...sailors take warning.” This saying tells us that under a red morning sky you can expect weather coming your way. Today couldn’t have been a better affirmation of this thousands of years old saying. A beautiful morning sky foretold the gale that came in the afternoon, shaking the waterbird shack and observers(read here for an [...]
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 [...]
Here are three bits of exciting news from WPBO this past week: 1. We received three juvenile Piping Plovers from the Great Lakes Piping Plover captive rearing program! Since 1992, eggs from nests compromised by storm surge, parent plover mortality, or “side chick” situations (yes, that’s exactly what you think it is!) have been salvaged, [...]
...and, he has been since July 3. Hannah (who you’ll recognize as WPBO's summer assistant bander) and I were enjoying one of those rare times of the day that we’re both awake with an afternoon beach walk. We paused at the nest exclosure; when I’d been out earlier that day, the adult plovers were still [...]
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 [...]
There are certain subjects that dominate conversation around WPBO. Weather, migrations, and our latest spoils from out-of-town grocery hauls are trusty standbys. I’ve noticed, though, that we’ve added some summer specials to the mix, like the tenuous relationship between black bears and bird feeders, and the mosquito hatch. This is, actually, my first full summer [...]
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 [...]
