On May 13, me and my dad went birding at Peninsula Point. Highlights were Golden-Winged Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler and a Great Horned Owl. Photos and eBird checklists are below. 

http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S36802665
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S36801120
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S36790013
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S36787710

My dad found a gray shorebird on the lower harbor breakwall in the morning on Sunday August 28th. He got a picture on his phone. He showed me the photo and I thought it was a Red Knot. He gave me a ride to the breakwall where I was able to confirm it was a Red Knot. Photos below. My first for Marquette County.

On Saturday May 14th, Katie Koch, my dad and I did a Big Day in the U.P. We started at Peninsula Point (PP) on the lake Michigan shoreline. On the way into are first spot we heard and saw Field Sparrows, Vesper Sparrow, Bobolink, Savannah Sparrow and two fly-over Common Loons. We had a a few decent birds at PP including Scarlet Tanager, Indigo Buntings, Orange-Crowned Warbler and Baltimore Oriole's.  

From there we went to Ogontz Bay. We had Yellow Warbler, Canvasback, both Scaup, Redhead and Common Goldeneye. After that we headed to Seney and saw Trumpeter Swans, Ring-Necked Ducks and Hooded Merganser's. We were going to head to WPBO but were told it wasn't worth the drive so we headed back to Marquette. We found a pretty good warbler flock in Marquette with the Highlights being 3 Black-Throated Blue Warblers, Tennessee Warbler and an Adult and Owlet Great Horned Owls.  

Saturday January 30th my dad and I spent the day in the eastern U.P. Highlights were a single Snowy Owl and 4 Sharp Tailed Grouse both in Pickford along with many winter finches. A Red-Bellied Woodpecker and an American Robin were two of the most unexpected Birds of the day at the Dunbar feeders. A flyover White-Winged Crossbill was the only bird at WPBO. We started the day in Pickford and ended at the Whitefish Point Bird Observatory (WPBO). 

January 9th and 10th I went to Duluth, Minnesota to look for the Ivory gull that was being seen there. We also went to the Sax-Zim Bog in the afternoon on the 9th and all day on the 10th. Here are some photos. 

December 19th was the Marquette Christmas bird count. We had a couple of great birds. My group had 27 total species, the most of any group. 

  They really are “GREAT” Horned Owls…..  By Alec Olivier


My dad and I were looking for shorebirds at the Gentz’s Golf Course in Beaver Grove when we got a phone call from Scot Stewart. He called to tell us there was an Adult Great Horned Owl at a house on rock st. in Marquette. We immediately headed for Marquette. On our way to Marquette we stopped at our house to pick up one of my brothers.

Once we found the house it was very easy to find the large owl perched in a tree in there backyard. The homeowners came out and I set up my spotting scope. We all got great looks. We watched it for around an hour and then went home. Lucky for me my mom wanted to see it, too, so I was able to go back and watch it.

We watched it for about 30 min when I looked at my mom and she looked at me. Did the owl just vocalize? Yes! It kept calling for another 15 min when it decided to take off and fly toward St. Peter’s Church! It was getting dark now and hard to see. We ran over to the Church where it flew out of a poor lit spot and we couldn’t see what it was doing in the poor lit spot.

From the Church it flew towards the bypass and landed on a telephone pole above the highway. My mom and brother went to get our car while I watched it. We drove over to the telephone pole and it flew to another telephone pole across the highway. When we got to the telephone pole across the highway the owl was still there. It stayed there for a few minutes before it flew towards Hurley field. We weren’t able to locate it again that night.

2 days later, my dad, my brother and I went to go look around the church for a nest. We parked the car started looking for any sign of owls. On the stairway leading into a side door of the church my dad found an owl pellet. We were close. My dad went inside the church and my brother and I walked across the street to get a better view of the church. I pointed my binoculars toward a possible nesting spot. There were two adult Great Horned Owls!
Not only was I lucky enough to find a Great Horned Owl nest but I was also on spring break! That means I could stay up later and watch them in the dark. This was the second year in a row when spring break has been the same time as a good bird (Slaty Backed Gull in 2014).

I saw a lot of cool stuff while watching the owls. I got to see them interact with one another and hear them vocalize a lot.

The male had a very noticeable pattern. It would “hoot” on the church, a tree across from the church, the trees at the house where I first saw the owl and the courthouse. It never went farther north than the the courthouse. I believe it was doing a lot of its hunting in the woods by the bypass. I think another pair of owls occupy the park cemetery and harlow park.

It was 22 days later on April 26th when we first saw owlets. There were a total of two.  
Unfortunately, the male owl was shot with a BB gun. It was rescued by a local rehab center. The owlets fledged and were last seen on May 27th.

On August 31st, there was a group of crows mobbing some kind of raptor in the woods north of the church. We were not able to find what kind of raptor it was but I like to think it was one of the owls.

The time spent with these owls was a highlight of 2015 and my birding career.

Non-Shorebirds 

Yesterday I found a Black Vulture in Marquette. It is the 1st Mqt county record of a Black Vulture. It was being mobbed by American Crows.  

After I found the Black Vulture me and my dad went to our camp. We had a Moose on the way to my camp and some warblers at our camp.