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!

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
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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
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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
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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!
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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
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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
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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!
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Crazy Crane flights

The first several days of the waterbird count coincided with the biggest Sandhill Crane flights ever recorded at Whitefish Point. After a plague of bad weather that lasted for over two weeks, the cranes took advantage of the powerful warm fronts and migrated in huge flocks to the Point. What was striking to a few [...]

2016-04-21T07:53:23-04:00April 21st, 2016|Migration Counts|1 Comment
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Start of the Waterbird Count!

April 15th marked the beginning of the Waterbird Count for the 2016 Spring Season. The first birds recorded at day-break were three hen Hooded Mergansers, a species actually not recorded that frequently on this count. The rarity of the day was a flock of 4 Trumpeter Swans, this species has only been recorded a couple [...]

2016-04-20T23:39:48-04:00April 20th, 2016|Migration Counts|Comments Off on Start of the Waterbird Count!
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