Hello everyone!

Things have certainly picked up at the hawk deck. The last two days have been fantastic. Yesterday (April 15th), we counted over 1,000 raptors, with the vast majority (826) being Sharp-shinned Hawks.

Sharp-shinned Hawk

Sharp-shinned Hawk flying over the hawk deck. 4/16/16. Photo by Ted Keyel

We also had a big push of Northern Harriers with 117 counted from the deck. Interestingly, most of those were females, yet most of the Harriers that passed over the waterbird shack were males. It was a great day for seeing Rough-legged Hawks too, with 84 counted from the deck. While we did not see as many Red-tailed Hawks as in the previous couple days, we did have a couple individuals that stuck out from the rest, including at least one dark/rufous bird and one leucistic bird that was almost completely white.

Leucistic Red-tailed Hawk

Leucistic Red-tailed Hawk photographed from the hawk deck on 4/15/16. Note that the bird is mostly white, but still has a few dark feathers. Photo by: Ted Keyel

In terms of non-raptors, it was also a wonderful day for watching Sandhill Cranes, with 2,042 counted from the platform.

Today was another incredible day for watching Sharpies, and we counted 1,502 birds! Although we did not see as many Rough-legged Hawks or Northern Harriers today, there were a lot more Red-tailed Hawks in the sky. Today, there were at least four dark/rufous birds!

Rufous Red-tailed Hawk

A dark/rufous Red-tailed Hawk that passed over the platform on 4/16/16. Photo by: Ted Keyel

They are so striking, and most have been fairly obliging so far. It was also another big Sandhill Crane day, with 4,916 counted from the deck. That said, it was a very challenging day to count cranes because unlike yesterday when most of the birds crossed over, today a lot of them were circling around and coming back. That number tried to take into account those birds that circled back, but at times it was hard to keep track of which cranes were going where, especially with so many raptors around. The biggest non-raptor highlight of the day was a Great Egret found by Alec Lindsay. While common in the southern part of the state, this is a species that is not often seen from Whitefish Point.

Great Egret

Great Egret found from the hawk deck by Alec Lindsay. Photo by: Ted Keyel

Hopefully tomorrow will continue this streak of warm weather and a lot of birds!

Happy birding,

-Ted