Michigan Audubon Office: (517) 580-7364|birds@michiganaudubon.org
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Migration Counts

Seasonal staff at WPBO conduct waterbird counts in the spring and fall and a spring raptor count. During the seasons, counts are conducted daily. Raptor counts run March 15-May 31 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Waterbird counts run April 15-May 31 and August 15-November 15, 8 hours starting at dawn daily during each season. The Hawk Deck and Waterbird Shack are accessible to the public, and you can follow this blog to get regular updates during the counting seasons!

Raptor Count Week 6 Update (4.16–4.22)

The morning of April 22 looked very promising! Sharp-shinned Hawks flew through the area almost nonstop from 9 to 11 a.m. The Broad-winged Hawks finally arrived in some numbers, and by noon, they formed a kettle of around 100 birds. Soon, the kettle moved away in the northeast direction, and only a handful of [...]

2024-04-23T10:47:50-04:00April 23rd, 2024|Migration Counts|Comments Off on Raptor Count Week 6 Update (4.16–4.22)
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Waterbird Count Week 1 Update (4/15-4/17)

We are only a couple of days into the spring waterbird count and have already seen some significant movement at the Point. The first day of the count saw what is probably the last major push of Sandhill Cranes, 3,198 of them in a single day. The vast majority of the birds moved through [...]

2024-04-18T09:27:45-04:00April 18th, 2024|Migration Counts|Comments Off on Waterbird Count Week 1 Update (4/15-4/17)
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Raptor Count Week 5 Update (4.09–4.15)

The fifth week of the raptor count saw some dramatic rises and falls! On April 8 and 9, hawk migration intensified, with 141 Sharp-shinned Hawks recorded on the 8th and 312 Red-tailed Hawks on the 9th. Then the wind direction changed, and quite dramatically! Within less than 24 hours, the wind turned almost 180 [...]

2024-04-16T10:33:11-04:00April 16th, 2024|Migration Counts|Comments Off on Raptor Count Week 5 Update (4.09–4.15)
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Raptor Count Week 4 Update (4.02–4.08)

April 8 has yielded the highest raptor count so far this season: 369 birds! A kettle of about 100 Red-tailed Hawks formed west of the point, with individual hawks moving eastward towards the lake; most would circle back and rejoin the kettle. Interestingly, there were almost as many Rough-legged Hawks (75), including several dark [...]

2024-04-10T09:31:15-04:00April 9th, 2024|Migration Counts|Comments Off on Raptor Count Week 4 Update (4.02–4.08)
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Raptor Count Week 3 Update (3.26–4.01)

The third week of the hawk count saw highs and lows but culminated with 181 birds on April 1! The weather was unstable, with some cold and windy days when no raptors were seen and milder days when the kinder winds from the southwest brought the first Red-tailed Hawks! Four species made their first [...]

2024-04-02T10:33:10-04:00April 2nd, 2024|Migration Counts|Comments Off on Raptor Count Week 3 Update (3.26–4.01)
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Raptor Count Week 2 Update (3.19–3.25)

Bad weather tested the second week of the count. Drizzle, light rain, and drifting snow, coupled with strong northern and northwest winds, provided less-than-optimal conditions for observation on most days. On March 20, I had to interrupt the count because of whiteouts. Bald Eagles were the only regularly recorded species, with a few adults [...]

2024-03-26T14:49:26-04:00March 26th, 2024|Migration Counts|Comments Off on Raptor Count Week 2 Update (3.19–3.25)
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Raptor Count — Week 1 Update (3.15–3.18)

The dunes of Whitefish Point were free of snow on March 15. Photo by Michael Patrikeev The count started on a bright, sunny day with unseasonably mild temperatures of 40 F (6 C)! It was nice to see Lake Superior's turquoise and deep blue waters after many years spent away from the [...]

2024-03-19T15:48:34-04:00March 19th, 2024|Migration Counts|Comments Off on Raptor Count — Week 1 Update (3.15–3.18)
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Fall Waterbird Count – Week 14 Update (11.9-11.15)

The final week of the fall waterbird count! Migration continued to slowly but steadily taper off throughout the week. It was fairly slow number-wise with no large flights, but quite interesting nonetheless with light pushes of late-season species and a few unique rarities in town. A rainbow appeared over the Point on Nov. 9 [...]

2023-11-17T11:50:13-05:00November 16th, 2023|Migration Counts|Comments Off on Fall Waterbird Count – Week 14 Update (11.9-11.15)
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Fall Waterbird Count – Week 13 Update (11.2-11.8)

As the season slowly tapers down, this past week was highlighted by classic late-season waterbirds, several interesting rarities, and two strong storms over the past two days. The week started fairly slow on Nov. 2 and 3, with Common Goldeneye, Bufflehead, Long-tailed Ducks, and Red-breasted Mergansers being the primary movers. A great highlight was [...]

2023-11-09T09:59:01-05:00November 9th, 2023|Migration Counts|Comments Off on Fall Waterbird Count – Week 13 Update (11.2-11.8)
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Fall Waterbird Count – Week 12 Update (10.26-11.1)

This past week featured the first signs of the winter to come, with the first day of snow flurries on Oct. 28 and accumulating snow each day since Oct. 30. This made for some beautiful late fall scenes while walking through the pine woods out to the waterbird shack each morning. This week also [...]

2023-11-02T09:30:07-04:00November 2nd, 2023|Migration Counts|Comments Off on Fall Waterbird Count – Week 12 Update (10.26-11.1)
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