Winter is Still in the Soo

I spent this past weekend in the Sault visiting my parents and celebrating my mother's 79th birthday. I took these pictures to show you how much snow there still is there. The first picture was taken as we crossed the Mackinac Bridge where there is a crack in the ice but it has a long way to go before the opening of the shipping season on March 26th. It was a beautiful day Saturday with a blue sky and the snow is still very white.

Jane Johnston Schoolcraft

I have been working all winter on a children's book about Jane Johnston Schoolcraft who was from Sault Ste. Marie. She lived in the early 1800's and was quite a remarkable person. She was recently installed in the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame.

My question-are there others out there with an interest in Michigan history specifically of Sault Ste. Marie. I would love to hear from you and if you know of any interesting events coming up in the next year concerning Sault history.

Progress toward a new lock

News Flash from TV 9 & 10 web site.

NEW BILL COULD BRING FEDERAL DOLLARS TO THE SOO LOCKS

This week, the Senate is expected to consider a bill that could bring some
federal dollars to the Soo Locks. The House of Representatives approved
$17-million to go toward building a new lock in Sault Saint Marie. With
the money, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers can begin to build the Coffer
Dams necessary to prevent water flow into the aging Sabin and Davis Locks.
The new lock will replace them.

Birding in the Upper Peninsula

I found a blog this morning with an absolutely amazing story of birding in the Eastern Upper Peninsula. Unfortunately the pictures wouldn't copy and paste. It would be worth your time to look at the blog. The last line of the blog is great-Before I knew it, we had to start heading home from an awesome weekend of boreal birding. If you haven't been up to the upper peninsula yet, I highly recommend it.

http://nomadicbirder.blogspot.com/

UP Birding
Saturday morning, Ben Warner, Andy Newman, Heather Raymond and I ventured out of our motel in Sault Ste. Marie to begin a fantastic weekend in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. After cruising some back roads we eventually arrived at the Dunbar Forest feeders which hosted hundreds, maybe thousands of redpolls and siskins. After a few minutes of scanning we eventually found this Hoary Redpoll resting above the feeders.

There are two subspecies of Hoary Redpoll and there is no doubt this is the Greenland form, C. h. hornemanni.

They breed in the very high arctic of Greenland and Canada and differ from C. h. exilpes by being extremely pale.

When we were done scanning through the hoards of redpolls, siskins and Pine Grosbeaks we headed to Pickford to find one of the Northern Hawk-Owls that have been present. It didn’t take long until we found one along M-48 in someone’s front yard.

I wonder if the home owners have any idea just how lucky they are to have a Northern Hawk-Owl hanging around their yard.

After loads of pictures, we headed west to Hulbert Bog to look for Gray Jays and Boreal Chickadees. Among the dozen or so Black-capped Chickadees that came into our pishing, a single Boreal Chickadee came in briefly and vanished just as fast. No Gray Jays were found but constant flocks of White-winged Crossbills and a single Red Crossbill entertained us instead.

We headed back east to Rudyard where a few Snowy Owls have been present for most of the winter. Luck was still with us as we watched three Snowy’s from one spot including this one.

The rest of day was spent driving around adding a few more trip birds such as Northern Shrike and Merlin among others. At 5:30pm we drove to Hay Lake Road where a Great Gray Owl was recently discovered. Through moderate snow, Ben spotted the owl off in the distance just before it flew towards the road. Here is Ben’s shot of ‘the ghost’.

Sunday was spent birding the feeders at Dunbar Forest again. Besides two more Hoary Redpolls of the C. h. exilpes form we had this leucistic Pine Siskin:

Before I knew it, we had to start heading home from an awesome weekend of boreal birding. If you haven't been up to the upper peninsula yet, I highly recommend it.

Bird Watching Near the Sault Ste. Marie

I read the following information in the Gennessee Audobon Newsletter. Have any of you seen snowy owls this winter in Chippewa County?

Currently, there are between 5 & 10 different Snowy Owls and 2 different Northern Hawk Owls which are being seen regularly south of the Soo. There have also been irregular reports of one or two Great Grey Owls, and even one brief report of a Boreal Owl near someone's feeder one day. A Gyrfalcon has been reported a couple times south of the city as well. Northern Shrikes appear to be in a number of locations. Rough-legged Hawks appear to be in lower numbers than usual, however. Redpolls are in good numbers, but most of the other winter finches are in average or below average numbers. Several different Glaucous and Iceland Gulls have been reported at the Dafter Dump, though this (like everything else) could change. It might be worth our while to try birding over to Whitefish Point, or even Grand Marais (Bohemian Waxwings).

Please report any interesting bird sightings.

Out of Work in Michigan

Here is an interesting blog from NPR with a Sault connection, Out of Work in Michigan.

It details a meeting held in the Sault to begin a series of people who are losing their jobs. I've been watching the news here in Arizona and the job situation isn't good. NBC calls it 'Pink Slip Blues' as the world economy continues to slide.

It's Cold in the Soo

I took this photo last week at my parent's house in the Soo.

I just talked to my mom who wouldn't leave the Soo in the winter for anything. It is -10 degrees right now.

I'm sitting in Phoenix, Arizona watching the sun come up over the mountains and the high temperature today will be in the high 70's.

It is all in what you like. I feel that I have the best of both worlds. In May I will be back on our St. Marys River home watching the sun come up over Sugar Island and loving that.

I took this photo at the Phoenix Zoo last year but it gives you an idea what the blue sky looks like.

Until then, I love the warm weather so I can get outside to exercise. But there is plenty of opportunity for that in the Sault too.

Let me know what you are doing to get through the winter months.