While it was mostly quiet in terms of songbirds and raptors, it was an exciting week for waterbird counting at Whitefish Point! Due to passing storm fronts and winds shifting to the NW, we had some favorable conditions for migration over the weekend. The birds did not disappoint, with our highest two waterbird counts of the season occurring on this past Saturday (8/31) and Sunday (9/1). The single jaeger that passed by during Week 2 was just a precursor for them, as 19 additional jaegers were detected during the counts this week. While most of these individuals were quite distant, the few that passed close to the Point were determined to be Parasitic Jaegers. We also had our peak count of Red-necked Grebes for the season on 9/1, with 596 individuals and a total of 1,075 seen throughout the week. Waterfowl numbers again increased this week, and we had our first detections of Gadwall, American Wigeon, and Greater Scaup. While waterbird activity was high over the weekend, it gradually began to slow down in the following days because of changing winds and a lack of inclement weather that could push birds towards the Point. Despite a slight dip in numbers on the count within the past couple of days, we still had our first Sandhill Cranes migrating over on 9/4. There could be some potential for waterbird movement to pick up again soon, with a possible storm front on late Thursday that could give way to NW winds in the coming weekend.

~ Clay Bliznick
2024 Fall Field Ornithologist

Featured photo: A juvenile Parasitic Jaeger cruising past a vessel just off the Point. Photo by Clay Bliznick

Baird's Sandpiper and Semipalmated Plover investigating new pools created by high lake tides. Photo by Clay Bliznick

Our final jaeger of the week, another Parasitic, was also one of the closest. Photo by Clay Bliznick

Juvenile American Goshawk (Formerly Northern Goshawk) flyby. Photo by Clay Bliznick

Our first Gadwall of the season early on 8/31. Photo by Clay Bliznick

You can keep up with the 2024 Fall Field Ornithologist by reading Clay’s weekly blog posts and following WPBO’s social media (Facebook, Instagram, and X).

Would you like to go birding with Clay? Join him for one of his WPBO Migratory Bird Walks this season. Learn more at wpbo.org/events.

Clay Bliznick, MS: 2024 Fall Field Ornithologist

Clay first took an interest in birds during a high school trip to Alaska, where he was struck by the flamboyance of magpies, the sleek, penguin-like appearance of alcids, and the sheer number of waterbirds residing along the coast. He dived headfirst into the birding world while an undergraduate at the University of Kentucky, spending every free second exploring his home state for exciting new birds and places. Afterward, he attended graduate school at Murray State University and wrote a master’s thesis examining the response of bird communities to environmental factors in Western Kentucky bottomland hardwood forest restorations. Most recently, Clay has been living in South Florida, where he’s worked closely with many charismatic birds, such as the Crested Caracara, Swallow-tailed Kite, and Florida Grasshopper Sparrow. Clay is excited to join the Michigan Audubon team at WPBO as a fall field ornithologist and is eager to observe the spectacle of bird migration in the Upper Peninsula firsthand.