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 Vince Cavalieri for alerting the WPBO staff.)
Early the next morning, May 1, I could hardly believe my luck when this bird flew around the tip of Whitefish Point as I was conducting the waterbird count!
Later that day, an American Avocet in breeding plumage appeared over the beach at the point, to the delight of several birders who had not yet abandoned the beach for the better hawk viewing on the hawk watch deck. This large, colorful shorebird considered dropping into the pond that has formed on the beach near the tip, but instead flew on down the bayshore and out of sight — until Alec Lindsay, alerted to keep an eye out for it, spotted it as it continued flying south past the Tahquamenon River mouth.
This capped a pretty good weekend for waterbird viewing at the point, with a total of 132 Common Loons and 40 Red-throated Loons on Saturday, and 77 Common Loons on Sunday. Quite a few people were able to view cooperative Red-necked Grebes swimming on Lake Superior as well and the season’s first White-winged Scoters were a crowd-pleaser.
