A northern harrier takes flight. (Scot Stewart photo)

“What am I doing here in this endless winter?” — Franz Kafka

It is beginning to seem like winter is not going to go easily into the good night. Stubborn may be the best word to describe the events of recent weeks. Temperatures are still hovering at levels below the 40 degree mark many days and new snowfalls seem to continue several times a week. Fortunately, most of the snow on the ground has melted, opening areas for ground feeders like robins and woodcocks, and starting to warm leaf litter and areas along waterways to get insects and other invertebrates like millipedes, centipedes, and spiders moving to feed newly arrived birds. Chipmunks have been encouraged to pop out again and blue-spotted salamanders are beginning to show up too.

Early migrants in the Upper Peninsula include yellow-bellied sapsuckers, colorful woodpeckers migrating northward from the southwestern U.S., Central America, and the Caribbean. Sapsuckers are well-known for their work in the spring chiseling rows of holes in the bark of sugar maple (and other maples), apple, birch, and even white pine, and eastern hemlock trees as they arrive in the area. That work provides shallow wells in the bark where sap runs. Sapsuckers may “tap” a number of trees in a small area and visit them regularly as the depressions fill with sap. They actively protect them, driving other birds away.

The sap provides a steady supply of liquid rich in carbohydrates and minerals. But the sap is not all. Because there are few flowers blooming yet, early insects are out looking for sources of food as the temperatures warm. The sap attracts flies and as the days warm, other insects also interested feeding on the sap. These provide the birds with a good source of proteins and fats. Both male and female sapsuckers produce sap wells. The combination of sap and insects gives the woodpeckers a full diet of most of their dietary needs as they prepare for final flights to summer ranges, prepare them for defending those territories, nest excavations in poplars and other soft wooded trees, both live and dead, and eventually egg laying.

These sap wells are extremely important to the survival of other birds too. Studies have shown around 35 other species of birds also utilize the wells to find the sap and the insects. Other woodpeckers, warblers, kinglets, nuthatches, brown creepers, chickadees, some flycatchers and even ruby-throated hummingbirds later this spring are among the ones people may see as they check out the wells. Beautiful Cape May warblers, with their yellow and amber plumage are some of the most frequently seen warblers at the wells in pockets of the U.P.

Many sites can be found by looking for wet or black streaks on tree bark or actually seeing the sapsuckers clinging to the tree trunks. The sap also encourages the growth of some bacteria and fungi that can alter the color the tree bark. Smaller birds are most often seen hovering next to trees, trying to sip the sap or more often pecking at the insects. Many birders are often surprised to find sapsucker wells in their own back yards.

The sapsucker’s work doesn’t end there. Squirrels, porcupines, bats, and other mammals also visit the wells. Because the wells can fill throughout much of May, other insects also arrive to visit the sap. Moths, bees and wasps also come, and in turn provide more food for songbirds here for the early summer days.

Despite the colder weather migration has continued. Whitefish Point continues to be a totally amazing place to see incredible numbers of migrants but picking those warmer weather or Southwind days make all the difference. Those good weather days have produced 26-42 difference species and more than 2100 individual species some days during the eight hours the raptor counter is counting on the hawk platform. Cold days have been disappointingly slow.

Pine siskins, redpolls, sandhill cranes, robins and common grackles continue to be some of the birds flying over the point in the largest numbers. Last Monday 382 robins were seen by the raptor counter. Another highlight that day was a short-eared owl. Greater yellowlegs, solitary sandpipers, belted kingfishers, sapsuckers and common flickers are some of the other more recent arrivals there. Nearly all of these early birds will continue on to Canada and some even to Alaska, but all these species will have some individuals staying in the U.P. this summer. The short-eared owl is probably the rarest with just a few staying in the area for the summer.

A trip south to Wisconsin or the Lower Peninsula this time of year is also like getting a sneak preview at the coming attractions. Currently there are still large numbers of ducks in even southern Wisconsin at places like Horicon National Wildlife Refuge between Fond du Lac and Madison. Redheads, scaup, ring-necked ducks, and buffleheads are still being seen there in large flocks. A few sandpipers are starting to show up. Tundra swans are passing through these areas too. Small flocks of kinglets, mostly golden-crowns have been seen gleaning insects from the still bare trees. Yes, in most of Wisconsin leaf-out is in the early stages, making it fairly easy to see the yellow-rumped and pine warblers, along with the kinglets working through the higher reaches of the trees.

With the continuing forecasts of temps remaining in the 40s and 50s migration should continue at a slower pace, but with the trees also moving slowly, viewing should be great in the next few weeks for those early arrivals.

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