By Connie Thompson The name tags were printed, the dinner was being prepared and the guide vehicles were gassed up. Now the big question: Would the birds show up? Well, not only did the birds appear, but so did 50-plus bird-watchers, all right on schedule for Sault Ste. Marie Chamber of Commerce's First Annual Winter Birding Festival last weekend. Up to five individual Snowy Owls were seen by birders who attended the festival. In fact, birds were just about everywhere last Saturday and Sunday throughout Chippewa County. Over 38 different bird species were sighted in through binoculars, spotting scopes and with the naked eye over the entire weekend. The auto tours were led by six knowledgeable and attentive volunteer guides. Tony Walker (from the Sault Ste. Marie Naturalists), Joe Nault (local bird watcher), Pat Thompson (local bird watcher), Chip Francke (from Whitefish Point Bird Observatory), Rick Baetsen (naturalist from Walloon Lake, MI) and myself all led tours around town and to some of the remoter areas of the county. A group of birders, led by Joe Nault, stop along Centerline Rd. to see the first of many Snowy Owls. Some of the Festival attendees were local, from Sault Ste. Marie and Drummond Island, while others hailed from Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Ohio and Indiana. John and Luella Bursewicz from Canton, Missouri endured a nine-hour drive each direction to attend the Soo Chamber's inaugural event. John, being a retired biology professor, claimed to 'really enjoy watching the antics of the gray jays and especially the pine grosbeaks,' which he was able to observe at length while on a tour in Hulbert. Gray Jays entertained birders who visited Hulbert Bog. Everyone that participated seemed to enjoy themselves fully and everybody was able to add at least one bird to their 'life list.' Pennsylvanian Tommy Curtis told his guide, Joe Nault, that he had added six new birds to his life list and had a 'great time' doing so. The festival kicked off on Friday evening at the Sault Ste. Marie Country Club, where the attendees mixed, visited and met their guides for the following morning. Saturday morning Scott Stewart, from Marquette, opened our eyes with an inspiring and awesome slide presentation that got everyone all 'fired up' to head out into the field. As he wrapped up his talk, a bald eagle flew past the windows of the Club, adding a punctuation mark to an already bright morning! Next everyone divided up into five groups and headed out with their guide by vehicle caravans. Birders enjoyed an abundance of Pine Grosbeaks which were found throughout the Soo area. One of the extreme rarities seen by at least 60 people out in Hulbert (not all were with the festival, some were on their own) was the brief sighting of a boreal chickadee. One of the bird watchers played a tape of a boreal's song, which then immediately drew in the bird. It flew in to check out all the people and gave everyone great looks as it buzzed around the tops of the trees in normal chickadee fashion. Another great opportunity presented itself on Saturday morning, when our group 'happened' upon a lek of nine sharptail grouse just outside of town. The grouse were paired off, with wings dropped and pointed tails straight up in the air. Every few moments they would rush at one another and chitter excitedly, all the while shaking their wings. Lynne Coulter, from Drummond Island, exclaimed that she had seen plenty of sharptail on the island, but had never seen them perform like this! Coulter said the performance "made her weekend!" Every single participant was able to view at least three snowy owls, if not more, from the bitter cold, but always exciting fields on either side of I-75 out near Rudyard. A shy gyrfalcon was seen at the Edison Sault Powerhouse right away Saturday morning and common mergansers and goldeneyes were also seen plying the rushing waters in front of the powerhouse. Also seen in the waters of the St. Mary's River was a harlequin duck by Tony Walker's group, who visited Sault Ste. Marie, Canada their first morning out. This was a great sighting, as 'harley's' are generally known to inhabit the countries more wilder, remoter regions of fast-moving water. A sighting of Bohemian Waxwings thrilled some of the lucky birders! Mourning doves, rock doves and starlings were a common sight in town, but once out of town pine grosbeaks, common redpolls, woodpeckers (hairy and downy), and nuthatches (red- and white-bellied) became easier to find. Tree and house sparrows and a red-bellied woodpecker were also seen. Snow buntings were seen in numerous locations, with an especially large flock of over 200 embellishing a field on Shunk Road and another flock of about 30 were found sitting in the top of a tree near 12 Mile Road alongside three sharptail grouse. Some of the 'incidentals' that were sighted in were considered 'bonus' birds, which were found by sharp eyes and also by 'being in the right place at the right time.' These great finds included pileated woodpeckers, a goshawk, red-tailed and rough-legged hawks, Northern shrikes and a brown creeper. At other times, whole flocks of other incidentals were seen, like evening grosbeaks, Bohemian waxwings, and red- and white-winged crossbills. Some tour groups saw them, and some did not. Some of the more common birds were also seen, like black-capped chickadees, bluejays, ravens and crows. Evening Grosbeaks greeted birders who ventured over to the Bear Butt Inn. Filled bird feeders spread out around the area all increased the groups chances of seeing birds and they ALL wish to thank everyone who thanklessly keeps their feeders full all winter long. Some of the notable feeder birds seen were a lone goldfinch, a hoary redpoll, nine turkeys at the Thompson house and the brief appearance of "Bentley," the now infamous leucistic black-capped (or is it boreal?!) chickadee at the Robbins' home on 11 Mile Road. Common Redpolls welcomed birders to the home of Lois & Bob Robbins. After over eight hours of furious driving and bird-watching, all of the festival attendees and eight members of an Audubon group from the Lansing area led by Chuck MacDonald sat down to a delicious dinner at the Country Club. There they ate, socialized and relived exciting bird moments of the day. Afterwards renowned naturalist Rick Baetsen dimmed the lights and dazzled the crowd with a fantastic slide presentation. All in all, the overall impression of the weekend was that the Sault Chamber of Commerce did a great job and kudos go to Michelle Litzner and Angela Nebel. Their hard work was noticed and appreciated. Jim Porter from Traverse City publicly thanked the two of them at the dinner and afterwards told us that "the weekend was marvelous!" Sandy Hoover from Midland, Michigan also expressed her gratitude online, saying: "Thanks again for all your heartbeats on a wonderful weekend! You done GREAT!!" Red-breasted Nuthatch enjoys the attention (and food) provided at Hulbert Bog! PHOTO CREDITS Our Thanks To: Joe Nault: Snowy Owl, Bohemian Waxwings, Common Redpoll Ken & Sandy Hoover: Black-capped Chickadee (title banner), Birders on Centerline, Gray Jay, Pine Grosbeak, Evening Grosbeak, Red-breasted Nuthatch All text copyright of Connie Thompson February 2004 To report any bird sightings or anecdotes, please call me evenings at 906-635-5336 or write to: 14488 S. Ridge Rd., Dafter, MI 49724 Other Links to Visit: Michigan Bird Profiles by Rick Baetsen Sault Ste. Marie Chamber of Commerce