Spring Sightings Report

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

So Long, and Thanks for All the Hawks

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. [...]

2021-06-02T13:22:29-04:00June 1st, 2021|Migration Counts|Comments Off on So Long, and Thanks for All the Hawks

Blue Jays Take Whitefish Point by Storm!

This past weekend, raptors seemingly forfeited the migratory flyaways in response to high Blue Jay traffic. Fred, a Broad-winged Hawk, who has been traveling this route for many years, had this to say: “What in tarnation!?! You know, I’ve been traveling this route for many years, and I have plum had it with the [...]

2021-05-27T09:53:06-04:00May 18th, 2021|Migration Counts|Comments Off on Blue Jays Take Whitefish Point by Storm!

Flight of the Sharpies

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 [...]

2021-05-27T09:54:09-04:00May 4th, 2021|Migration Counts|Comments Off on Flight of the Sharpies

A Sweet South Breeze

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 [...]

2021-04-06T19:20:57-04:00April 6th, 2021|Migration Counts|Comments Off on A Sweet South Breeze
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