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!

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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Flight Lines: Waterbird Count May 2-8

Lines of ducks stream through the sky. By day, I search for them. (For most of the last week — a cheek-numbing stretch of demoralizing north winds — it’s seemed that I seek far more than I find.) Then, by night, when I close my eyes and drift off, the ducks reappear, twisting their way [...]

2020-05-12T14:02:01-04:00May 9th, 2020|Migration Counts|Comments Off on Flight Lines: Waterbird Count May 2-8
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The Fast and the Furious

The Sharp-shinned Hawk. Recently, I was asked what their name means. Seeing that "sharpies" (my preferred nom de plume) do have an awfully strange name, I found it to be a fine question, the answer to which is fairly straightforward. They have sharp shins. Granted, this does sound like a punchline to a corny joke, [...]

2020-05-05T10:00:46-04:00May 4th, 2020|Migration Counts|Comments Off on The Fast and the Furious
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Waterbird Count Update April 24-May 1

Loon migration at WPBO is currently approaching full throttle — today, May 1, I had what is, so far, the season’s highest daily counts of Common (277) and Red-throated (38). With weather and season being what they are, I anticipate that Common Loons will peak within the next few days. (Last year, that happened on [...]

2020-05-02T10:26:20-04:00May 1st, 2020|Migration Counts|Comments Off on Waterbird Count Update April 24-May 1
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North or Bust: Migration is on!

Four straight days of sunshine and superb raptor viewing has got me dancing jigs and whistling ditties on the ol' hawk deck. It truly would have been a perfect weekend to visit Whitefish Point for the annual Michigan Audubon Spring Fling, and probably one of the warmest and brightest in recent memory. Things have changed [...]

2020-04-28T08:55:32-04:00April 28th, 2020|Migration Counts|Comments Off on North or Bust: Migration is on!
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Spring Waterbird Count 2020: Elemental

At the staff house this week, there’s been an ongoing, friendly debate. Rich, WPBO’s hawk counter, believes that I, the waterbird counter, have the worse end of the weather deal. I don’t think that I do. While I am stationed on the windswept beach, it’s really not that bad. The waterbird shack — save for [...]

2020-04-27T10:44:58-04:00April 25th, 2020|Migration Counts|Comments Off on Spring Waterbird Count 2020: Elemental
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North Of The Wall

The trees speak. Through a concerted effort of mystical orchestration, they take the wind and turn its voice into their own. It is a language I cannot interpret; no matter how hard I try, the rustling of branches remains unfathomable, and the message simply dissipates in the breeze. Still, as I watch the horizon for [...]

2020-04-21T09:24:18-04:00April 20th, 2020|Migration Counts|Comments Off on North Of The Wall
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Spring Waterbird Count 2020: Overtures

Black coffee and bright wind maps: that’s how I start days, up here in Paradise. As I trace back towards the source of the colorful lines that flow past the Point, I imagine — and anticipate — the birds they might be ferrying. When this morning ritual is complete, I throw on my heavy layers [...]

2020-04-20T16:57:06-04:00April 18th, 2020|Migration Counts|Comments Off on Spring Waterbird Count 2020: Overtures
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