Migration Counts

The 2025 fall waterbird count at Whitefish Point has officially ended. The last few days of counting were a reminder of why the season ends when it does. With just a few waterbirds moving, it’s encouraging to think that we have successfully documented the bulk of waterbird migration moving past the point this fall. Even [...]

The gradual changing of the seasons at Whitefish Point is reaching its finale. The dunes and beach grasses are now covered in snow, with the sand beneath only visible where footprints leave tracks. There was an influx of visitors on Monday for the 50th anniversary of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Parked cars lined the road [...]

This week on the count, we closed out October and ushered in November just in time for a stiff northerly breeze to set in. The first two days of the count were fairly calm and slow for waterbirds, with the highlight being a Parasitic Jaeger that we got to watch harassing the gulls for [...]

A three-day cold front set in at the beginning of the week, producing three fun days of late-season waterbird movement. Each day was a little bit different, but as the winds switched southward towards the end of the week, we were left enjoying large flocks of winter finches and Snow Buntings with fewer waterbirds [...]

The weather this week continued to be pretty mild with warm conditions and frequent south winds. Things got mixed up a bit on the 19th with a rush of 20-30mph NW winds, but even these conditions didn’t quite bring the scoters and Long-tailed Ducks we’ve been waiting for. White-winged Scoter with Red-breasted Mergansers. [...]

This week on the waterbird count, we had it all. There were big flights of diving ducks, a trickle of scoters and Long-tailed Ducks, three different Sabine's Gulls, Harlequin Ducks, and a thrilling Whitefish Point rarity! The first of two great Aythya flights this week was on the morning of 10/8. It was our [...]

October started with a bang at Whitefish Point. Early in the week, we had a continuation of warm weather and southerly winds. Even with these conditions, some waterbirds were moving, including a couple of very notable arrivals. Then on October 6, the temperature dropped nearly 25 degrees and the wind started blowing out of [...]

Another week has passed at Whitefish Point, and we’re drawing closer to the peak season for waterbird movement. We had almost every kind of weather this week with still, sunny days full of heat shimmer to gusting SE winds with driving rain. We are waiting patiently for another cold front to bring us some ducks, [...]

This week on the waterbird count there were lots of South and East winds that kept waterbird numbers fairly low, with one exception. The big story for the week was the arrival of our migrant Canada Goose flocks. Before this week, we’d seen only 14 individuals. The floodgates opened just after sunrise on the [...]