Here’s a list of all the waterbird species seen along with the seasonal total counted during the waterbird count at Whitefish Point in Spring of 2018, from April 15 through May 31:

Greater White-fronted Goose: 2 flew low over the waterbird shack with a flock of Canada Geese on April 23.
Snow/Ross’s Goose: 1 very distant white morph goose was seen flying with 2 Canada Geese on April 22.
Canada Goose: 3337 with a peak of 882 on May 29. As is typical, there was an earlier push in late April with 382 being counted on April 23.
Cackling Goose: None seen actively migrating by, but one was found sitting by itself on Lake Superior on May 21.
Trumpeter Swan: 4 that flew over on May 24 were preceded by one bird swimming in the icy waters off the tip back on March 28, before the beginning of the count period.
Wood Duck: 24 with a peak of 5 on May 7
American Wigeon: 17 with a peak of 6 on April 24
Gadwall: 16 with a peak of 4 on May 9
American Black Duck: 22 with a peak of 9 on April 23
Mallard: 337 with a peak of 103 on April 23
Northern Shoveler: 16 with a peak of 7 on May 9
Northern Pintail: 48 with a peak of 15 on May 6
Green-winged Teal: 11 with a peak of 3 on May 10
Redhead: 19 with a peak of 10 on May 6
Ring-necked Duck: 11 with a peak of 5 on April 23
Aythya sp.: 5
Greater Scaup: 358 with a peak of 168 on May 7
Lesser Scaup: 59 with a peak of 27 on May 6
Greater/Lesser Scaup: 112 with a peak of 73 on May 6
Surf Scoter: 51 with a peak of 12 on May 11
White-winged Scoter: 757 with a peak of 121 on May 20
Black Scoter: single birds seen on May 15 and 19.
Surf/Black Scoter: 20
scoter sp.: 4
Long-tailed Duck: 561 with a peak of 160 on May 18
Bufflehead: 96 with a peak of 37 on May 9
Common Goldeneye: 145 with a peak of 60 on May 6
Hooded Merganser: 13 with a peak of 4 on May 2
Common Merganser: 516 with a peak of 95 on May 6
Red-breasted Merganser: 1791 with a peak of 141 on 29 May
duck sp.: 196
Red-throated Loon: 246 with a peak of 71 on May 6
Common Loon: 2316 with a peak of 639 on May 6
Pacific Loon: single birds in breeding plumage flew past the tip on May 6 and 14
Horned Grebe: 42 with a peak of 17 on May 9
Red-necked Grebe: 568 with a peak of 147 on May 11
Pied-billed Grebe: Being fond of still water, this species is not frequently seen at Whitefish Point, but one was found on April 24 swimming at close range in open water at the Harbor of Refuge.
American White Pelican: a flock of 19 flew past the tip on May 17
Double-crested Cormorant: 212 with a peak of 34 on May 16
American Bittern: None seen on the waterbird count, but single birds were noted on a few evenings from the hawk deck by observers waiting for owl lift-off.
Great Blue Heron: 26 with a peak of 5 on May 22
Sandhill Crane: 3299 peak of 636 on April 29
Sora: None on the waterbird count, but one seen near the Owl’s Roost gift shop on May 1.
American Golden-Plover: 1 in breeding plumage spent some time at the pond near the tip on May 16.
Black-bellied Plover: 103 with a peak of 26 on May 25
Semipalmated Plover: 136 with a peak of 44 on May 24
Piping Plover: An early observation, especially for this late-arriving spring, of one bird on April 30. As many as five birds visited over the course of the season, but just one pair stuck around and began nesting before the count period ended.
Killdeer: 94 with a peak of 6 noted on May 14 and 19.
Whimbrel: 452 with a peak of 216 on May 24 during the standardized count period. In addition, several flocks were seen in the evening such as on May 22, when 200 (split among flocks of 120 and 80) flew by the point.
Upland Sandpiper: 1 calling bird flew by in the fog on May 9, but was close enough to be visually confirmed.
Sanderling: 92 with a peak of 32 on May 26
Dunlin: 182 with a peak of 34 on May 14
Least Sandpiper: 78 with a peak of 17 on May 9
Semipalmated Sandpiper: 96 with a peak of 24 on May 24
White-rumped Sandpiper: 7, singles beginning on May 23
peep sp.: 4
Red Knot: 2, one on May 18 was in basic (non-breeding) plumage, but one on May 28-29 was wearaing its finest colors as it huddled on the beach with Sanderlings and Ruddy Turnstones and foraged at the edge of the pond near the tip, where it was even seen to swim for short distances.
Greater Yellowlegs: 16 with a peak of 4 on May 6. First noted on April 22.
Willet: One flew by on May 7.
Lesser Yellowlegs: 17 with a peak of 5 on May 19
Solitary Sandpiper: 8 with a peak of 3 on May 9 and 14
Spotted Sandpiper: 5 with a peak of 2 on May 30
Ruddy Turnstone: 59 with a peak of 28 on May 28
Short-billed Dowitcher: 145, with a peak of 104 on May 13
Long-billed Dowitcher: 2 flew together over the shack calling on May 13
Wilson’s Snipe: single birds spotted on May 9 and 10
American Woodcock: 1 flying in off the bay in broad, sunny daylight on April 30 was a stunning sight
sandpiper sp.: 52, including a flock of 50 on May 21
shorebird sp.: a flock of 20 on May 25 were too distant to even distinguish if they were plovers or sandpipers.
Parasitic Jaeger: 1 light morph adult flew past the tip on May 19.
Bonaparte’s Gull: 3205 with a peak of 2050 on May 14
Little Gull: one in first summer plumage was spotted in a flock of Bonaparte’s Gulls on May 14.
Ring-billed Gull: 1076 with a peak of 194 on May 30
Herring Gull: 1285 with a peak of 101 on May 6
Iceland Gull: 1 (supspecies thayeri) on May 13
Glaucous Gull: 6 with a peak of 3 on May 6
Great Black-backed Gull: individuals spotted on six days
Caspian Tern: 68 with a peak of 10 on May 17
Common Tern: 68 with a peak of 53 on May 25

