Well, as you can see by the picture, my wish was granted and I got to count hawks at Whitefish Point wearing shorts and a t-shirt! It’s hard to believe that a week ago I was wearing my thermals with ski pants and a winter parka, but spring has finally sprung here in Paradise.

It is also hard to believe that the season has come to an end for me, I am leaving Paradise, and this is my last installment on the WPBO blog. I am pleased as a peach that my entire last week was a string of warm, sunny days. After two months of gray skies, frigid north winds, and freezing toes, this past week has all but erased those memories from my mind leaving only visions of raptors whirling past me in a rhapsody of wings.

Though I had hoped the sun and southerly winds would bring big numbers of hawks, the days were productive but slow. While I saw decent numbers of Broad-wings, for the most part, with the exception of a late-season push of juvenile Bald Eagles, each day brought fewer and fewer birds. Migration is winding down and in an important way, I find that very satisfying. Day after day I played as the Sentinel of the Shack and as such I have seen the season cycle through in waves as each species peaked and passed. The raptors and I have completed our journey together.

I would like to thank Michigan Audubon for giving me the opportunity to count hawks here at Whitefish Point, in many ways it was like a dream come true. For those of you who are curious as to where my journey will lead me, I will next be doing research with nesting tidal marsh birds in beautiful coastal Maine this summer.

Lastly, I want to thank all of you who took the time to read my blog. It was my goal to make this blog a place to go where people could forget about the suffering going on in the world around us now, and I hope I succeeded. It has been a pleasure to write tales of the cold and windy days of spring at the point, the harsh conditions that challenge all who live here, and the wings that persevered through it all.

 

Author: Rich Couse, Hawk Counter Spring 2020

Photos: Rich Couse

If you are considering visiting the Point, please read this important message from Michigan Audubon and WPBO Field Staff.

Maneuvering the ever-changing implications of COVID-19 has necessitated constant adaptation and evaluation for us all. Michigan Audubon and WPBO have been proactive in taking measures that protect our staff, our physical community in Paradise, and the Michigan birding community, and we have found American Birding Association’s recent guidelines on birding and social distancing a useful resource for guiding bird-related travel decisions. While there are hopeful signs that we are rounding the corner with this virus, Michigan Audubon does not want to sow precocious optimism that encourages long-distance travel. Please take a minute to read these ABA guidelines, and to imagine them through the lens of the eastern Upper Peninsula, which does not have the medical resources of Michigan’s more-developed areas. Chippewa County and its adjacent counties have just three hospitals, and only one of these has more than 100 beds; they all are at least an hour’s drive from the Point. WPBO appreciates and requests your continued conscientiousness as the season’s migration begins to ramp up, and does not condone birding travel that is not local. Keep in mind that the Owl’s Roost Gift Shop and public observation of owl banding are currently closed. In the meantime, we will virtually share the Point with you as best we can until it is safe for all parties to enjoy it together. We hope that will be soon.