2022 Raptor Count

Memorial Day Finale

With almost 350 visitors to the Hawk Deck over the holiday weekend, the last few days of the season felt like one big parade with humans far outnumbering all the hawks I counted over the same period. Many of the visitors who come to Whitefish Point are birders who understand the concept of migration [...]

2022-08-12T09:37:26-04:00May 31st, 2022|Migration Counts|Comments Off on Memorial Day Finale

Fly Fast, Die Hard

Tuesday, May 9, the big Sharp-shinned Hawk push happened. That day, your friendly neighborhood raptor counter tallied 1,443 sharpies. I believe it is safe to say that I look forward to the big sharpie day more than any other day during migration; it is simply chaos on wings. The counting is continuous, complex, and [...]

2022-08-12T09:41:02-04:00May 17th, 2022|Migration Counts|Comments Off on Fly Fast, Die Hard

Hawk-cyclone

Oh, what a sight to behold! On unseen currents they spin, flashing like silversides in the sun, Broad-winged Hawks numbering in the thousands. Twisting, turning, gliding, and churning, higher and higher, they rise and blossom into a great mushroom cloud at an unimaginable altitude. They fill the sky as they funnel out to find [...]

2022-08-12T09:45:01-04:00May 10th, 2022|Migration Counts|Comments Off on Hawk-cyclone

Woke Up This Morning

I woke up this morning and brewed my coffee extra strong. My head was still reeling from a whirlwind weekend of raptors and visitors brought up to Whitefish Point by sunny skies, favorable winds, and warmer temperatures that reached way up into the 40s! Yet, before I even opened my eyes, I was seeing [...]

2022-08-12T09:46:44-04:00May 3rd, 2022|Migration Counts|Comments Off on Woke Up This Morning

Silence

This morning is different. Somehow my senses seem sharper, the world around me is magnified, and I am able to take in everything at once. Yes, the snow has stopped. Yes, it is warmer; the mercury in the thermometer has risen to 34 degrees Fahrenheit. Fog filters through the spruce forest, shrouding the snow-covered [...]

2022-08-12T09:52:48-04:00April 5th, 2022|Migration Counts|Comments Off on Silence
Go to Top