Not at Whitefish Point, but in the general area, a female Wilson’s Phalarope found swimming around at the Tahquamenon Falls State Park River Mouth campground sewage ponds on May 15 was noteworthy.

Of course the count at the tip of Whitefish Point doesn’t just record waterbirds. It’s also sometimes a great spot to view raptors. The season’s total of 176 Rough-legged Hawks was a high number for the waterbird count, though many more were counted from the hawk deck. This spring’s totals also included 144 Northern Harriers and 21 Peregrine Falcons. The season’s only Short-eared Owl was seen from the waterbird shack on April 27 after a visiting birder encountered it in the Helstrom Addition.

Snowy Owls put on quite a show from the waterbird shack this spring. Over the course of the season I (and many visitors as well) was privileged to see Snowy Owls perched on ice mounds, flying over the lake, drifting on ice floes in the bay, even on the waterbird shack. On one late April morning, I watched a coyote saunter out onto the large mound of ice at the tip and watched it flush two Snowy Owls that had been hidden from my view.

The season’s only Black-backed Woodpecker on May 23 was first detected by call on the waterbird count and was later seen from the hawk deck.

As for passerines flying by the point, it’s difficult to choose which highlights to mention here, since there are so many. A seasonal total of 14 Bobolinks was a surprising number for a species so close to the northern limit of its breeding range, but easily detected by its distinctive call-note (and one male was singing as it flew over).

I’ll end with one of the stranger sightings from the spring, that of a pair of Eurasian Tree Sparrows flying over the waterbird shack with a flock of Blue Jays. Though unexpected, this was not unprecedented – the same thing happened once last year – but that’s Whitefish Point, a place where unexpected things happen over and over.

– Louie Dombroski