow was seen downtown Big Bay last week, but they too are difficult to find in Marquette.

A few cliff swallows are being seen in Chocolay Township and more at farm building with barn swallows in Chatham, building nests under the barn eves. Just a few barn swallows are being seen in the Lower Harbor in Marquette along the breakwall when the midge hatch are occurring. Both cliff and barn swallows have been seen at the mouth of the Dead River too. Both species have nested around the Dead River bridge but there too numbers have dropped. In Marquette Township, bank swallows used to be regular nesters in the sand piles near the commercial district, but they too have disappeared.

With all the ups and downs, it is definitely one of the best times to see and hear all that early summer has to offer for the birds here this summer!

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