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!

Raptor Count Week 10 Update (5.14–5.20)

The tip of Whitefish Point was enveloped in heavy fog for most of May 17 and 18. The morning of May 17 was bright and sunny, and a large kettle of Broad-winged Hawks began forming west of the deck. Low clouds already obscured a part of it, and then fog rolled in from the [...]

2024-05-21T10:53:50-04:00May 21st, 2024|Migration Counts, Raptor Count|Comments Off on Raptor Count Week 10 Update (5.14–5.20)
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Waterbird Count Week 5 Update (5/9-5/15)

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 [...]

2024-05-16T10:23:08-04:00May 16th, 2024|Migration Counts, Waterbird Count|Comments Off on Waterbird Count Week 5 Update (5/9-5/15)
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Raptor Count Week 9 Update (5.07–5.13)

Whitefish Point is a great place to learn the immature plumages of the Bald Eagle. Several immature eagles are often seen over the area daily; they are one, two, three, or possibly four years old. Naturally, no juveniles (a bird in its first plumage) are observed in the spring; they have not hatched or [...]

2024-05-14T09:15:48-04:00May 14th, 2024|Migration Counts, Raptor Count|Comments Off on Raptor Count Week 9 Update (5.07–5.13)
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Waterbird Count Week 4 Update (5/2-5/8)

Plenty of birds have been migrating this week. Most days saw triple-digit numbers of loons, although none beat last week's high count. Many ducks seem to be tapering off this week, with only a handful of dabblers and scaup being seen each day. May 3 saw the biggest push of Bufflehead for the season, [...]

2024-05-09T09:24:29-04:00May 9th, 2024|Migration Counts, Waterbird Count|Comments Off on Waterbird Count Week 4 Update (5/2-5/8)
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Raptor Count Week 8 Update (4.30–5.06)

On the morning of May 4, I spotted large flocks of birds high in the air on the way to the observation deck — they were Blue Jays migrating over the Point in the hundreds. I don't believe I have ever seen that many Blue Jays at once! Immature Sharp-shinned Hawk. Photo by [...]

2024-05-08T15:02:45-04:00May 7th, 2024|Migration Counts, Raptor Count|Comments Off on Raptor Count Week 8 Update (4.30–5.06)
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Waterbird Count Week 3 Update (4/25-5/1)

It's been a busy week for waterbirds! Despite the rainy weather, we have seen several big pushes over the last week. April 27 saw what will probably be the biggest push of scaup this season, with 656 birds (mostly Greater Scaup) passing the Point. This week also saw increasing numbers of White-winged Scoters as well as the season's first Surf [...]

2024-05-08T15:03:24-04:00May 2nd, 2024|Migration Counts, Waterbird Count|Comments Off on Waterbird Count Week 3 Update (4/25-5/1)
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Raptor Count Week 7 Update (4.23–4.29)

The week of April 23 to 29, we had highs and lows. As many as 1,024 raptors (most of them Broad-winged Hawks) were observed at the Point on April 25, and as few as nine on April 29. Wind direction seems to be the decisive factor on most days. For example, on April 27, [...]

2024-05-08T15:04:35-04:00April 30th, 2024|Migration Counts, Raptor Count|Comments Off on Raptor Count Week 7 Update (4.23–4.29)
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Waterbird Count Week 2 Update (4/18-4/24)

Waterbirds are on the move! After several days of bad winds, April 23 finally brought some decent winds out of the south, bringing in some decent numbers of birds. On that day, 255 Greater Scaups, 108 Red-necked Grebes, 81 Common Loons, 24 Red-throated Loons, and numerous other species flew past Whitefish Point on their [...]

2024-05-08T15:04:47-04:00April 25th, 2024|Migration Counts, Waterbird Count|Comments Off on Waterbird Count Week 2 Update (4/18-4/24)
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Raptor Count Week 6 Update (4.16–4.22)

The morning of April 22 looked very promising! Sharp-shinned Hawks flew through the area almost nonstop from 9 to 11 a.m. The Broad-winged Hawks finally arrived in some numbers, and by noon, they formed a kettle of around 100 birds. Soon, the kettle moved away in the northeast direction, and only a handful of [...]

2024-05-08T15:04:29-04:00April 23rd, 2024|Migration Counts, Raptor Count|Comments Off on Raptor Count Week 6 Update (4.16–4.22)
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Waterbird Count Week 1 Update (4/15-4/17)

We are only a couple of days into the spring waterbird count and have already seen some significant movement at the Point. The first day of the count saw what is probably the last major push of Sandhill Cranes, 3,198 of them in a single day. The vast majority of the birds moved through [...]

2024-05-08T15:04:54-04:00April 18th, 2024|Migration Counts, Waterbird Count|Comments Off on Waterbird Count Week 1 Update (4/15-4/17)
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