Migration Counts

With above-average temperatures and wind blowing to the north and northeast each day, we didn't see any significant pushes of waterbirds this week; however, we did continue to add some new species to our fall count, putting us at 40 waterbird species for the week. Most of the new waterbirds were diving ducks. We [...]

The fourth week of fall waterbird counting at Whitefish Point has wrapped up, and we’re starting to see some changes in the abundance of several waterbird migrants. While we’re still seeing a considerable amount of Red-necked Grebes moving along Lake Superior (288 this week), they are no longer the most numerous species on the [...]

While it was mostly quiet in terms of songbirds and raptors, it was an exciting week for waterbird counting at Whitefish Point! Due to passing storm fronts and winds shifting to the NW, we had some favorable conditions for migration over the weekend. The birds did not disappoint, with our highest two waterbird counts [...]

Things started to heat up during the second week of the fall waterbird count at Whitefish Point. While some species from the first week, such as Piping Plover, have already departed, the influx of several new species kept things interesting. We had 32 waterbird species pass by the Point over the past week: three [...]

The first week of the fall count at Whitefish Point has officially wrapped up, and the waterbirds are starting to move. We had 29 species of waterbird pass by the Point during our counts this week, with the most numerous being Red-necked Grebes. Our peak day for them was 8/18, when the winds started [...]

Spring migration is coming to a close at Whitefish Point, but that doesn't mean the excitement is gone. Waterbird numbers have begun to drop, with only loons, mergansers, geese, and some shorebirds being reliable each day. One of the highlights at the season's end has been large pushes of Whimbrels; the evening flight on [...]

It's been an exciting week at the Point, with many of our later migrants starting to hit hard and many of our irregular migrants starting to show up. Our second wave of Canada Geese is in full swing, with over 3,000 individuals being seen over the last three days. White-winged Scoters are still passing [...]

Prevailing north winds have kept this past week fairly slow, with little changing in terms of species diversity. The numbers of White-winged Scoters and Long-tailed Ducks are slowly increasing, with the number of loons and grebes slowly decreasing. Red-breasted Mergansers have also begun to move in pretty good numbers, with May 13 netting 440 [...]