January 1, 2012
The “day” began with family hugs and kisses, the clink of champagne glasses and away we went. Ed and I headed out into the Marquette, MI midnight. A light snow on the ground and a balmy 36 degrees for being above the 45th parallel. We walked to the Dead River and hiked to a pine stand. The snow on the ground plus reflected light on the clouds made the night bright.
Or goal was to have our first 2012 bird be something other than a starling. I went through my repertoire of lame owl calls. Surprisingly, a great horned owl answered to be #1 for 2012.
Later that night, a storm blew in. Rather than driving into some of the remote areas for boreal species, we decided to stay in the Marquette area. We got 19 species with our highlights being Lapland longspurs and a snowy owl. Temperatures have dropped into the 20s with snow and strong gusts. Several surfers on Lake Superior.
–Lise
Ed's and Lise's Biggish Years 