On April 29 and 30, a Loggerhead Shrike (LOSH) was seen at Whitefish Point. The sighting, once accepted, will be the fourth record of a LOSH at WPBO. A Loggerhead Shrike seen on April 29, 2019 from the waterbird shack. Photo by Alison Vilag Loggerhead Shrike are state endangered in Michigan. The [...]
Highlights: American Woodcock Display - Pine Siskin Flock - Eastern Towhee - Vesper Sparrow - Kinglets Galore - White-Winged Scoter - Flocks of Common Loon Peent… Peent… Peent... I cannot begin to tell you just how much I love the American Woodcock call. Thanks to the patience and courtesy of longtime neighbors of Whitefish [...]
Highlights: Too many to name! Or: Leucistic Red-Tailed Hawk – Spruce Grouse – Increasing Sparrow Diversity – Pine Warbler – Kinglets – Brown Creeper – Pine Siskin - Broad-Winged Hawk – Snowy Owl – Greater Yellowlegs Just when it seemed like migration might not ever happen, birds started happening in a big way with [...]
Highlights: Firsts of the season: American Black Duck, Rock Pigeon, Eastern Phoebe, Rusty Blackbird, American Tree Sparrow, Song Sparrow Passerines put on their first real show of the season on April 10. While covering for Krista Botting, the hawk counter, I observed 24 American Robin, 39 Red-winged Blackbird, 45 Common Grackle, and a Bohemian Waxwing [...]
Highlights: First Waterbirds in the Water (Mallard) – Common Merganser – Brown-headed Cowbird – Increasing Raptor Diversity A big moment at the Point in recent days: the first waterbirds of the season were observed in the lake! Two Mallard were seen flying in and landing in Lake Superior on April 5 with three male Common [...]
Highlights: Common Grackle - Mourning Dove - Dark-eyed Junco - Sandhill Crane - Canada Goose Weather at Whitefish Point, this time of year, is fickle. A few warm, sunny days with southerly winds saw snow melting and birds migrating, but a cold front moving in over the past few days has hampered migration to [...]
Highlights: Red-winged Blackbird – American Goldfinch – Close Bald Eagle Encounter There is something truly magical about cresting a hill and seeing an adult Bald Eagle flying directly towards me over the frozen lake. As someone who grew up in a suburban/urban area and hadn’t seen a wild, free flying eagle until I was [...]
Part of a flock of approximately 47 Common Redpoll. Photo by Charlotte R. Catalano Two Pine Grosbeaks atop a frost-covered Jack Pine (Pinus banksiana). Photo by Charlotte R. Catalano HIGHLIGHTS: Approximately 47 Common Redpoll (Acanthis flammea) SUMMARY: Whitefish Point is still laden down with two feet of snow and below [...]
White-winged Scoters by Skye Haas Greetings! Here is the last Whitefish Point Sightings Report for the spring 2017 season. But first I just want to thank and congratulate the WPBO staff for their hard work and long hours that they put in this season. From freezing temperatures to hordes of biting insects, the [...]
Greetings! The season here at Whitefish is rapidly coming to a close, though we are still a little puzzled as to where some of the birds are yet. It’s been a great migration for many species, but warblers have still been low numbers and vireos and flycatchers have been near absent so far. What little [...]
