Today was an astounding day at Whitefish Point. We had a nice variety of species, some high counts, and a few surprises. 1,413 Red-necked Grebe, 569 Blue-winged Teal, a Black Scoter, two jaegers, and a Whimbrel were some notable sightings. Looking at the forecast, today looked like it was going to be a day with [...]
The first week of the Fall Waterbird Count is approaching its end, and let me say it has been an exciting one. Before we delve into the details, I’d like to introduce myself. My name is Steve and I’ll be the counter for this fall. I’m very excited to be in such a beautiful place [...]
Since the last blog post, the migration past the point slowed down to a crawl. There was even a day that we didn't count a single Red-necked Grebe! But, migration heated back up on the Aug. 30 when we recorded 2,269 Red-necked Grebe. We've also seen some good Common Tern flights. The best flight consisted [...]
The fall waterbird count kicked off on the morning of Aug. 15. We've been lucky to start the season off with relatively good numbers throughout the first week. As usual for August, our most common migrant has been the Red-necked Grebe. We've counted a total of 3,292 with a peak of 809 on Aug. 20. [...]
The 2016 fall waterbird count was a record breaker! In terms of waterbird species, we broke the previous record of 80, with a season total of 82. In terms of numbers, we had the second highest count with 111,126. The major highlights of the count consisted of Ancient Murrelet, an eider, two Ruddy Ducks, Red [...]
It's that time of year again; the count ends and the birds leave. Well, maybe there are still some birds hanging on up here. As expected, the waterbird counts were relatively slow throughout the last week and a half of November but the rarities kept the count interesting. We did have a couple of good [...]
November can be a slow month for waterbird migration here at the point. Luckily, this November has started off quickly with lots of good birds and a good flight. For the point, November is the time for big flights of Bufflehead and Common Goldeneye and also occasional flights of Long-tailed Ducks and Red-breasted Mergansers. Today [...]
It's been one great October thus far! The waterbird highlights are coming every day or two and the woods are producing some great birds! In terms of duck numbers we have had a couple big aythya, scoter, and Long-tailed Duck days. Today was rather spectacular with over 11000 Long-tailed Ducks migrating past the point. The [...]
For the fall season, October is usually the best month at Whitefish Point in terms of quality and quantity. And this October has been no different! Scoters and scaup have been moving by in good numbers while rarities such as Red and Red-necked Phalarope and Sabine's Gull have been recorded. The woods have also produced; [...]
It's been a relatively slow September in terms of numbers of migrating waterbirds. But, the number of jaegers coming by the point has been great! So, if you're a true "lakewatcher" this is a great season for you. We're at about 45-50 total, including evening flights. Luckily, all three species have been represented during the [...]
