This week started with a continuation of the nice push of owls we were experiencing when we gave our last update. The weather pattern eventually shifted, slowing things down later in the week. On April 12, we caught 95 owls, which will likely be the busiest night of the season, but you never know. [...]
The last few nights have been very eventful, both in challenging and rewarding ways. Those of you familiar with Whitefish Point at this time of the year will know that there is typically still lots of snow, and long stretches of the net lanes still have feet of snow over them. Our trails through [...]
Like much of the region, we have experienced some serious winter weather over the past week. An ice storm and gale are occurring as I write this in the pre-dawn hours. The last time I stepped outside, bunches of pine needles and cones were dropping out of the trees, and I heard a loud [...]
This past week produced the first little push of Northern Saw-whet Owls (NSWO), spectacular northern lights, an unpredicted snowstorm, and the season's first Long-eared Owls (LEOW). On Thursday night, we were treated to some of the best northern lights we have ever seen here. It was impossible to capture in photos, but when they [...]
Nova Mackentley and I are thrilled to be back at WPBO for another spring owl banding season. It's still exciting to get back out in the woods at night to work with these amazing birds. As is often the case, the season's first week has hit us with some wintery conditions, but some owls [...]
It's hard to believe that only eight days are left in the fall field season. It's been unseasonably mild through much of the late season, but we've had some extreme weather again this week. High winds had high waves breaking on the lake today under a classic dark November sky (featured image). Although the [...]
Lark Sparrow. Photo by Chris Neri Highlights: Lark Sparrow & Boreal Chickadees A Lark Sparrow was present around the parking lot on October 30, but it was not seen the next day. There seems to be a small influx of Boreal Chickadees occurring in the Upper Peninsula, and there were two brief sightings at the Point this [...]
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher. Photo by Chris Neri Highlights: American Three-toed Woodpecker & Scissor-tailed Flycatcher. The epic season for vagrants seen by Waterbird Counter Alec Olivier out at the waterbird shack continued this past week. An American Three-toed Woodpecker made a brief appearance for Alec in the early morning on October 22. Unfortunately, all efforts [...]
Well, I have often been fortunate enough to see many of the vagrants that have been seen at the waterbird count during my falls here. However, this week I missed one of the rarest birds ever to be documented at WPBO. Therefore, I'm not posting it here, but I will leave it to Waterbird [...]
Highlights: Yellow-breasted Chat A Yellow-breasted Chat was observed on the morning of October 10. Unfortunately, all efforts to relocate the chat were unsuccessful for everyone except the initial observer, including me. Whether it's the blogs for the spring owl banding, summer owl banding, or as the fall field ornithologist, I always try to center the content of [...]
