Here is the moment you have been waiting for- the results of the WPBO 2017 Birdathon are in! The WPBO staff, along with our good friend and volunteer Elliot Nelson scoured Chippewa County last Saturday the 27th for as many species of birds as we could find to raise money for the research programs here at Whitefish Point Bird Observatory. Picking a date to run Birdathon is always tricky as the species diversity we depend on for generating a big total is highly dependent on the weather and the amount of incoming migrants to the area the night before. So we hmm’d and haw’d and consulted the auguries (Weather Underground I mean…) and decided that the forecast of south winds and incoming warm frontal system without too much wet weather associated with it was going to be our best bet. The day before had seen a prefrontal movement of songbirds in- it all looked very promising for good migration!
Except as it turned out, it was the wrong kind of migration! It was the kind of migration that sent birds away but brought no replacements to us! The day started very promising with Chris and Nova banding several Northern Saw-whet and Long-eared Owls as well as Elliot finding what would be the bird of the day, a singing Nelson’s Sparrow in the marsh at Munuscong Bay! However as Louie and Skye were soon to discover, there were very few migrants at the Point itself. Louie maintained his count at the beach while Skye & Gary headed into the bog country of Tahquamenon Falls State Park to try and dig out boreal breeding species. Luck was with them at first as they quickly bumped into a Spruce Grouse, the only one of the day. A few more northern bog birds were encountered like the only Palm and Canada Warblers of the day but it was time to get the hawk count started so Gary headed back to the Point. The Hawk Deck had a modest selection of raptors, and late in the day a pair of Red Crossbills flew over. Out at the beach, there were hardly any waterbirds flying by, but a handful of shorebirds were present and Louie snagged a Red-headed Woodpecker!
Not only our only one of these handsome birds for the day, but it ended up being the only one this entire field season. Surprisingly, neither the Red-bellied or Black-backed Woodpeckers that had been around the last few days could be foundBut as the day went along, and we kept digging and digging, birds kept finding themselves on our big day list. Elliot did rather well in the farm country of eastern Chippewa, tallying in such goodies like Sharp-tailed Grouse, Upland Sandpiper and Le Conte’s Sparrow, while the WPBO staff ended up getting treated to a big Whimbrel flight at dusk with hundreds of these arctic nesting curlews migrating by.
In all, we were pleasantly surprised to tally in 152 species, only four less than last year’s total. Not bad and a testimony to how birdy Chippewa County is even on a “slow day”. We all had fun with it, and although we had visions of multi-species warbler flocks dancing in the jack pines before us, getting to end the count with a big Whimbrel movement was a great way to cap the day. I’m just left with one question- how on earth did we not get a White-crowned Sparrow?! They were present at the feeders every day for two weeks before Birdathon, and showed right back up the next day through the end of the season. What’cha gonna do? But I do want to give a mighty thank you to everyone who donated to Birdathon, and your contribution is valuable to supporting the research projects here at Whitefish Point Bird Observatory! And of course, if you wanted to contribute, but never got around to it, it’s still not too late! You can visit here to make a contribution. Again thank you for all the support!
And of course the list of birds seen.
