Typically, my spirits are quite light when I walk down the boardwalk toward the waterbird shack. However, when I headed that way a little before sunrise on April 15 — opening day for this count — I felt especially light: I was wearing only merino leggings, down pants, a fleece, a felted wool vest, and a light wool base layer. Typically, on opening day, I also wear insulated bibs and a puffy jacket so colossal that wearing it is like wearing a sleeping bag. By the time the count ended that day, I was happily counting in my bare feet on the cobbles. Usually, I have to wait till about Memorial Day to do that. Being warm at the waterbird count, regardless of date, is a fairly novel experience.
Not surprisingly, species composition mirrored the unseasonable warmth. On April 15, I had a Greater Yellowlegs (last year, my first was April 23) and Sanderling (last year, first seen nearly a month later, on May 11!) The following day, April 16, was a continuance of that trend: Semipalmated Plover (last year: May 9) and Piping Plover (last year: April 25) both showed up! I tallied a remarkable 71 species during the count’s duration on April 16; in comparison, on April 16, 2022, I tallied just 25.
The earliest waterbird species to move prominently past Whitefish Point on the spring count are Sandhill Cranes and dabbling ducks (e.g., Mallards, Northern Pintails, American Wigeons.) That’s certainly happening this year — during the first three days of the count, before the wind started coming from the north, I tallied numbers that would have been substantial portions of the entire season totals for spring 2022: 50% of the Mallards, 90% of the wigeons, 60% of the pintails. Remarkably, I’ve also seen 31 Redheads this season, which eclipses last year’s season total of 14. With so little ice cover on the Great Lakes this year, waterbirds seem to be returning quickly; I’m curious to see how quickly that pipeline dries up this year…
I suspect, too, that Sandhill Cranes may have already peaked, for I tallied 4,159 on opening day. (Last year’s peak was 7,044 on April 22). I’m hoping I’m wrong about this — big crane flights are too beautiful to be fully appreciated on two hours of sleep, which is what happened in this instance. Migration is a feat of endurance, and so is being a migration counter…
Of course, at this writing, the weather has turned. Perhaps, Lake Superior took my barefoot counting as a challenge to her authority — I submit. Two days ago, the wind was blowing from the north so hard that, after 8 hours in it, my whole body ached from shivering and getting battered all day gave me sea legs, despite never leaving land. My first visit to WPBO was at age 9. Prior to that visit, I had never realized that it was possible to be so cold it physically hurt, and I never realized what a great portion of my life would be spent being painfully cold at WPBO. But that’s just part of counting here, and it wouldn’t feel right not to spend at least some of the waterbird count in a state of extreme discomfort. With spring so early this year, the atmosphere of the count has changed. Every other year I’ve been here, those early days have been characterized by little groups of ducks following little leads of open water left behind by the Coast Guard icebreakers. It’s like their migration north is based more on a faith in spring than on any actual evidence of spring. I miss that a little, but I have my own faith that this spring count has in store some wonderful sights, sounds, and feelings. There always are out here, and I’m glad to be witnessing yet another migration out at the waterbird shack.
A far more typical scene on April 15 at the waterbird count. This is from my first season there, in 2019. Photo by Alison Világ
Other highlights of the count’s first week include a Western Meadowlark strolling around the beach grass (April 16), two Boreal Chickadees in with the big black-cap flock (also April 16), and Trumpeter and Tundra Swans.
Remember that you can follow this count live on Dunkadoo!
~ Alison Világ
2023 Spring Waterbird Counter
Usually, barefoot conditions don’t present themselves until around Memorial Day! This was April 15… Photo by Alison Vilag
