I am happy to announce that spring has arrived to Whitefish Point, in earnest! The tipping point has been coming for a while, and the combination of some warmer days and southerly winds really opened the floodgates of April migration. April 8th was nothing to write home about, except for a lone adult American [...]
The first week of April is a time of great anticipation. If the weather cooperates, massive early raptor flights can occur; if the weather does not cooperate, it can be reminiscent of March. This year, we were somewhere right in the middle, with a couple of days of decent flight and a few early [...]
The first month of hawk watching at Whitefish Point this season has drawn to a close. Let's take a look back to see how the numbers from the last two weeks stack up! Turkey Vulture (1): The first vulture of the year was spotted on March 27, and vulture dances immediately commenced. It is [...]
The second week of the Raptor Count was a fairly chilly one, but productive! The largest flight of the week occurred on March 18, with a total of 40 raptors! Eagles led the charge; 15 Bald Eagles powered by, and 14 Golden Eagles spent quite a bit of time wandering up and down the [...]
New Beginnings: Happy Spring! My name is Sean McLaughlin, and I will serve as the 2025 Raptor Counter at Whitefish Point Bird Observatory (WPBO). Like previous counters, I will provide a weekly blog with updates and news regarding hawk migration along eastern Lake Superior! The count began on March 15 with somewhat favorable ESE [...]
The 2024 WPBO Raptor Count is drawing to an end. Although the last day of count is May 31, the four remaining days are unlikely to change the overall picture as the hawk flight significantly slowed down this week. The Sharp-shinned Hawks are almost through, with only a handful still recorded daily, and some [...]
The tip of Whitefish Point was enveloped in heavy fog for most of May 17 and 18. The morning of May 17 was bright and sunny, and a large kettle of Broad-winged Hawks began forming west of the deck. Low clouds already obscured a part of it, and then fog rolled in from the [...]
Whitefish Point is a great place to learn the immature plumages of the Bald Eagle. Several immature eagles are often seen over the area daily; they are one, two, three, or possibly four years old. Naturally, no juveniles (a bird in its first plumage) are observed in the spring; they have not hatched or [...]
On the morning of May 4, I spotted large flocks of birds high in the air on the way to the observation deck — they were Blue Jays migrating over the Point in the hundreds. I don't believe I have ever seen that many Blue Jays at once! Immature Sharp-shinned Hawk. Photo by [...]
The week of April 23 to 29, we had highs and lows. As many as 1,024 raptors (most of them Broad-winged Hawks) were observed at the Point on April 25, and as few as nine on April 29. Wind direction seems to be the decisive factor on most days. For example, on April 27, [...]
