Waterbird migration in the last week has still been fairly slow. There have been several days with good grebe flights, with 199 on 9/19 and 254 on 9/21. The season total for Red-necked Grebes remains just over 4,000. American Wigeons have started moving in decent numbers, with 63 on 9/19 and 130 on 9/22. [...]
Dana with her first Northern Saw-whet Owl. Hello all. We're just finishing up our first week of the 2022 fall owl banding season. Let us take a minute and introduce you to the fall 2022 owl banders. Tori Steely is returning for a third fall season of owl banding here at the [...]
Say's Phoebe. Photo by Chris Neri Highlights: Swainson's Hawk & Say's Phoebe As was the case last week, the most notable sightings this week were found by Waterbird Counter Alec Olivier out at the waterbird shack. A Swainson's Hawk was seen on 9/17 and again on 9/19. Unfortunately, Alec watched it cross Lake [...]
It's hard to believe, but the first month of the fall waterbird count is already over. Roughly 13,000 waterbirds have already gone past the Point on their journey to their wintering grounds. The top three species so far have been Red-necked Grebe (3,558), Blue-winged Teal (1,492), and Common Tern (1,195). Most species have yet [...]
Smith's Longspur. Photo by Chris Neri Highlights: Smith's Longspur & Yellow-headed Blackbird The big news this past week was certainly the Smith's Longspur found by Fall Waterbird Counter Alec Olivier on the beach on September 5. It remained at least through the eleventh, providing the opportunity for many birders to visit the Point to see [...]
Buff-breasted Sandpiper. Photo by Alec Olivier Waterbird migration in the last week has been almost non-existent, with the slowest day of the season occurring on Sept. 2, which was the only day of the season without at least one Red-necked Grebe. Sept. 7 was the first day where there was a noticeable [...]
This season's waterbird count continues to get better, with the last week producing many great birds. The best bird was a Say's Phoebe that I found flycatching in the trees behind the waterbird shack. Other good birds include the third Great Egret for the fall count on Aug. 28, a flock of 18 Hudsonian [...]
Thanks to Robert Lawshe for setting up the Merlin pole! Photo by Alec Olivier The second week of the fall waterbird count continues to get better. Currently, the primary species migrating are Red-necked Grebes, Common Tern, and shorebirds. Bonaparte's Gulls have been doing very well so far, with a season total of [...]
The first three days of the 2022 fall waterbird count started with excellent weather. By 8 a.m. on Aug. 17, I was counting in my t-shirt — a first for me! Even though this was great weather to be out in, waterbird migration was almost non-existent. Waterbird highlights these first three days was a [...]
As expected, things remained relatively slow this past week. That said, it was a little more productive than the previous week. Our nightly totals ranged from two to seven owls. Of the 31 owls banded this week, 29 were juvenile Northern Saw-whet Owls (NSWO), one was an adult NSWO, and one was a Long-eared [...]
