Day 2: March 8, 2009

The time change meant that we had gained an hour in the middle of the night. We got up early, had breakfast and headed out for our first day of dedicated birding. As the sun was rising in the clear blue skies we drove down to the the areas we had scouted the evening before. Driving slowly along the country road we paused and scanned the tree lines for our next target. After waiting a while we decided to drive a little further and turn onto a a side road to look in the next field. a quarter mile down the road I pulled the Tahoe to the side of the road and killed the engine. There it was, on the top of broken tree, just below the treeline.

Our Great Gray Owl. Silent and still it perched on the snag as the sun broke the horizon and spotlit this elusive boreal forest visitor. Its round facial disc, white mustache and bright yellow eyes stared at us across the fifty yard wide field and then seemed to care less that we were there.

As the sun began to rise we watched her bask in the warmth of the morning light occasionally looking straight at us and turning her head around to peer into the woods behind or the field below.





Smaller birds, chickadees and field sparrows, fluttered about in the scrub below as the silent hunter watched from her perch. Lifebird #2. As we watched, a flock of seven sharp tailed grouse wandered across the road in front of use before bursting into flight as I tried to slowly get out of the Tahoe to get a few better pictures. Lifebird #3. All of this before the sun had been up for an hour! It was going to be stellar day if this was just the beginning. We watched the owl for a little while more until it finally decided that it was tired of being out in the open. It spread its wings and descended to a lower branch in the woods behind it where it blended into the trees so well that if you took your eyes off of it for a second, it was invisible. We decided to start moving again and drove to the end of the road to turn around. Another sharp tailed grouse was spotted at the top of a tree as another carload of birders came slowly down the road and asked if we had seen the owl. Disappointed that they had missed it we offered to take the back to the area to try to help them find it in the trees. It took a few minutes to find it again. After about 10 minutes all of them had found here and we decided to move on.


We were driving down the country roads slowly while looking for other birds. Sharp tailed grouse were spotted in fields and along the sides of barns in the bright white snow. Three wild turkeys decided to cross the road in front of us affording great looks at them as they wandered off into the pines. On the top of a power pole we spotted a rough legged hawk and watched as it took flight and soared over the snowy landscape. It was a beautiful morning to be out in the field even though it was only 16 degrees. We drove on without a single car passing us for almost another hour. Redpolls seemed to be everywhere we looked; on the road, in trees and flying in small flocks as we startled them from their feeding. Clear blue skies and chilly temperatures didn't matter on this drive-by birding trip.

Following directions from an internet post we made our way to an area where another northern rarity had been spotted since January. We crept along the road until a car was behind us and I pulled over to let it pass. It was the birders we had shown the owl to. They waved and turned onto the road ahead, parked and all four jumped out of the vehicle. At the top of a tree, there it was: boreal forest owl #3 - a Northern Hawk Owl. A large broken branch was stuck into the snow bank by the side of the road as I took photos of this amazing bird at the top of the tree. I pulled in behind the other guys as one of them placed a fresh mouse on the end of the branch in the snow. Like a silent rocket the owl glided to the branch, grabbed the mouse and flew back to the trees to eat its "prey". Unbelievable. We drive around for an hour looking for this bird, these guys show up, put a mouse on a stick and wham! there it is. They waved me over and I joined them at the side of the road. Another mouse and another silent approach, this time sitting for a few minutes to subdue its feast before heading back to the trees. The owl was less than ten feet away. Lifebird #4. Too good to be true. We had followed some internet directions that were a month old and took a chance to see if these owls were still around. They were right where they said they would be, almost exactly. We had seen found them all and life was good. It was noon.

Now that our big targets were found we could ease up and just go wherever we decided to go. We went looking for more Snowy Owls but didn't find one. Then a large bird soared across the road and landed at the top of a pine tree. As we approached we got better looks. Size: 30-40 inches; Wingspan: 7 1/2 feet. Dark brown above with golden brown nape and white at base of tail. Large hooked bill. Feathered legs. Almost the size of a large bald eagle. Lifebird #5: Golden Eagle. A few fast pictures through the windshield were all I could manage before it took flight again. It soared over a field effortlessly as I got the scope on it to make sure we were right. Wing patterns confirmed it, we had a Golden Eagle. This one was an unexpected treat. Honestly, they all were. The posts I was following were more than a month old. A guy I chatted with up there said it was a little late to find the owl but wished us luck. Luck we had, and it stayed with us.

We drove west to Tahquamenon Falls State Park after a stop near the Mackinac bridge again to take some pictures. The park areal lies along the Whitefish Bay and is a hemlock, white pine, aspen and birch forest. The snow got deeper and the landscape became more and more like a wilderness the farther we drove. Flocks of redpolls, red breasted nuthatches and white winged cross bills were everywhere we looked. We looked, without luck for moose in this area. The locals say that they seem to spend the winters in the forest and emerge once the "melt" comes to eat the lichen from the trees. The black bears are still hibernating so no luck there either. We drove into a little town called Paradise on the shore of Lake Superior and were amazed at the snow that was there. Piles of snow 10 feet high or more were on the sides of the road. Drifts up to the gutters and roofs with feet of snow on them were everywhere. The preferred method of transportation seemed to be snowmobile although the roads were completely plowed and clear. They were everywhere, zipping along the sides of the roads and power line tracts.

We made reservations at a hotel in Paradise for the night and headed up to the Upper Falls to check them out. A short walk on the trail led us to the second biggest waterfall east of the Mississippi. The water roared over the falls into the frozen river below and icicles as long and big as a small plane clung to the sides of the cliffs. Chickadees twittered it the trees all around us and jays called out in the dense forest. The trail was packed with snow three feet deep which was evident by only the tops of benches and garbage cans sticking out. Footprints off to the sides of the trail confirmed that if you stepped off the path, you would be waist deep in snow. The smell of pine and a frosty chill in the air made you feel like you were somewhere much farther away than a six hour drive. the snow was as white as we have ever seen it and the ice was blue and clear. We checked into the hotel and decided to have dinner at the Camp 33 lodge at the upper falls. The rustic setting with taxidermy moose, elk, deer and wolves, roaring fire in the stone hearth and north woods lodge decor set the tone for a really great atmosphere. Dinner of fresh whitefish was amazing and at that point we decided to come back for lunch the next day.

Another amazing day was behind us after relaxing in the jacuzzi and heading to bed early. The next day would be our last and would hopefully be as good as the last two.