Migration Counts

Marbled Godwit by Skye Haas The last week has been a good one for seeing big shorebirds at Whitefish Point. On May 22, not only did flocks of Whimbrel totaling 184 birds fly past the point, but we were twice visited by individual Marbled Godwits. The first flew by with a flock [...]

Saturday was the eBird-sponsored Global Big Day, and the hawks here at Whitefish Point made it a big one. I've already done well for Broad-winged Hawk this season -- earlier this week they usurped second place from previous number two, Red-tailed -- but with today's spectacle their season total has just about doubled! When nine o'clock rolled [...]

Yikes! I have some catching up to do with this blog! Here are some highlights from this May so far, beginning with the most recent: May 11 – A good morning flight of Long-tailed Ducks, with 325 passing by within the first three hours after sunrise. Morning clouds made for good viewing to the southeast [...]

With a total of 6,585 counted by the end of April, Sharp-shinned Hawks are the most common species for the first half of hawk count. Chart generated at https://dunkadoo.org/project/wpbo-hawk-count May is here and the hawk count at Whitefish Point is just past the halfway point. Snowdrifts are suddenly difficult to find, even in [...]

Tuesday, April 25 started out with several reasonably close flocks of Greater Scaup flying past the tip of Whitefish Point. All but one of the five Lesser Scaup seen that day were nestled in these flocks of Greaters, making this tricky identification task a bit easier. While dabbling ducks were in short supply, a pair [...]

Action on the hawk deck has completely exploded in the past week! With the arrival of our first Ospreys on the 19th, Broad-wings on the 22nd, and the thrilling addition of Swainson's Hawk on the 24th, we've now detected all of the raptor species one expects in a spring season here at Whitefish Point. This spectacular [...]

The waterbird count has been picking up steam over the last week with several new arrivals in just the last few days. Today (April 24) we saw the first Caspian Terns of the season and the first White-winged Scoter. Numbers of other species have been picking up too, such as Red-necked Grebe, 79 of which [...]

A season-high nine Golden Eagles, including the one pictured here, were counted on Saturday April 8th. Photo by Gary Palmer. Toward the end of last week, after a taste of warm, springy, sun-filled days, Whitefish Point got hit with a few of north winds so strong they shook my shack as I huddled [...]

Rough-legged Hawk by Skye Haas Since my last post things have begun really heating up at the point! In the past week three new raptors have been added to our season totals. March 29th brought a pair of Rough-legged Hawks, and the first Turkey Vulture finally appeared on the 30th. Surprisingly, after their [...]

March, as I have been learning firsthand, can be a rather hit-or-miss time on the hawk deck. Diurnal migration is highly dependent on prevailing weather conditions, especially when it comes to early season short-distance migrants. The best conditions for a strong hawk Golden Eagle photo by Skye Haas. flight here are warm, sunny days, [...]