After a string of several days where strong north winds stalled migration and kept yours truly huddling in the hawk shack trying to stay warm, the past four days have had a sweet south breeze, and along with warmer temperatures, it has brought birds! My first clue to this change in avian traffic was [...]
Many birders ask the question, "What bird do you see most from the hawk deck at Whitefish Point?" and while I do see many raptors, there is one bird that I see with more regularity than any other. This bird is with me from the beginning of the day to the end of the [...]
Hey there everybody! My name is Rich Couse, and I will be your friendly neighborhood hawk counter at the Whitefish Point Bird Observatory this spring. I'm back for my second spring hawk count for Michigan Audubon, and you can find me in the shack on the Hawk Deck way atop the sandy lakeshore dunes. [...]
Seasons take on their own forms at Whitefish Point, but in the current progression of summer and advance of fall, the wild blueberries are coming on amidst the jack pines, mushrooms are beginning to push up from the lichens, and warblers, subdued in song and plumage, mill around the point while the new wave of [...]
The ephemerality of the shoreline at Whitefish Point is subtle, except to those who spend significant time there. Every windy day takes away some beach in exchange for new driftwood deposits--but if you did not walk here regularly, this would be difficult to discern. The passage of shorebirds contributes a further element to the changeability [...]
Something truly wonderful happened this past week. For the first time in what seemed like ages, I stepped out my door in the morning, and I heard birds singing. If I wasn't loaded down with a backpack full of hawk watching gear, I would have jumped for joy! It was the moment I had been [...]
For those of you who missed it, this past Saturday was International Migratory Bird Day, and with strong north winds once again bringing migration to a halt, I had plenty of time for reflection. Once upon a time, hawk migration season meant it was time to go out and shoot as many hawks as possible. [...]
The Sharp-shinned Hawk. Recently, I was asked what their name means. Seeing that "sharpies" (my preferred nom de plume) do have an awfully strange name, I found it to be a fine question, the answer to which is fairly straightforward. They have sharp shins. Granted, this does sound like a punchline to a corny joke, [...]
Four straight days of sunshine and superb raptor viewing has got me dancing jigs and whistling ditties on the ol' hawk deck. It truly would have been a perfect weekend to visit Whitefish Point for the annual Michigan Audubon Spring Fling, and probably one of the warmest and brightest in recent memory. Things have changed [...]
They say that March "Comes in like an Eagle, goes out like a Dove"… that is what they say, right? Well, regardless of what they say, that's what I, your friendly neighborhood hawk counter likes to say. The second half of March has seen no shortage of blustery winds, heavy clouds, and damp conditions, all [...]
