The 2016 fall waterbird count was a record breaker! In terms of waterbird species, we broke the previous record of 80, with a season total of 82. In terms of numbers, we had the second highest count with 111,126. The major highlights of the count consisted of Ancient Murrelet, an eider, two Ruddy Ducks, Red [...]
It's that time of year again; the count ends and the birds leave. Well, maybe there are still some birds hanging on up here. As expected, the waterbird counts were relatively slow throughout the last week and a half of November but the rarities kept the count interesting. We did have a couple of good [...]
November can be a slow month for waterbird migration here at the point. Luckily, this November has started off quickly with lots of good birds and a good flight. For the point, November is the time for big flights of Bufflehead and Common Goldeneye and also occasional flights of Long-tailed Ducks and Red-breasted Mergansers. Today [...]
The owl season ended for us here at Whitefish Point on the night of October 30th. Although, I am sure there will be more owls moving through the area, which is pretty frustrating considering on the night of October 29th we ended up catching 4 Boreal owls! That brings the Boreal owl season total up [...]
We had a better stretch of weather the last few nights which led to some better nights of netting. The last two nights treated us to some calm north winds. We even had a chance to see the stars for the first time in a long time it seemed. The last two nights we were [...]
We have been trying not to get to upset about the rough stretch of rainy/windy weather. After the first 21 days we only had 2 nights off, and then over the next 14 days we have had 6 nights off due to rain and/or windy conditions. The first three weeks of the season produced some [...]
Highlights: Pacific Wren, Green-tailed Towhee (photo above), Purple Sandpiper, Sabine's Gull & Long-tailed Jaeger Things have really picked up at the Point and we've been spending a lot of time in the field. While the Pacific Wren is the most interesting sighting, it is also the most complicated. Identifying Winter/Pacific Wrens by plumage is very difficult, if [...]
It's been one great October thus far! The waterbird highlights are coming every day or two and the woods are producing some great birds! In terms of duck numbers we have had a couple big aythya, scoter, and Long-tailed Duck days. Today was rather spectacular with over 11000 Long-tailed Ducks migrating past the point. The [...]
It has been really tough to get quality netting hours in the last few nights due to wind and rain. We have only been able to open nets 3 of the last 6 nights, and strong winds look to continue through Saturday night. Luckily the winds look to be slowing down for Sunday, setting up [...]
On Sunday Raina and I got stuck mediating a debate of our own...between two Barred Owls. It was quite a raucous, nobody could figure out who was cooking for who. Both owls were pretty adamant they were "cooking for all." It was just a chaotic seen (actually both owls were pleasantly calm for barreds)! [...]