A northern cardinal sits in a pine tree. (Scot Stewart photo)

“Life is the blossoming of flowers in the spring, the ripening of fruit in the fall, the rhythm of the earth ad of nature. Life is the cry of cicadas signaling the end of summer, migratory birds winging south in a transparent autumn sky, fish frolicking in a stream. Life is the joy beautiful music instills in us, the thrilling sight of a mountain peak reddening by the rising sun, the myriad combinations and permutations of visible and invisible phenomena. Life is all things.” — Daisaku Ikeda

Birders are using the m-word with regularity. Migration seems to be revving up for a number of bird species. Although it is only the second week of August, a number of Upper Peninsula have already noted changes in the birds seen, the absence of others, changes in the feeding behavior of many, the late songs of some birds, and the fluctuations in the individual numbers of some species seen. The dingy gray smoke from Canadian fires has provided many sunrises and sunsets dabbling Sugarloaf and Hogback in subtle shades of carmine-orange, and often yellow-orange clouds singeing the mid-day sky.

Daisaku Ikeda is a 95-year-old Japanese philosopher and while the date of his quote is not known, it came from within the past six or seven decades. The changes this summer though have come from a much more recent time. Current fires in Canada have much to do with all the current observations, being described as ones to expect regularly now.

Cicadas have begun calling signaling summer’s draw-down, but most days the sky is anything but transparent. Nashville and Cape May warblers have been seen in small flocks in Big Bay and Marquette with few notes about having completed their brood raising activities here or simply lost their summer nesting territory and are heading back south. Local reports have come with numerous notes of the sights and sounds of young American redstart, black-throated blue, black-throated green, and Nashville warblers around Marquette and in the Pictured Rocks. Young bobolinks have been spotted with flocks of red-winged blackbirds in Delta County.

On the breakwall in the Lower Harbor of Marquette, semipalmated, Baird’s and least sandpipers have been regular visitors for more than a week in small groups, usually singles or pairs of individuals. Similar observations have come from Whitefish Point in Chippewa County where lesser yellowlegs, Bonaparte’s gulls, least and solitary sandpipers have joined resident piping plovers and killdeers on the beach. The shorebirds and gulls would all be presumed to be southbound migrants. The beach at the mouth of the AuTrain River checked regularly early in the morning for waterbirds, eagles and others and semipalmated plovers, least and semipalmated sandpipers were all see there last Saturday, but none were present this past Wednesday morning. While still irregular, there are some distinct signs shorebirds are on the move.

Feeders at many locations are extremely busy. In Marquette, several large families of blue jays continue to monopolize seed and suet feeders, and have been joined by brown thrashers, chickadees, downy, hairy, and pileated woodpeckers, growing numbers of house finches, a few late migrant common grackles, and a few European starlings. White-breasted nuthatches have also returned to some feeders.

Northern cardinals and mourning doves are also visiting many feeders in Marquette and seem to be ‘tweeners” of a different sort. Both species have brought young to sites where black-oil sunflower seed is present, but both also include singing males in the neighborhood. On the east side of Marquette, one male cardinal has been very vocal throughout the entire day, indicating he may have a mate incubating a new batch of eggs.

Several mourning doves in Marquette are also adding their owl-like “Who-ah, who, who, who,” to the daytime air. There do seem to be a number of birds either double clutching this summer or starting over. With the severe storms this summer it is altogether possible a sizeable number of birds may have lost nests or young and have nested again.

American goldfinches are also making a splash around patches of wild thistle across the area. One patch, located adjacent to the mitigation ponds at Presque Isle along Island Beach Road is maturing and had at least half a dozen males and females feeding on the seeds. Often tucked into the depth of the seed head clusters they can be nearly invisible. Thistles are extremely important to goldfinches throughout the entire year.

The downy tops are used to line nests, so the birds often wait until later in summer to begin nesting. The seeds then provide a substantial source of food through the nesting season and for the young fledglings. The goldfinches often flock to feeders in late fall and early winter to grab meals of thistle as they prepare for their migration or to add some extra fat for winter days.

There seem to be fewer sightings of turkey vultures this summer, but eight were spotted in Big Bay this week. Once extremely rare in the U.P. they have become more and more common, with groups roosting historically in Big Bay and in Christmas in Alger County. Warmer summers and plenty of roadkills have helped them expand their range northward over the last 30 years or so.

This year though there do not seem to be the same number of sightings, especially in the Marquette area where they have been seen soaring regularly throughout the summer months.

As the summer begins to wind down it is certain migration will ramp up. So will the number of changes coming to the world!

Scot Stewart is naturalist at the MooseWood Nature Center, a writer and photographer.