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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
The gales buffeted the hawk shack for hours, and out on the deck, they rendered my spotting scope useless as it vibrated whatever I was seeing through it beyond recognition. However, it turned out that the scene unfolding before my eyes was best viewed through my own eyes. Optics of any kind only diminished [...]
In my blog last week, you may recall that I wished for one final push of Broad-winged Hawks. I am happy to report that my wish came true. On the very next day, I counted 780 broad-wings, and by the last day of the count (yesterday), I added another 400 to the season total. [...]
Rough-legged Hawk! Yes, indeed, this beautiful buteo will be taking home the Copper Kettle, our illustrious and in every way, non-existent, totally made-up, Raptor of the Season award. While not an actual award, an old, unusable kettle at the field house could easily be repurposed for just such an honor. With raptor migration winding [...]
To some people, bird identification can seem like a mystical art. Those who master it have gleaned their knowledge from studying the arcane lore of bird ID, leafing through dusty tomes called field guides far into the wee hours of the morning. These masters have journeyed to distant lands, sought the unseekable, and made [...]
Well, folks, it finally happened. Sharp-shinned Hawks dominated the skies, with nearly 3,000 birds zipping past the hawk deck this past weekend. Days like these are what hawk counters live for, and as each hawk passes, it takes with it a bit of the memory of hours upon hours of staring at the empty [...]
I am sure you have heard the expression "a picture is worth a thousand words" but, have you ever asked yourself how much a picture costs? These days, I am just as likely to see a person carrying a camera up to the hawk deck as I am likely to see a person carrying [...]
Last week was a stellar week for raptor migration here at Whitefish Point — a week that predicted nothing but rain turned into a week of nothing but birds, birds, and more birds! Rough-legged and Red-tailed Hawks came in the hundreds, peaking on Saturday with over 500 Red-tailed Hawks in the sky at one [...]
