As we rounded the second official week of the spring waterbird count, the signs of spring continue to show themselves. This is indicated by the disappearance of much of the ice along the shoreline and the influx of waterbirds taking advantage of these open waters. This was noticeable on April 22 when a Long-tailed [...]
Welcome back as we kick off another year at the spring waterbird count! This is Aaron Graham reporting, and I am thrilled for my first season at Whitefish Point as this year’s spring waterbird counter. I have been doing migratory counts for several seasons now with this being my first strictly waterbird count. Counting [...]
The 2025 fall waterbird count at Whitefish Point has officially ended. The last few days of counting were a reminder of why the season ends when it does. With just a few waterbirds moving, it’s encouraging to think that we have successfully documented the bulk of waterbird migration moving past the point this fall. Even [...]
The gradual changing of the seasons at Whitefish Point is reaching its finale. The dunes and beach grasses are now covered in snow, with the sand beneath only visible where footprints leave tracks. There was an influx of visitors on Monday for the 50th anniversary of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Parked cars lined the road [...]
This week on the count, we closed out October and ushered in November just in time for a stiff northerly breeze to set in. The first two days of the count were fairly calm and slow for waterbirds, with the highlight being a Parasitic Jaeger that we got to watch harassing the gulls for [...]
A three-day cold front set in at the beginning of the week, producing three fun days of late-season waterbird movement. Each day was a little bit different, but as the winds switched southward towards the end of the week, we were left enjoying large flocks of winter finches and Snow Buntings with fewer waterbirds [...]
The weather this week continued to be pretty mild with warm conditions and frequent south winds. Things got mixed up a bit on the 19th with a rush of 20-30mph NW winds, but even these conditions didn’t quite bring the scoters and Long-tailed Ducks we’ve been waiting for. White-winged Scoter with Red-breasted Mergansers. [...]
This week on the waterbird count, we had it all. There were big flights of diving ducks, a trickle of scoters and Long-tailed Ducks, three different Sabine's Gulls, Harlequin Ducks, and a thrilling Whitefish Point rarity! The first of two great Aythya flights this week was on the morning of 10/8. It was our [...]
October started with a bang at Whitefish Point. Early in the week, we had a continuation of warm weather and southerly winds. Even with these conditions, some waterbirds were moving, including a couple of very notable arrivals. Then on October 6, the temperature dropped nearly 25 degrees and the wind started blowing out of [...]
Numbers are picking up at the waterbird count! We’ve had 18 species of ducks this week and multiple days with over a thousand individuals. The bulk of the birds have been Greater Scaup, Redhead, American Wigeon, and Northern Pintail. The composition of the duck flocks can change day to day, and often the birds [...]
