Migration Counts

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, [...]

I've just finished my third day as the WPBO hawk counter -- what a fun job! Despite the mere trickle of raptors so far, I've been having a fantastic time spending my days up on the hawk deck. The first raptor of my season didn't come until the second day, but it was worth the [...]

The 2016 fall waterbird count was a record breaker! In terms of waterbird species, we broke the previous record of 80, with a season total of 82. In terms of numbers, we had the second highest count with 111,126. The major highlights of the count consisted of Ancient Murrelet, an eider, two Ruddy Ducks, Red [...]