1 | Canada Goose |
2 | Mute Swan |
3 | Wood Duck |
4 | Gadwall |
5 | American Wigeon |
6 | Mallard |
7 | Blue-winged Teall |
8 | Northern Shoveler |
9 | Green-winged Teal |
10 | Canvasback |
11 | Lesser Scaup |
12 | White-winged Scoter |
13 | Common Goldeneye |
14 | Hooded Merganser |
15 | Common Merganser |
16 | Ruffed Grouse |
17 | Spruce Grouse |
18 | Sharp-tailed Grouse |
19 | Wild Turkey |
20 | Red-throated Loon |
21 | Common Loon |
22 | Pied-billed Grebe |
23 | Red-necked Grebe |
24 | Double-crested Cormorant |
25 | American Bittern |
26 | Great Blue Heron |
27 | Black-crowned Night-Heron |
28 | Turkey Vulture |
29 | Northern Harrier |
30 | Sharp-shinned Hawk |
31 | Bald Eagle |
32 | Broad-winged Hawk |
33 | Red-tailed Hawk |
34 | Rough-legged Hawk |
35 | Virginia Rail |
36 | Sora |
37 | Sandhill Crane |
38 | Black-bellied Plover |
39 | Semipalmated Plover |
40 | Piping Plover |
41 | Killdeer |
42 | Upland Sandpiper |
43 | Whimbrel |
44 | Ruddy Turnstone |
45 | Sanderling |
46 | Dunlin |
47 | White-rumped Sandpiper |
48 | Semipalmated Sandpiper |
49 | Wilson’s Snipe |
50 | American Woodcock |
51 | Spotted Sandpiper |
52 | Lesser Yellowlegs |
53 | Bonaparte’s Gull |
54 | Ring-billed Gull |
55 | Herring Gull |
56 | Caspian Tern |
57 | Black Tern |
58 | Common Tern |
59 | Rock Pigeon |
60 | Mourning Dove |
61 | Black-billed Cuckoo |
62 | Long-eared Owl |
63 | Northern Saw-whet Owl |
64 | Eastern Whip-poor-will |
65 | Common Nighthawk |
66 | Chimney Swift |
67 | Ruby-throated Hummingbird |
68 | Belted Kingfisher |
69 | Red-headed Woodpecker |
70 | Yellow-bellied Sapsucker |
71 | Northern Flicker |
72 | Downy Woodpecker |
73 | Hairy Woodpecker |
74 | American Kestrel |
75 | Merlin |
76 | Eastern Wood-Pewee |
77 | Alder Flycatcher |
78 | Least Flycatcher |
79 | Eastern Phoebe |
80 | Great Crested Flycatcher |
81 | Eastern Kingbird |
82 | Horned Lark |
83 | Warbling Vireo |
84 | Philadelphia Vireo |
85 | Red-eyed Vireo |
86 | Blue Jay |
87 | American Crow |
88 | Common Raven |
89 | Tree Swallow |
90 | Barn Swallow |
91 | Cliff Swallow |
92 | Black-capped Chickadee |
93 | Red-breasted Nuthatch |
94 | Brown Creeper |
95 | House Wren |
96 | Winter Wren |
97 | Sedge Wren |
98 | Marsh Wren |
99 | Blue-gray Gnatcatcher |
100 | Golden-crowned Kinglet |
101 | Ruby-crowned Kinglet |
102 | Eastern Bluebird |
103 | Veery |
104 | Hermit Thrush |
105 | American Robin |
106 | Gray Catbird |
107 | Brown Thrasher |
108 | American Pipit |
109 | European Starling |
110 | Cedar Waxwing |
111 | Ovenbird |
112 | Northern Waterthrush |
113 | Golden-winged Warbler |
114 | Black-and-white Warbler |
115 | Nashville Warbler |
116 | Mourning Warbler |
117 | Common Yellowthroat |
118 | American Redstart |
119 | Northern Parula |
120 | Blackburian Warbler |
121 | Yellow Warbler |
122 | Chestnut-sided Warbler |
123 | Black-throated Blue Warbler |
124 | Palm Warbler |
125 | Yellow-rumped Warbler |
126 | Black-throated Green Warbler |
127 | Canada Warbler |
128 | Le Conte’s Sparrow |
129 | Nelson’s Sparrow |
130 | Chipping Sparrow |
131 | Clay-colored Sparrow |
132 | Dark-eyed Junco |
133 | White-throated Sparrow |
134 | Vesper Sparrow |
135 | Savannah Sparrow |
136 | Song Sparrow |
137 | Swamp Sparrow |
138 | Scarlet Tanager |
139 | Rose-breasted Grosbeak |
140 | Indigo Bunting |
141 | Bobolink |
142 | Red-winged Blackbird |
143 | Eastern Meadowlark |
144 | Brewer’s Blackbird |
145 | Common Grackle |
146 | Brown-headed Cowbird |
147 | Purple Finch |
148 | Red Crossbill |
149 | Pine Siskin |
150 | American Goldfinch |
151 | Evening Grosbeak |
152 | House Sparrow |