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!

Spring 2016 Waterbird Count Summary

Here are the totals for all of the waterbirds counted during the standardized 8-hour count at Whitefish Point in Spring 2016 (April 15 – May 31): 1 Snow Goose 3697 Canada Goose (above average seasonal total) 4 Trumpeter Swan 3 Trumpeter/Tundra Swan 18 Wood Duck 4 Gadwall 1 Eurasian Wigeon (first WPBO record; present at [...]

2016-08-15T13:55:37-04:00August 15th, 2016|Migration Counts|Comments Off on Spring 2016 Waterbird Count Summary
Read More

Penultimate Stretch

Young, dark Red-tailed Hawk. photo by Ted Keyel Hello Everyone! Things have been going pretty well from the hawkdeck. On May 19th, we witnessed our largest Broad-winged Hawk kettle so far this season, with 440 birds. We have still been seeing a lot of Red-tailed Hawks and the majority are young birds. There [...]

2016-05-21T19:40:56-04:00May 21st, 2016|Migration Counts|Comments Off on Penultimate Stretch
Read More

Scoter Flights, Morning and Evening

White-winged and Surf Scoters, May 19, 2016. Photo by Ted Keyel. After many days of north winds, a break in the weather a few days ago gave us a big push of migrating waterbirds,  most notably scoters. On May 19, there were 254 White-winged Scoters counted during the morning, almost all before 10 a.m. There [...]

2016-05-21T01:21:38-04:00May 21st, 2016|Migration Counts|Comments Off on Scoter Flights, Morning and Evening
Read More

Shorebird diversity picking up

Shorebird diversity at the point has been on the upswing the last few days, with Black-bellied Plover and Short-billed Dowitcher seen flying past the tip on Wednesday, May 11, and Semipalmated Plover and Dunlin spotted on May 12. While these species have already been seen in numbers downstate, it is always special to see them [...]

2016-05-12T16:51:05-04:00May 12th, 2016|Migration Counts|Comments Off on Shorebird diversity picking up
Read More

Sharpies and Swainson’s

Sharp-shinned Hawk, photo by Ted Keyel Hello everyone, We have been having some great days at the hawkwatch, despite still not having a single day with southwest winds. While the winds may not be perfect, we have still been seeing some great overall diversity, with 16 species of raptors passing by in the [...]

2016-05-11T12:33:53-04:00May 11th, 2016|Migration Counts|Comments Off on Sharpies and Swainson’s
Read More

Red-throated Loons!

May 8 was a great day to experience Red-throated Loon migration at Whitefish Point. Flocks of as many as 12 birds flew by several times, and were observed not only from the waterbird count site, but from the parking lot and the hawk deck! One flock of four that flew over the lakeshore by the [...]

2016-05-09T05:29:59-04:00May 9th, 2016|Migration Counts|Comments Off on Red-throated Loons!
Read More

Exciting orange-headed waterbirds cap Spring Fling weekend

On Saturday evening, after enjoying Cameron Cox's captivating program on identifying waterbirds in flight, and a standout meal at the Spring Fling banquet in Paradise, dozens of birders were treated to the sight of a stunning male Eurasian Wigen found later that  evening at the mouth of the Tahquamenon River. (Thanks to Robert Bochenek for spotting the bird, and to [...]

2016-05-03T07:04:03-04:00May 3rd, 2016|Migration Counts|Comments Off on Exciting orange-headed waterbirds cap Spring Fling weekend
Read More

Mid-April Raptors

Hello everyone! Sharp-shinned Hawk, Photo by Ted Keyel After a few days with warm weather, south winds and some great flights, things have quieted down a little. That said, Sharp-shinned Hawks continue to put on a show, with multiple days over triple digits.  We also saw our first Broad-winged Hawks, Osprey and Peregrine [...]

2016-04-25T20:55:23-04:00April 25th, 2016|Migration Counts|Comments Off on Mid-April Raptors
Read More

Loon numbers looking up!

This weekend saw an increase in the numbers of both Common and Red-throated Loons at Whitefish Point. On Saturday, April 23, a few lucky visitors witnessed a flock of three Red-throated Loons fly right over the waterbird shack! That day's loon totals were four Red-throated and six Common. Numbers of both greatly increased on Sunday, April [...]

2016-04-24T22:26:45-04:00April 24th, 2016|Migration Counts|Comments Off on Loon numbers looking up!
Read More
Go to Top