April 15th marked the beginning of the Waterbird Count for the 2016 Spring Season. The first birds recorded at day-break were three hen Hooded Mergansers, a species actually not recorded that frequently on this count. DSC_0237The rarity of the day was a flock of 4 Trumpeter Swans, this species has only been recorded a couple of times at Whitefish Point. A few small flocks of Canada Geese were tallied up to 74 birds. Over all, it was a decent duck flight for the first day of the season- a male Gadwall, 8 Black Ducks, 22 Mallards, 14 Green-winged Teal, 12 Ring-necked Ducks, 4 Greater Scaup and 4 each of Bufflehead & Common Goldeneye were seen. A Greater Yellowlegs was notable for day one, and after weeks of unfavorable conditions, Sandhill Cranes really exploded with big flocks flying up the point and across to Canada. They didn’t start flying until the 4th hour but by the end of the day, 2,036 Sandhill Cranes had been tallied in! For a frame of reference, the annual average is 646!

But mention must be made of the hawk flight that day. In addition to the the Red-tails and Sharp-shinned Hawks, Northern Harriers, American Kestrels, and Rough-legged Hawks hit the Point with a lot of migrants. The harriers were particularly impressive as they came in low from the south up the treeline or shooting along the dunes. By the end of the day from the waterbird count 87 Northern Harriers were recorded, along with 118 Rough-legged Hawks and 81 Kestrels! Belaying yet again that this was suppose to be a waterbird count, the first Osprey and Peregrine Falcon of the season for Whitefish were seen by the waterbird counter and not from the hawk deck!

Northern Harrier by Skye Haas

Northern Harrier by Skye Haas