WPBO Waterbird Counter

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So far WPBO Waterbird Counter has created 50 blog entries.

Waterbird Count Week 2 (April 22-28): Bird Time

At WPBO, we measure things less by day or date than we do by seasonal happenings. See, for example: “The day the snow slid off the roof;” “The night the spring peepers began to sing;” “The day the sky was full of cranes and their voices.” Instead of observing Daylight Savings Time, the owl [...]

2022-08-12T09:48:14-04:00April 29th, 2022|Migration Counts|Comments Off on Waterbird Count Week 2 (April 22-28): Bird Time

Waterbird Count Week 1 (15-21 April): The Welcomings

This is my third spring conducting WPBO’s spring waterbird count. I am delighted to be back, for I love Whitefish Point, and in particular, I love observing spring migration here. The season is short, the flights intense, the hours of migration run around the clock. With the whole season ahead of me, there is [...]

2022-08-12T09:50:34-04:00April 22nd, 2022|Migration Counts|Comments Off on Waterbird Count Week 1 (15-21 April): The Welcomings

The Tale of Two Birds

With the waterbird migration count winding down and in its final days, I just want to say how much of a pleasure it's been to take you all on this adventure with me. You know, to be certain, this has been quite an interesting season, and I've learned a lot about birds, migration, and [...]

2021-06-01T10:54:38-04:00May 29th, 2021|Migration Counts|Comments Off on The Tale of Two Birds

Diamonds on a Sapphire Sea

For countless hours I stand vigil on the windswept beach of Whitefish Point; my only shelter, the weather-beaten Shack. This season has often looked like this picture, a high sun casting a sparkling glare across the water in front of me. Scan after scan, my eyes set to maximum power, searching the horizon for [...]

2021-06-01T10:55:33-04:00May 20th, 2021|Migration Counts|Comments Off on Diamonds on a Sapphire Sea

Beautiful Noise

Happy migration, folks! Now you may be wondering, "What's with the title of this blog, 'Beautiful Noise?'" Isn't this supposed to be about waterbirds and waterbird migration? Isn't what I do, counting birds, all visual? Well, not exactly. Migration and bird ID is much more than just what an observer can pick up visually. [...]

2022-01-12T13:57:27-05:00May 13th, 2021|Migration Counts|Comments Off on Beautiful Noise

Migration…Oh the Places We’ll Go!

Migration is really an awe-inspiring thing when you get down to it. Myriad and multitudes of birds, all different shapes and sizes, migrate from their wintering grounds to their summer breeding grounds. Many birds undertake migrations of many hundreds or thousands of miles, and we can only wonder how the birds do it? Some [...]

2021-06-01T10:57:06-04:00May 6th, 2021|Migration Counts|Comments Off on Migration…Oh the Places We’ll Go!

There’s this word, zugunruhe. It means migratory restlessness, and it looks like dozens of Common Nighthawks streaming north across Lake Superior at dusk. It sounds like the wild cries of the Whimbrel flocks that raced north over the Point this week. It feels like the predictable late-season wanderings my brain embarks on. Food and shelter [...]

2020-05-30T15:32:35-04:00May 30th, 2020|Migration Counts|Comments Off on

Night Flight: Waterbird Count Update 5/16-5/22

Ahhh, the end of May — the mornings get earlier, and the nights get later; the sleep deprivation builds like the crescendoing peeper chorus back in the woods. One of the wonderful trials towards the end of the spring waterbird count is the phenomena of the evening waterbird flight. Though the end-of-season weariness is settling [...]

2020-05-26T12:31:22-04:00May 23rd, 2020|Migration Counts|Comments Off on Night Flight: Waterbird Count Update 5/16-5/22

Bad Weather, Good Birding: WPBO Waterbird Count Update May 9-15

There are two types of bad weather at Whitefish Point: bad weather with good birds, and bad weather with no birds. Yesterday (May 14), finally, the sky started spitting shorebirds. Yes, the sky also was spitting (and at times, pouring) 38-degree rain for the entire 8-hour count, but that is the typical tradeoff for a [...]

2020-05-18T10:54:14-04:00May 15th, 2020|Migration Counts|Comments Off on Bad Weather, Good Birding: WPBO Waterbird Count Update May 9-15
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