Whitefish Point Sightings Report for March 15-21, 2018

Greetings! Whitefish Point Bird Observatory kicked off its 2018 spring season on March 15, albeit it was pretty cold and snowy that day. Conditions are still very wintery up here, with about 3-4 feet of snow on the ground and most water still frozen. The staff this year are all returning from last spring, Nova Mackentley and Chris Neri are again running the owl banding program, and Gary Palmer, Louie Dombroski, and Skye Haas are back on day shift as Hawk Counter, Waterbird Counter, and Field Ornithologist respectively. Also continued from 2017 is our use of Dunkadoo for electronic data collection. Please click here for the Hawk Count data and live data stream.

So as to what has been observed this week, except for finches, the answer is not too much yet! A Long-tailed Duck has been hanging out in a small patch of open water in the harbor of refuge, and a flock of drake Long-tails were observed on March 17 flying over the ice trying to find some open water. A small handful of Herring Gulls were observed migrating on March 18, but that sums up our waterbird sightings so far. Ruffed Grouse has been observed a couple of times already, but as opposed to last spring, we have yet to see any Sharp-tailed Grouse at the Point.

Raptors have been few in number, mostly due to the constant north winds. Bald Eagles have been observed daily, with 12 recorded on March 20. A few Golden Eagles have also been recorded with 11 so far for the season. Four Northern Goshawks have been tallied in, along with a handful of Red-tailed Hawks. Always lovely to see, an adult Red-shouldered Hawk was seen on March 18.

Songbirds (and their allies) are understandably still few in number, even American Crows and Common Ravens have been sparse, and common woodland birds like Black-capped Chickadees and Red-breasted Nuthatches as well as woodpeckers have also been near absent. Their numbers were low across the Upper Peninsula over the winter as well and Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory recorded large numbers of Chickadees moving south last fall, so perhaps a big northward flight is in the works over the next few weeks? A couple of Snow Buntings were observed on March 17 flying over the Hawk Deck. The big show for the first week has been large numbers of Common Redpolls and White-winged Crossbills migrating north. The Redpolls have led the pack with 3,400 counted, while nearly 1,100 White-winged Crossbills have been tallied. The latter species is a bit of a surprise as very few were observed this winter and no substantial movement of them was recorded at WPBO or Hawk Ridge last fall. Other finches that have been recorded include 45 Pine Grosbeaks, a couple of Pine Siskins, 2 Hoary Redpolls on March 19, and 94 Red Crossbills with call types 2, 3 and 10s being confirmed by Matt Young at Cornell University.

Birding has actually been a bit more exciting farther afield then Whitefish Point. Expected, but tricky to find, have been a few Spruce Grouse along Vermillion Road six miles south of Whitefish Point, and even more difficult to locate but oh so rewarding when one does, has been a Northern Hawk Owl that seems to be holding territory along M-123 between the mouth of Tahquamenon River and Lone Pine Road south of Paradise. The bird ranges from the densely wooded spruce forest south of the river and into the more open muskeg. The most recent sighting was on March 17, but an attempt for it on March 20 was unsuccessful. Even farther from Whitefish Point but worth noting is the male Barrow’s Goldeneye that has been overwintering in Sault Ste. Marie. The bird was previously only seen on the Ontario side of the river, but as the ice opens up on the river, several observers have seen the bird along the Michigan side, mostly from the Mission Street boat launch to the Sugar Island ferry. Good numbers of Snowy Owls are being seen in the Rudyard Flats and Pickford farm country. Rough-legged Hawks are starting to stage in the Pickford area. Hawk Ridge recorded record-breaking numbers of these elegant raptors moving south last fall so we are anticipating a good flight this spring, but only time will tell if what goes down comes back up!

*** Please note we have changed our owl banding visitation schedule:  Visitors may observe owl banding on Friday and Saturday evenings from dusk to midnight, weather permitting. Due to the snow conditions, the net lane trails are off-limits to foot traffic until snow melts to keep the trails safe for the Owl Banders skiing in the dark of night. If you have a large group (5 or more), please call (517) 580-7364 or email events@michiganaudubon.org to make arrangements.