Evening Grosbeaks

One of the tasks that results from a trip is the processing of photos. I just got back from a nine day whirlwind expedition up through the lower peninsula of Michigan, into the Upper Peninsula, along Lake Superior, down through Wisconsin along the shores of Lake Michigan, and across northern Illinois and Indiana. Whew! And probably have 300-400 keeper pics out of maybe 1,500 taken.

The trip was pretty regimented, with specific places to see and things to look for. Chief among them were birds, and we did well with boreal breeders. Saw nearly all of the possible nesting warblers, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Winter Wren, Hermit Thrush, Lincoln's Sparrow, and many more. But it was a special treat to run across some of those jumbo black, white, and golden seed-crackers, the Evening Grosbeak. We used to get them regularly in the winter in Ohio, but they have become quite the rarity these days.

Just north of Grayling, Michigan, is a beautiful area called Hartwick Pines State Park. It features an outstanding mixed forest that includes some monster White Pines, Pinus strobus. Of great interest to birders are Evening Grosbeaks, which breed in the park and make constant visits to the bird feeders right outside the visitor's center. Males, such as the one above, are striking animals. I especially like their sinuous yellow eyebrow, which resembles part of a flame paint job that Jesse James would add to one of his custom choppers.

Impossible to miss is the giant schnoz on these guys. The scientific epithet of Evening Grosbeak is Coccothraustes, which essentially means "kernel crusher". And crush the kernels they can, and do so prodigiously. If you are fortunate enough to have a pack of grosbeaks descend on your feeding station, be prepared for some hefty sunflower bills. They'll go through a ton of seed.

We also ran into grosbeaks on the Upper Peninsula, in the picturesque Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. I'll put up some photos of this coastal reserve later, taken from a boat in Lake Superior. The rock formations along the shoreline are as awe-inspiring as the brds in the forest.