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

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!

WPBO Waterbird Count May 13-19 2022

Spring migration has this accompanying urgency: many of the shorebirds and waterfowl that pass WPBO’s waterbird count are headed to arctic tundra. Up there, the days are long — but the season is short: the span of days within which to establish a territory and raise up the next generation is acutely finite. Accordingly, migration [...]

2022-08-12T09:40:25-04:00May 20th, 2022|Migration Counts|Comments Off on WPBO Waterbird Count May 13-19 2022
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Fly Fast, Die Hard

Tuesday, May 9, the big Sharp-shinned Hawk push happened. That day, your friendly neighborhood raptor counter tallied 1,443 sharpies. I believe it is safe to say that I look forward to the big sharpie day more than any other day during migration; it is simply chaos on wings. The counting is continuous, complex, and [...]

2022-08-12T09:41:02-04:00May 17th, 2022|Migration Counts|Comments Off on Fly Fast, Die Hard
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Waterbird Count Update: May 6-12

This past week at the waterbird count has represented the longest stretch of favorable migration conditions I’ve ever experienced at WPBO: there have been no sustained periods of strong north winds; no lasting fog. Not surprisingly, the birding has been favorable, too! It feels like we’re on the cusp of the peak scoter, Long-tailed [...]

2022-08-12T09:44:26-04:00May 13th, 2022|Migration Counts|Comments Off on Waterbird Count Update: May 6-12
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Hawk-cyclone

Oh, what a sight to behold! On unseen currents they spin, flashing like silversides in the sun, Broad-winged Hawks numbering in the thousands. Twisting, turning, gliding, and churning, higher and higher, they rise and blossom into a great mushroom cloud at an unimaginable altitude. They fill the sky as they funnel out to find [...]

2022-08-12T09:45:01-04:00May 10th, 2022|Migration Counts|Comments Off on Hawk-cyclone
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Loons on the Move! Waterbird Count April 29–May 5

The most exciting event at WPBO's waterbird count this week has been the big loon push. This is, for me, a favorite part of spring. The loons are the vanguards of the opening migration floodgates. They signal the onset of a month that passes — like the white wedge on the outer limits of [...]

2022-08-12T09:46:10-04:00May 6th, 2022|Migration Counts|Comments Off on Loons on the Move! Waterbird Count April 29–May 5
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Woke Up This Morning

I woke up this morning and brewed my coffee extra strong. My head was still reeling from a whirlwind weekend of raptors and visitors brought up to Whitefish Point by sunny skies, favorable winds, and warmer temperatures that reached way up into the 40s! Yet, before I even opened my eyes, I was seeing [...]

2022-08-12T09:46:44-04:00May 3rd, 2022|Migration Counts|Comments Off on Woke Up This Morning
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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
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The Times They Are a-Changing

After weeks of staring at largely lackluster skies, the last few days have, without a doubt, proved that migration is fully underway here at Whitefish Point. Not only is your friendly neighborhood raptor counter seeing more raptors, but I also see more bare ground after rains, and warmer temperatures have melted much of the [...]

2022-08-12T09:49:00-04:00April 26th, 2022|Migration Counts|Comments Off on The Times They Are a-Changing
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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
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The Blue and the Gray

The snow falls sideways here at Whitefish Point. Two miles down the road, I can look out my bedroom window and see a light snowfall drifting out of the sky, and it's the kind of snowfall that makes me think I am living inside the idyllic world of a snow globe. However, when I [...]

2022-08-12T09:51:17-04:00April 19th, 2022|Migration Counts|Comments Off on The Blue and the Gray
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