Changes are in the air at Whitefish Point. On September 28th, some cloud cover and a light NNW wind brought in a movement of over 4,000 ducks and good numbers of other waterbirds. The big two species were over 1,000 Greater Scaup and a record breaking high count of 1,337 American Wigeons! A few hundred Blue-winged Teal, over 100 Redhead, and 13 other species of ducks were also part of the flight. Also on Monday, over 160 Red-necked Grebes, 111 Common Loons, a Sora off the lake, a good number of Common Terns and Bonaparte’s Gulls, and a rare Pacific Loon moved by the Point. Common Loons and Red-necked Grebes continued to move in good numbers the following day on the 29th, with over 100 of both again. 

Pine Siskins have been moving through in big numbers recently. On the 25th and 26th, over one thousand siskins were recorded on the waterbird count. Also on those days, 500 and 600 American Pipits came in off the lake and over twenty Lapland Longspurs on the 26th. 

Greater Scaup. Photo by Jack McDonough

We’re officially half way through the season making it a good time to reflect and share some season totals. September produced a lack of cold fronts, which resulted in a slow month for waterbird totals overall. Some totals for waterbirds as of 9/29 – Canada Goose: 1993, Cackling Goose: 1, Blue-winged Teal: 1111, Northern Shoveler: 82, American Wigeon: 1622, Gadwall: 38, Mallard: 107, Black Duck: 22, Northern Pintail: 274, American Green-winged Teal: 245, Redhead: 130, Ring-necked Duck: 14, Greater Scaup:1341, Lesser Scaup: 107, Surf Scoter: 18, White-winged Scoter: 40, Bufflehead: 3, Common Goldeneye: 16, Hooded Merganser: 4, Common Merganser: 149, Red-breasted Merganser: 235, Sora: 3, Red-necked Grebe: 7118, Horned Grebe 73, American Golden Plover: 37, Whimbrel: 23, Common Tern: 1995, Black Tern 4, Bonaparte’s Gull: 282, Long-tailed Jaeger: 2, Parasitic Jaeger: 25, Red-throated Loon: 357, Pacific Loon: 1, and Common Loon: 1147.

Highlighted land bird totals: Cedar Waxwing: 1411, American Pipit: 1852, Red Crossbill: 1057, Pine Siskin: 4613, 208 Nashville Warbler, 111 Black-throated Green Warbler, 162 Blackpoll Warbler, 152 Cape May Warbler, 1433 Yellow-rumped Warbler, 413 Chipping Sparrow, Golden-crowned Kinglet: 143, American Robin: 893, Vermilion Flycatcher: 1, Lark Sparrow: 1, Swainson’s Hawk: 1.

Total number of taxa recorded: 41, 505. Total bird species: 178. Total butterfly species: 8. Total dragonfly species: 7. Total drone fly species: 1. Total species of bats: 3.

Jack Mcdonough, Fall Field Ornithologist

Featured Photo: American Wigeon and Blue-winged Teal by J. McDonough

You can now see the waterbird count data on Trektellen! Check it out at trektellen.org/count/view/5727.

You can keep up with the 2026 Fall Waterbird Count by reading Jack’s weekly blog posts and following WPBO’s social media (Facebook, Instagram, and X). The fall waterbird count runs August 15 through November 15.

Jack McDonough: 2026 Fall Waterbird Counter

Jack grew up in Cape May, New Jersey, where he developed an early passion in life for anything migrating. At New Jersey Audubon’s Cape May Bird Observatory (CMBO), Jack worked for the Monarch Monitoring Project for six years and coordinated it for the last three. Jack was a migratory bird counter for two seasons for CMBO’s Springwatch project and was a swing counter for several fall counts such as CMBO’s Morning Flight, Avalon Seawatch, and Cape May Hawkwatch. Additionally for NJ Audubon, he preformed aerial imagery annotating for seabirds with USGS. Jack worked as a biologist for NJDEP Fish & Wildlife under the Endangered and NonGame Species Program for several years doing surveys and management work for state-listed species. Owning his own business in ecological consulting and biological monitoring, Jack has worked across Nevada and California in the past year. He spends most of his free time out in nature, studying behavioral ecology through the arts.