Ahhh, the end of May — the mornings get earlier, and the nights get later; the sleep deprivation builds like the crescendoing peeper chorus back in the woods. One of the wonderful trials towards the end of the spring waterbird count is the phenomena of the evening waterbird flight. Though the end-of-season weariness is settling [...]
There are two types of bad weather at Whitefish Point: bad weather with good birds, and bad weather with no birds. Yesterday (May 14), finally, the sky started spitting shorebirds. Yes, the sky also was spitting (and at times, pouring) 38-degree rain for the entire 8-hour count, but that is the typical tradeoff for a [...]
Lines of ducks stream through the sky. By day, I search for them. (For most of the last week — a cheek-numbing stretch of demoralizing north winds — it’s seemed that I seek far more than I find.) Then, by night, when I close my eyes and drift off, the ducks reappear, twisting their way [...]
It hardly seems possible, but Whitefish’s Waterbird Count is nearing the end of its penultimate week. And, what a week it has been! Some of the migration moments I’ve been anticipating since season’s start have happened, and they’ve been well worth the wait. These include: The Scoter flight: this time of year, hundreds of White-winged [...]
Highlights: First Waterbirds in the Water (Mallard) – Common Merganser – Brown-headed Cowbird – Increasing Raptor Diversity A big moment at the Point in recent days: the first waterbirds of the season were observed in the lake! Two Mallard were seen flying in and landing in Lake Superior on April 5 with three male Common [...]
