Winter Roadsides

December of 2018 was the first time I'd been home in Michigan for Christmas since 2013, and the first proper break I'd had from school or work since around then as well. Of course, I was still working remotely for about half of it, but it was better than nothing, and some much-needed rest after three straight years of work and a semester of part-time work and full-time classes. Even better, Nikki was visiting over the holidays from the Philippines, so I got to show her around- admittedly not the best time of year for a first visit to Michigan!

Our first Sunday back home in Leelanau, we joined the weekly Sunday morning birding outing with some local birders, heading to Otter Creek in Benzie County, the same place I'd visited some months before in much better weather. This time it was, as expected, much quieter than it had been in August... much, much quieter. The only interesting birds we saw were a flock of White-winged Scoters far from shore in Lake Michigan, plus a rare-for-winter Belted Kingfisher by the edge of Otter Creek. Viewing was mostly obscured by heavy snow however, and after an hour or so of walking through silent woods we eventually gave up. 

There's a Belted Kingfisher in there somewhere!

Surprisingly, the best bird of the day ended up being on the way home: I decided to take the scenic route back through the Sleeping Bear Dunes, and nearby Little Glen Park a Ruffed Grouse suddenly ran across the road. I stopped the car to see if there were more, and sure enough there was actually a flock of six grouse (grouses? grice?) in the scrubby dogwoods by the side of the road, including a male that was in full display, his ruffs puffed up and his tail fanned out like a peacock! Ruffed Grouse are usually incredibly skittish, but this one didn't mind at all as I backed up the car and took pictures - maybe because cars don't look threatening, or maybe just because of the testosterone. 

Displaying male Ruffed Grouse

A few days later, Nikki and I went out again to the Sleeping Bear Dunes to enjoy the winter scenery. We took a hike up Pyramid Point, which was as spectacular as it always is, especially with fast-moving snow-clouds scudding across Lake Michigan. Obviously the hike was mostly about the landscapes, but there were a few birds around- huge flocks of White-winged Scoters, Common Goldeneyes, and Scaups (either Greater or Lesser) on the lake far below us, and a Hairy Woodpecker seen on the walk back down to the car. 

Spot the ducks!

Hairy Woodpecker

By the time we returned to the car it was late afternoon, and we stopped on the way back to enjoy the landscape. As we were about to return to the car I noticed a flock of birds in the distance. Looking through my binoculars I realized they were surprise lifers- Bohemian Waxwings! We got a bit closer, though they mostly remained on the other side of an impassable marsh. I'd initially been worried I wouldn't be able to tell them from (much more common) Cedar Waxwings, but the difference was actually pretty obvious, especially with them calling. 

Nikki in a field

Bohemian Waxwings!

Further down the road was another surprise- I saw a large bird flying across the road, and slowed down the car to see a huge Barred Owl perched right out in the open! Like the Ruffed Grouse earlier it seemed more or less unperturbed by us in the car, and perched motionless while we took pictures.

Barred Owl!

A little bit onwards the road was yet another roadside treat- a Northern Porcupine at the top of a tree. I usually see Porcupines either as roadkill or disappearing into hollow tree trunks, so it was great to get this great of a view, especially since Nikki had of course never seen a porcupine anywhere. 

Northern Porcupine

Our last stop that evening was my usual favorite spot of Sleeping Bear Point, where we climbed the dunes to see the sunset. The scenery there never fails to disappoint, even if the sunset was a little cloudier than I was hoping. I suppose the nice thing about being home so rarely is that I have more of an incentive to appreciate the scenery I otherwise forget about.

Downy Woodpecker in the sunset light

We also decided to take a trip into Traverse City, partly so we could do some souvenir shopping and partly to look for some of the Snowy Owls that had been reported in the area on eBird. To make a long story short, we spent hours driving in circles around the spots they'd been reported without seeing a single damn owl- I guess our good luck from the day before had to even out at some point. We did, however, make a stop at Logan's Landing on Boardman Lake to look at ducks, and came away with some good ones in the 20 minutes we were there before we got too cold to continue: Mallards, American Black Duck, Lesser Scaup, Hooded Mergansers, Red-breasted Mergansers, a Bald Eagle, and a Tundra Swan, the last of which was a lifer for me. 

Tufted Titmouse

Hooded Merganser

Lots of Canada Geese

Spot the hidden American Black Ducks!

My lifer Tundra Swan

Nikki left in late December to visit her sister in Ohio, while I spent another week or so in Michigan. I took the opportunity to spend another Sunday out on a birding outing with the local birders, where we spent some time freezing our fingers off scanning Lake Michigan for ducks of various kinds. We did see some White-winged Scoters, Long-tailed Ducks, and a Horned Grebe, another lifer for me, but they were all too far away for pictures. 

After that finished I drove south into Traverse City for another try at Snowy Owls. I tried three different spots, and still managed to dip on the damn things. I was about to give up when I remembered another spot that was on my way home- a random set of condominiums at the top of a hill I assumed wouldn't have anything. Amazingly though, as soon as I entered the neighborhood I spotted a Snowy Owl perched on top of a house! It was just finishing a meal of some sort of mammal, and had blood down its front. It posed for a little while then flew off, never to return. I know the "real" birders think Snowy Owls are overrated, but this was my first-ever sighting of one, and personally it was spectacular. Though I hope I can someday see one on a more "natural" perch...

Snowy Owl

Michigan had one last surprise for me before I returned to DC: a strange-looking Dark-eyed Junco that showed up at my bird feeder. I had a hunch about the ID, which I confirmed with a couple of experts online: a Cassiar Junco (the cismontanus subspecies of Dark-eyed Junco, in between Slate-colored Junco and Oregon Junco). It was the first eBird record of Cassiar Junco for Leelanau County, and one of very few records from Michigan, so I was definitely happy with the find, even if it was only a subspecies lifer. 

Cassiar Junco at my bird feeder- a terrible picture taken through my window

I sadly had to return to DC in early January, although January itself had some surprisingly good birds waiting for me. More on that soon...