Gregory Huset
Birding Festivals
An indigo bunting makes an appearance at Chequamegon Bay Birding & Nature Festival in Ashland, Wisconsin.
Per capita, Wisconsinites do it the second most of any U.S state (Vermonters do it the most). In the whole of Canada, one out of five do it an average of 133 days each year.
Birding, it seems, is a high-flying recreation, especially among baby boomers. As a major migratory flyway, the Lake Superior region is well placed to tap the enthusiasm of residents and visitors who like to flock to festivals celebrating our feathered friends.
Duluth photographer Richard Hoeg last year took a photo a day for his “365 Days of Birds” project. It’s easy to see why birding is popular, he says. “It’s going out, trying to find something almost magical. … You never know what you’re going to find.”
Starting in late April, four annual bird fests showcase the spring migration in the Lake Superior region.
Ryan Brady / Wisconsin DNR
Birding Festivals
A sharp-tailed grouse struts its stuff during the Chequamegon Bay festival.
Chequamegon Bay Birding & Nature Festival, based at Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center just west of Ashland, Wisconsin, packs in more than 100 field trips and programs. The festival, in May, features birding and wetland tours in Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, a scenic hike to the park’s mainland sea caves, and cruises to Stockton and Raspberry islands. The Chequamegon Bay festival offers events for nature lovers of all skill levels and styles. Besides birds, you can learn about butterflies, elk, fish, frogs, bats, edible wild mushrooms and wildflowers. Look for kayaking trips, geocaching and a photography workshop.
Past speakers include Laura Erickson, an author, scientist and radio personality, and Neil Howk, a park ranger at the lakeshore for more than 30 years.
Copper Harbor Birding hosts the Keweenaw’s Migratory Bird Festival in Copper Harbor, Michigan, with bird walks, tours and presentations (usually in mid-May) during spring migration. This active fly-way area includes Brockway Mountain, known as “Hawk Highway” for the large numbers of migrating raptors. The spring hawk count by Brockway Mountain Hawk Watch is an annual survey, March 15 through June 15, from the top of the mountain.
Susan Fagan
Birding Festivals
Birders alight by Ontario’s Hurkett Cove during Dorion’s Canyon Country Birding Festival.
Whitefish Point Bird Observatory’s 28th annual Spring Fling, in late April, celebrates the migration. Eleven miles north of Paradise, Michigan, the event offers talks on northern owls, owl viewing at dusk and dawn, guided bird walks, workshops and a banquet. Birders can also sign up for a pre-fling field trip, “Birding in Paradise,” about migration of raptors, waterbirds and early arriving passerines. There’s also a post-fling field trip, “Searching for Spruce Grouse.”
At Dorion’s Canyon Country Birding Festival, in late May each year, the record for highest number of recorded species is 121.
Dorian is 80 kilometres (49 miles) east of Thunder Bay. Highlight spots for the festival include Hurkett Cove on Black Bay, used by migrating passerines and raptors. It’s known for sightings of more than 20 species of warblers, along with bald eagles and American white pelicans. Beautiful Ouimet Canyon, with its subarctic flora near the bottom, attracts a variety of species – woodpeckers to warblers, eagles and peregrine falcons.