Late May is just a time of year that feels good. It’s sunny; it’s warm. Black flies and mosquitoes have emerged down in Paradise, but the Point is bite-free for a couple of days or so. It’s one of the few genuinely comfortable times we get at a place that, of all this continent’s bird observatories, has some of the harshest field conditions. And the flights down at the waterbird shack have been great, too.
White-winged Scoters have passed the Point in astounding (to me!) numbers. The season tally right now is 3,747. This is the first time our spring count has recorded more than 3,000 scoters since 2001; the peak day was May 19, when I saw 850. Scoter flocks move like freight trains do, low, long, and coal-colored — and they’ve just kept coming. North winds or no, they pass; even when I think they have to have dried up, they don’t. I like being wrong about things like that.
Another species I associate with this time of year is Long-tailed Duck. We’re just a few birds shy of breaking the all-time record for spring; the season’s tally is 5,385, and the peak day, May 22, we had 967. (In contrast, consider our fall Long-tailed Duck flight, which last year peaked at over 16,000 birds on a single day in late October!)
Shorebird diversity is high right now. This week, the count has been graced with Marbled (May 18) and Hudsonian (May 24) Godwits, Red Knots (May 24), and the season’s second American Golden-Plover (May 19), along with more frequent (and equally delightful) species like Black-bellied Plover and Whimbrel. Yesterday, May 24, was my first triple-digit Whimbrel day; 118 passed the Point, and the anticipation of more of that will keep my excitement high through these last few days of our spring season.
Great Egret over Whitefish Point on May 19. Photo by Alison Világ
Finally, there’s been a nice assortment of fairly rare species this week: on May 19, I had an Arctic Tern (which has not been recorded on the spring count since 2006) and a Great Egret (which has only been recorded on the spring count during seven years). The Boreal Chickadees continue to hang with the big Black-capped Chickadee flock (and continue to make me very happy); on May 23, I had a Red-headed Woodpecker and a Northern Mockingbird, which are less-than-annual on the spring count.
Thank you for reading and following this season. One more week to go! What will it bring, I wonder?
~ Alison Világ
2023 Spring Waterbird Counter
Featured photo: White-winged Scoters pass Whitefish Point’s waterbird count. Photo by Alison Világ
