From: "Bruce M. Bowman" To: birders@umich.edu Date sent: Wed, 24 Jan 2001 20:18:27 -0500 Subject: Soo birding -- Jan 20-23 ------------------------------------------------------------- Soo birding trip - 2 1/2 birding days, Jan 20-23, 2001; total driving distance round trip from Ann Arbor was 1074 miles ------------------------------------------------------------- Birds of note Mallard X Northern Shoveler??? Bald Eagle (2 -- or 1 twice?) Red-shouldered Hawk (1) Red-tailed Hawk (1) western rufous morph, Buteo jamaicensis calurus Rough-legged Hawk (5) Sharp-tailed Grouse (22) Snowy Owl (2) Northern Hawk Owl (2) Great Gray Owl (3) Gray Jay (4) Boreal Chickadee (3) Bohemian Waxwing (106) Cedar Waxwing (1) Northern Shrike (2) Lapland Longspur (50) Snow Bunting (100s) Common Grackle (1) Red Crossbill (2) Evening Grosbeak (75) oh'fer birds Gyrfalcon (0) Black-backed Woodpecker (0) Pine Grosbeak (0) White-winged Crossbill (0) redpolls (0) Pine Siskin (0) I've just returned from 2 1/2 days of birding in the Sault Ste. Marie area. I went up with Gary (brother) & Lisa Bowman (Vincennes), Bill Murphy (Indianapolis), and Paul Thomas (Indianapolis). None of us had birded at the Soo before. For those who don't know, birding at the Soo is almost all by car. To find the birds you drive all of the roads south and west of SSM as well as two loops on Sugar Island, which you reach by ferry. Ferries run from SSM to the island at quarter til and quarter after the hour. Return runs from the island to SSM are at the hour and half hour. The ferry dock is about two(?) miles east of the Soo Edison power plant on Riverside Drive. We had a very good trip. We tallied 46 species, all in the Soo area except for American Kestrel, which we found farther south. The full list is at the bottom of this email. I'll include numbers for selected birds and also some notes. First, here's some information about locations for some of the birds. RED-TAILED HAWK (WESTERN RUFOUS MORPH, Buteo jamaicensis calurus - an adult) A beautiful bird. Drive to the top of the landfill and scan the trees in the distance. Our bird looked just like the fourth from the left on page 122 of Sibley. Or see the Nat'l Geo Soc field guide, 3rd edition, page 117. (Our bird was brighter than the one shown there.) SNOWY OWL -- We found two Snowy Owls in the little bit of time we had for birding on our first day. The first was near Rudyard, a subadult or adult on the roof of a small barn. Follow Mike Kielb's directions for a tour of the Rudyard area: "Stop at Rudyard on the way (I-75 exit 373). Go right to the first road, then south to the next main road, then right to the first road west of the freeway then north, right on the main road about one mile north and back to the freeway." Our second Snowy Owl, a first-year bird, was perched on the roof of the Soo Edison Electric Plant. (We would rather have had a Gyrfalcon, but this white-faced owl was interesting.) NORTHERN HAWK OWL -- We had two excellent looks at Northern Hawk Owls. Look in relatively open areas. Our birds were in each case on the top of the tallest tree in the vicinity. One was on Ridge Road half a mile south of 4 Mile Road. The other was on 7 Mile Road, east of M-129. This second one was very close to the road. GREAT GRAY OWL -- We found three. Two were along the northern loop of Sugar Island. Our best (excellent) look was of one about halfway up East Shore Drive. A second was found on North Shore Drive near Brasser Road. The third Great Gray Owl was in a woods far off Shunk Road between 8 and 9 Mile Roads. It was across from 7782 S. Shunk Road. GRAY JAY -- We found four Gray Jays. All were in the westernmost half (one mile) of the east-west portion of Basnau Road, i.e., "Hulbert Bog." The Gray Jays will give you a show if you throw morsels (potato chips, etc.) to them. Be prepared. BOREAL CHICKADEE -- We found Boreal Chickadees (3) only at Hulbert Bog (Basnau Road). We first found two with a group of Black-caps and later another with a second group of Black-caps. All were in the westernmost half (one mile) of the east-west portion of Basnau Road. BOHEMIAN WAXWING -- We found two flocks. The larger one had 94 birds. It was in the Sherman Park area on the west side of SSM. The other flock had 12 Bohemians plus a Cedar. It was on North Shore Drive of Sugar Island. NORTHERN SHRIKE -- We found only two shrikes. They were both along 9 Mile