Fall Waterbird Count Update – Week 11 (10/24-10/30)

Week 11 was a productive week for the waterbird count. We added some exciting new species and had some remarkable numbers! On 10/24, we experienced a large push of over 2,000 Aythya ducks, this time with Redhead outnumbering the scaup. Our biggest day yet was 10/27, with over 6,000 waterbirds counted; Long-tailed Ducks were over half of this number. Our second most numerous species this week was the Red-breasted Merganser. The Common Goldeneye floodgates opened on 10/27, counting 727 that day.

The first new species we added to the count this week was a beautiful male Harlequin Duck on 10/24. This species is rare but expected at the Point in the fall; however, the more drab females are the ones typically seen. On 10/27, we added two more species to our fall count, the first being the Hooded Merganser and the second being the Purple Sandpiper. The single sandpiper landed on shore at the very last minute of the count! I was thrilled to get both the Harlequin Duck and Purple Sandpiper on the count since they are both rare and lifers for me! Lastly, we had a group of Dunlin briefly stop at the beach on 10/27; this was the 200th overall species seen at Whitefish Point this fall between Fall Field Ornithologist Clay Bliznick and me!

We saw five species of gull this week, with the daily Herring Gulls now outnumbering the Ring-billed Gulls. We also continued to see Bonaparte’s Gulls on a few days this week. In addition to our more common gulls, we had a single Sabine’s Gull and a Great Black-backed Gull. I am hopeful that November will provide us with a few more gull species!

In addition to our plentiful waterbirds this week, we also saw very large numbers of some songbirds migrating into the Point. On 10/27, I counted 316 Snow Buntings flying in from the lake; this was likely an undercount, too, since I was more focused on the waterbirds and probably missed some flocks. Similarly, on 10/30 we had hundreds of finches coming in, including Pine Siskins, American Goldfinches, Red and White-winged Crossbills, and Purple Finches.

The weather forecast shows that we will continue to have above-average temperatures, and rain is predicted for most days. It will be interesting to see how this weather impacts the last two weeks of the count!

~ Hannah Leabhart
2024 Fall Waterbird Counter

Featured photo: A close line of White-winged Scoters. Photo by Hannah Leabhart