Waterbird Highlights: During this week’s count (Sept. 3–9), the count had 42 species of waterbirds! Aug. 5 was an exciting day where we had 32 of the 42 species of waterbirds seen during the count. There were quite a few highlights that day, such as large numbers of Pluvialis plovers (Black-bellied/golden-plover sp.), several Black [...]
Waterbird Highlights: This week (Aug. 28–Sept. 2), 36 species (+1 other taxa) of waterbirds have passed by the Point. If you have been keeping up with Dunkadoo numbers, you are probably wondering where all the Red-necked Grebes are! We are wondering the same thing. This time last year, there had already been over 5,000 individuals; this [...]
It’s that time of year again where we waterbird counters set out to the Point prepared to count the fall waterbird migration. As you may have seen in our recent social media posting, I (Mario) will be your guide during this fall adventure. This will be my first time working and living in the [...]
November 15 was the final day of the 2020 fall waterbird count; 744 hours, 93 days, 103,216 birds over 221 species, and countless experiences have made it a memorable season. While we’re working on getting all the data cleaned up and reports written, I wanted to share a few reflections on a great season. We [...]
Birds of prey are charismatic. With their interesting behavior and captivating presence, it’s easy to understand how they attract this attention. Though Whitefish Point is not known for large numbers of migrating fall raptors, we see our share of them pass through. If a sweep of the horizon turns up empty, we often start looking [...]
Seasons are marked by change. Be it fall colors, winter snow, or spring blossoms, we anticipate the treasures they bring into our lives. The wildlife around us is constantly in motion as their lives are dictated by these annual cycles. For birds, we associate every season with a behavior. Spring means northbound migration, summer means breeding, [...]
One of the most overlooked families of birds is Laridae, the gulls. Many times I’ve heard, “There’s more than one kind of seagull?” Common birds are often overlooked; their presence is taken for granted, and not much attention is given to them. Think of the European Starling, a widespread, common bird (which, unfortunately, is also [...]
In the past month, we’ve seen a lot of changes at the fall waterbird count. While getting snowed on, it’s hard to imagine that, just a month prior, there was a suite of shorebirds working the shoreline, that we had a tropical visitor in the form of a frigatebird, and that the dabblers outnumbered the [...]
This coming Saturday, Oct. 17, is October Big Day! This is an annual project from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to celebrate birds and birding. Participation is simple: see birds and record them in eBird. A goal of October Big Day is to have 25,000 participants. With interest in birds and birding quickly growing worldwide, this seems like [...]
A surprise for many visitors to the waterbird count is how distant the birds are. While the handful of loons that pass overhead and chickadees that venture inside the waterbird shack defy this statement, they are few compared to the thousands of birds flying a quarter mile or more from the shoreline. How we identify [...]