Road. LAPLAND LONGSPUR -- We found a single flock of 50 birds. It was along our driving loop near Rudyard. (See "SNOWY OWL" for directions.) RED CROSSBILL -- Two Red Crossbills were found on Dick Road about 2.75 miles south of M-28 west of SSM. Dick Road is the same thing as Road 3139. EVENING GROSBEAK -- The only Evening Grosbeaks we found were in the Eckerman and Hulbert areas. The largest flock, 54 birds, was at Hulbert Bog (Basnau Road). A mammal highlight was a fat porcupine in a tree on Shunk Road. Directions to Hulbert Bog: When birders refer to Hulbert Bog, they mean Basnau Road. Go west from SSM on M-28 (9 Mile Road). When you get to Hulbert Corners after 40 miles or so, turn south onto Basnau Road. The road is L-shaped. The north-south portion is a mile long or less. There are houses along the west side of the road. A couple have feeders. The road turns west onto a long (two-mile?) east-west section that ends at M-28. The eastern end of this is where to look for Black-backed Woodpecker. (Good luck. Listen for tapping.) The western half is where to look for Boreal Chickadee and Gray Jay. Five birds were lifers for me--Snowy Owl, Northern Hawk Owl, Great Gray Owl, Sharp-tailed Grouse, and Bohemian Waxwing. All of us got at least two lifers except for Gary, who had none. (He needed Hoary Redpoll, which wasn't a possibility for this trip this year.) A bird I thought interesting was a male Mallard in open water off Riverside Drive east of SSM. It looked like a Mallard-Northern Shoveler hybrid in that it had the same rufous flank that the male shoveler has. No other feature that I could see looked other than mallard-ish. Are Mallard-Northern Shoveler hybrids known? We stayed at the Mid-City Motel, 304 E. Portage Ave., Sault Ste. Marie. This is a two-diamond AAA motel. The rooms are clean and more than adequate. The prices were quite modest: about $35/night for a one-bed room and $45/night for a two-bed room (not including taxes). This motel is between the International Bridge and the Soo Edison power plant. The phone number is 906- 632-6832. Our thanks to Dafter birder Connie Thompson and husband Pat, who invited us over to see their turkeys and Ruffed Grouse. Ph.: 906-632-6832 or 906-635-5336. (See their specialty bird feeders at http://www.cedarcreations.com.) Connie can be contacted at enads@sooeveningnews.com. Bruce ----------------------------------------------------------------- SWANS, GEESE, and DUCKS Canada Goose (2) American Black Duck (4) Mallard (many, including a possible hybrid with N. Shoveler -- see above) Common Goldeneye Hooded Merganser (3) Common Merganser Red-breasted Merganser (1) KITES, HAWKS, EAGLES, and ALLIES Bald Eagle (2) Red-shouldered Hawk (1 -- at Dafter dump) Red-tailed Hawk (1 -- at Dafter Dump) western rufous morph, Buteo jamaicensis calurus Rough-legged Hawk (5) CARACARAS and FALCONS American Kestrel (farther south in Michigan) PARTRIDGES, GROUSE, TURKEYS Ruffed Grouse Sharp-tailed Grouse (22) Wild Turkey SKUAS, GULLS, TERNS, and SKIMMERS Herring Gull (14 -- all at Dafter dump) PIGEONS and DOVES Rock Dove Mourning Dove TYPICAL OWLS Snowy Owl (2) Northern Hawk Owl (2) Great Gray Owl (3) WOODPECKERS and ALLIES Downy Woodpecker Hairy Woodpecker Pileated Woodpecker (5) JAYS, MAGPIES, and CROWS Gray Jay (4) Blue Jay American Crow Common Raven TITMICE Black-capped Chickadee Boreal Chickadee (3) NUTHATCHES Red-breasted Nuthatch (9 -- most at Hulbert Bog, Basnau Rd.) White-breasted Nuthatch (3) CREEPERS Brown Creeper (3 -- 2 at Hulbert Bog, Basnau Rd.) OLD WORLD WARBLERS and GNATCATCHERS Golden-crowned Kinglet (2 -- Hulbert Bog, Basnau Rd.) Ruby-crowned Kinglet (2 -- Hulbert Bog, Basnau Rd.) WAXWINGS Bohemian Waxwing (106) Cedar Waxwing (1) SHRIKES Northern Shrike (2) STARLINGS and ALLIES European Starling TANAGERS, CARDINALS, GROSBEAKS, SPARROWS Lapland Longspur (50) Snow Bunting (100s) BLACKBIRDS and ALLIES Common Grackle (1 -- female, a flyover at Hulbert Bog) FINCHES and ALLIES Red Crossbill (2) American Goldfinch (100s west of SSM) Evening Grosbeak (75) OLD WORLD SPARROWS House Sparrow (1) ============ Total = 46 ============ ---------------------------------------------------------------- Bruce M. Bowman | Ann Arbor, Michigan USA | The bird is always right. bbowman@umich.edu ------ | -- Todd Newberry bmb@biosci.umtri.umich.edu -- +++++++ I'M FOR THE BIRDS ++++++++ http://www.umich.edu/~bbowman/birds/