The feel of the season has shifted at the Point as the remnants of early-season migrants are quickly moving on. The diverse flocks of warblers and vireos, with a sprinkling of flycatchers, have largely passed. While the weather is still surprisingly warm and sunny at times, the bird life is more representative of mid-fall. The crisp mornings (but toasty afternoons), golden leaves, and shorter days frame a new cast of species. Migration hasn’t slowed so much as it has changed character, and this week made that transition especially clear. Warbler diversity has dropped significantly compared to earlier weeks, but we have just as many Yellow-rumped, Palm, and Pine Warblers as any point this season. We aren’t seeing as many Swainson’s and Gray-cheeked Thrushes anymore, but now Hermit Thrushes have become more abundant. We are also encountering more Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, Winter Wrens, and Rusty Blackbirds. The most obvious changes may be the huge influx of White-crowned Sparrows and Golden-crowned Kinglets. While scarce a couple weeks ago, now it’s hard to spend much time at the Point without running into several of them.

They’re hard to pin down for a photo, but there are quite a few Golden-crowned Kinglets bouncing around in the trees. Photo by Clay Bliznick.

A Rusty Blackbird blending into the understory just after sunset. Photo by Clay Bliznick.

Additionally, we’re starting to see a few more winter irruptive species again after a bit of a lull over the past couple of weeks. On the WPBO morning flight count this past Friday (Sept. 26th), we had our largest Pine Siskin flock of the season, totaling about 35 birds; until recently, we’ve only had small groups of ~2-5 siskins. Furthermore, another Bohemian Waxwing flew by the raptor deck on the Saturday count (Sept. 27th) after we had a very cooperative individual linger in the woods and bog near the parking lot for most of Thursday (Sept. 25th). The 2025-2026 edition of the Winter Finch Forecast by Tyler Hoar was recently released, and it projected a strong flight of siskins, nuthatches, redpolls, and potentially Bohemian Waxwings. Based on what we’ve seen at Whitefish Point this fall, the predictions seem to be holding well!

While we didn’t get extremely close, this Bohemian Waxwing on Thursday was very cooperative. Photo by Clay Bliznick.

Some other highlights of the week include the first Gray Catbird and Ruffed Grouse of the season for WPBO. Perhaps most surprising was the moose that was traveling throughout the area. While it wasn’t physically seen by any visitors at the point, it left plenty of conspicuous tracks on both sides of the boardwalk. Soon October will be upon us, which is the time of year where we often see the most unexpected birds of the season. As most of you know, Whitefish Point is a magnet for the unexpected, so we can only guess what will show up next!

A surprise Ruffed Grouse! Ruffs and all! Photo by Christy Soldo.

Moose track with size 12 hiking boot for scale. Photo by Christy Soldo.

~ Clay Bliznick
2025 Fall Field Ornithologist

Featured photo: Juvenile Yellow-bellied Sapsucker by Clay Bliznick. 

Track the morning flight counts on Trektellen.

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Join Clay for one of his WPBO Migratory Bird Walks offered every weekend through November 15.
Learn more at wpbo.org/events.

Clay Bliznick, MS: 2025 Fall Field Ornithologist

Clay worked as the WPBO fall field ornithologist in 2024 and is excited to return for the fall of 2025. He 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 dove headfirst into the world of birding while an undergraduate at the University of Kentucky, spending every free second exploring his home state for exciting new birds and places. Afterwards, 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 KY bottomland hardwood forest restorations. For the last several years, Clay has traveled throughout the US working with birds in varying capacities, including nest monitoring of Florida Grasshopper Sparrows and Crested Caracaras, conducting surveys of Swallow-tailed Kite post-breeding roosts, and collecting breeding bird data in North and South Dakota for the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies.