Buff-breasted Sandpiper. Photo by Alec Olivier Waterbird migration in the last week has been almost non-existent, with the slowest day of the season occurring on Sept. 2, which was the only day of the season without at least one Red-necked Grebe. Sept. 7 was the first day where there was a noticeable [...]
This season's waterbird count continues to get better, with the last week producing many great birds. The best bird was a Say's Phoebe that I found flycatching in the trees behind the waterbird shack. Other good birds include the third Great Egret for the fall count on Aug. 28, a flock of 18 Hudsonian [...]
Thanks to Robert Lawshe for setting up the Merlin pole! Photo by Alec Olivier The second week of the fall waterbird count continues to get better. Currently, the primary species migrating are Red-necked Grebes, Common Tern, and shorebirds. Bonaparte's Gulls have been doing very well so far, with a season total of [...]
The first three days of the 2022 fall waterbird count started with excellent weather. By 8 a.m. on Aug. 17, I was counting in my t-shirt — a first for me! Even though this was great weather to be out in, waterbird migration was almost non-existent. Waterbird highlights these first three days was a [...]
Waterbird Highlights: The final days of the waterbird count (Nov. 5–15) were extremely favorable weather and bird-wise. We were surprised with several goodies, such as another immature Black-legged Kittiwake, several distant Snow/Ross's Geese, an immature Harlequin Duck, a second-winter Iceland Gull, a first-winter Glaucous Gull, and a late Double-crested Cormorant! During the final hour of [...]
Waterbird Highlights: This week (Oct. 29–Nov. 4), we had species of waterbirds, with our highlight being RED PHALAROPE and a few more BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE. The Red Phalarope showed briefly in the morning before being lost between the 5-foot+ high swells. Two of the three kittiwakes showed on the same day, while our latest immature kittiwake moved north [...]
Waterbird Highlights: This week (Oct. 22–28), we had 26 species of waterbirds, with our highlight being gulls; BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE, Lesser Black-backed Gull, and an Iceland Gull (kumlieni). The kittiwake made a flyby appearance while the other two species of gulls hung out at the harbor and the Point. Lesser Black-backed Gull (Fall 2021) [...]
Waterbird Highlights: This week (October 15–21), we had 36 species of waterbirds, of which half of the diversity were waterfowl. Of the 30,000+ individuals counted, 13% were dabbling ducks such as Mallard, Northern Pintail, and American Wigeon, and 78% were diving ducks such as Aythaya species, scoters, and mergansers. Long-tailed Ducks made 33% of the count [...]
Our eBird October Big Day was a success with 66 species within a 24-hour birding period, and this total was decent with these less than ideal migration conditions. We were hard-pressed for waterfowl diversity/abundance, but we were able to pull out some decent waterbirds like an adult Parasitic Jaeger. Other non-waterbird highlights during the [...]
As for waterbirds, the most notable species this week were Willet, Forster’s Tern, and Parasitic Jaeger! The Willet stayed in the Point’s pond for a few days while the tern and the jaeger passed through the area. Willet Forster's Tern Parasitic Jaeger One of the highlight non-waterbird finds this week [...]
