It has been a busy week at Whitefish Point! Mid May is a very exciting time of year, as raptor flights can boil up into large kettles, passerine flights are large and diverse, and the chance for rare birds increases. We'll start with the raptors. "Peregrine Week" lived up to its name, with 19 [...]
There have been no Caracara sightings since last week, making for a much less exciting blog post this week. Spring marches ever on, but with a slightly different tone than before. Now, warbler song has begun to pepper in between bursts of Sharp-shinned Hawks, and Blue Jay flocks provide a dazzling backdrop against sunny [...]
April has come and gone, and May is here! While temps have barely reached a sweltering 50F, a few small patches of snow remain tucked in the shadows of the dunes. Overhead, migration rolls right along! The last few days of April only held a couple of meager Sharp-shinned Hawk and Broad-winged Hawk flights. [...]
This week has been the most exciting of the season thus far! One of the greatest tests of spring hawkwatching is the long wait for the explosion of raptor flight in late April. This year did not disappoint! We started the week off strong with a beautiful sunny day with light winds, which created [...]
Late April is always an exciting time at the Hawk Count, for this is the time that raptor diversity increases to the maximum and flights really build some steam. This week lived up to the call! We started off with a bang on the 14th with the first triple-digit Sharp-shinned Hawk flight of the [...]
I am happy to announce that enjoyable levels of bird migration have returned once again to the eastern shores of Lake Superior. After a dreadful beginning to the month, there was really pleasant migration each day this week. The 7th was a pleasantly sunny day, with plenty of soaring raptors enjoying the thermal development. [...]
The first week of April has been one of the most dismal I have ever seen. With just two days of weather resembling optimal migration weather, we did the most with what we had. There is still deep snow across most of the Upper Peninsula, and drifts at the point are as deep as [...]
March has just about drawn to a close, and the first month of the raptor count is wrapping up. It has been a tumultuous month, and the old phrase "in like a lion, out like a lamb" has held true at Whitefish Point. Despite several days of snow and unfavorable winds, the last week [...]
The first full week of the spring raptor count began as an exhausted winter storm departed the Point, leaving the dunes cloaked in a snowy shawl. In my first true view of the Jack Pine horizon and beyond, I was thrilled to watch a Golden Eagle emerge on March 17th, the first raptor of [...]
Welcome back to another season of raptor counting at Whitefish Point! My name is Sean McLaughlin, and I am thrilled to return as the Raptor Counter for my second season at the point. This spring is my 10th season counting birds professionally, and this career has carried me from the ridges of central Pennsylvania [...]
