An Eastern bluebird looks on. (Scot Stewart photo)

“Spring is when you feel like whistling, even with a shoe full of slush.” – Doug Larson

Lately the March has not been seeing temperatures gently seesaw and weather conditions “change.” Rather, it truly has seen a battle royale! Blizzards, balmy 50F days, freezing rain, sunshine, violent wind gusts, and just plain rain. Law enforcement, road commissions, businesses, and school officials have all had their hands full, trying to figure what’s next and how to best deal with it.

So, who’s whistling with these attempts to usher Spring into the Upper Peninsula? It’s nature lovers. Spring is smiling as bird migration has begun. This past week, perhaps with the encouragement of a few recent balmy days, some of the early migrants decided to test the conditions here. The beginning of March is the time when some of the first major migrants arrive.

On March 2 three Canada geese were observed working on the Chocolay River near Main Street. This was the first posted report in the Marquette area for them. On the Dead River the first flock of Canada geese showed up on Monday, March 3, with seven seen upriver from the Lakeshore Blvd. Bridge. That stretch has been busy with hundreds of mallards the past few weeks too. Only one trumpeter swan was seen there Sunday. Five, two adult swans and three yearlings, have been seen there regularly. On Monday though, five, perhaps the same group, were seen on the Dead River near the Co. Rd. 510 bridge. It seems possible the group is using more of the river than previously thought.

Birders out at Sugarloaf on Monday caught up with migrating eagles. At least 14 bald eagles were seen moving north along the lake shoreline. Four were seen out further beyond the reach of glassware capable of complete species identification. Also seen was one golden eagle. Each spring a number of golden eagles crosses the U.P. on their way to Canada for the summer. Several good spots to watch for them on favorable days with south winds are Brockway Mountain, in Keweenaw County once the snow has been cleared from the highway and Whitefish Point in Chippewa County.

The range of golden eagles is quite interesting. They are permanent residents across most of the western half of the Lower 48 and winter residents of the southeastern part. They do spend summers also across most of northern Canada and Alaska. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s range map shows their migration route through most of the northeastern U.S. – except the U.P. They must not have talked too much to U.P. birders. Florida is the only other state where they are not listed as at least visitors.

It looks like Marquette’s recent temporary snowy owl resident might still around. One was seen downtown twice last Tuesday. The first sighting was near Bluff and 7th Streets, in the midst of some serious activity. Another recent arrival, a peregrine falcon, was divebombing it on a rooftop. Peregrines do not like snowy owls at all. A number of videos have been posted over the years of the falcons harassing the owls, usually during the spring as the peregrines arrive to claim their summer home ranges.

Later that day the snowy owl reappeared atop the Peter White Public Library on Front Street. There had been regular sightings in the early evenings near the Lower Harbor ore dock, but with a number of days of severe weather, it was unclear if that bird had stuck around. As the weather improves snowy owls will begin heading back north to the tundra in northern Canada and . While the current visitor in Marquette will leave, if there are others in Wisconsin and other locations south of the U.P., they may stop here too on their way back north.

Another owl, a northern saw-whet, continued to be heard this past week near the near Pine Street and Lakeshore Blvd. after dark. With a distinct whistle-like call thought by some to sound like a saw being sharpened with a file or similar tool, it is a clear and unmistakable nighttime call. The owl will probably move on to a quieter locale, but that is not certain.

Gulls are on the move too. Large congregations of American herring gulls have been seen at Picnic Rocks and the Lower Harbor this week – sometimes 500 or more. Ring-belled gulls should be arriving as soon as the weather improves again. Glaucous and iceland gulls have joined the herring gulls in town and should be somewhat regular visitors over the next few weeks. It just takes a little patience and a good pair of binoculars or a spotting scope sorting through the huge numbers to find these “white-winged gulls” when they are around. They are also seen in large numbers atop some of the larger buildings along West Washington Street too and scanning those birds can also reveal an occasional rarer gull.

Perhaps the biggest surprise in the early migration guests this week in Marquette was an eastern bluebird first spotted crossing U.S. 41 near Commerce Drive in Marquette Township. It apparently flew into the cover of a spruce tree during the recent blizzard! Surviving during migration on a varied diet of fruits and any invertebrates they can find, they are pretty hardy, it should make it. On these past recent warm days there have been a few flies, beetles, and even wasps flying around.

In the coming warm days a few sparrows, more juncos, some hawks, and more eagles will be making their way north, whistling through the skies toward their summer home ranges.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Scot Stewart is naturalist at the MooseWood Nature Center, a writer and photographer.