EUP Travels, Few Nice Birds.

[Rick Baetsen]

Bonnie and I had a trip planned to Chippewa County today and took a side trip to see if we might see the Great Gray Owl reported yesterday along M-134 West of Hessell. We stopped and searched and drove through the area several times with no luck.
We did see several Bald Eagles in our travels today in northern Emmet County along US-31 near Levering, another perched in a tree along I-75 near the Carp River in Mackinac County and one in Chippewa County south of Pickford.
We only had one Snowy Owl on the Rudyard Loop on Hantz Rd, but it was a nearly pure white individual. Searching was difficult as the blowing snow made for near white-out conditions at times. A Rough-legged Hawk was sighted south of Pickford on M-129. We had a small flock of Pine Grosbeaks on Riverside Drive just south of 9 Mile Rd. And Bonnie spotted a Northern Shrike along I-75 near the Pine River Bridge crossing.
Other than the looks at the Snowy Owl our best views of birds today were a group of four Pine Grosbeaks feeding in ornamental crab apple bushes on Main Street in Mackinaw City. They continued to feed even though we pulled the vehicle to within about 15 feet of them.
A very cold, windy and snowy day but a few nice birds in our travels Up North.
Rick Baetsen

[Bill Grigg]

Missed you guys, Rick! I promised myself that if there were any NHOW or GGOW sightings within 150 miles of home, I was chasing. But I had a prior commitment today (a three-year old grandson to 'Library Hour', which he loves.... So, at 0510 I was on the road, heading north into a snowstorm... I arrived at the intersection of M-134 St. Martins Point at 0730, and spent the next 1.75 hours driving slowly from Pt. Brulee Road (east) to Nun's Creek Road (west). All I saw were two common ravens... But, most importantly, I made it back home for 'Mr. Don's Library Hour' at Posen...

Hope you both are doing well -

Bill G.

[Rick Baetsen]

We must have just missed you Bill. I was not watching the clock but we must have gotten to the reported site along St. Martins Bay between 9:30 and 10:00. We did the same thing driving slowly and searching between Nunn's Creek Rd and Pt. Brulee Rd a couple times. It was bright sun by the time we arrived. We drove out of that though driving up Riverside Drive and back into the blowing snow. We cut the trip short as the driving conditions were pretty poor up in Chippewa County. We hope things are well for you and your family too.
Rick Baetsen