And We’re Off!

The 2018 hawk count here at Whitefish Point Bird Observatory is underway! We got off to a bit of a slow start on Thursday, March 15, when wind and snow conspired to produce some truly crummy viewing conditions. During the opening day blizzard, I managed to tally just three individual birds — a pair of Common Ravens and an adult Bald Eagle — but things have improved steadily since then. Clear, sunny skies have prevailed after that blustery first day, and we’re already up to five hawk species for the season. Bald Eagles are most numerous so far, totaling 17 through the opening weekend, and Golden Eagles come in second among raptors with 7 counted already. The third raptor to grace our skies this season was a brilliant adult Northern Goshawk on the March 16. An immature that buzzed right over the hawk deck was one of two more Goshawks which flew by on March 19, bringing their season total to three, good for third place among raptors at this early date. The first Buteos of the season were added on March 19 — Red-tailed and Red-shouldered Hawks, with two and one individuals, respectively.

As was the case at the beginning of last season, the most impressive migrants so far have not been raptors — they’ve been finches! A quick glance at the pie chart of our full season data on Dunkadoo shows just how dominant they have been. A full 70% of the birds tallied over the first four days were Common Redpolls, with 775 birds counted. Totaling 129 individuals through the opening weekend, migrant flocks of White-winged Crossbills have been a real treat. Red Crossbills place third among all species detected since March 15, with 60 birds. Finches have been so abundant that, combined, they comprise just shy of 90% of all birds for the season!

Human visitors have been understandably scarce so far, but as always, anyone is welcome on the hawk deck anytime, so hopefully, I’ll soon begin seeing many more birds and birders as the season continues to unfold!