At the staff house this week, there’s been an ongoing, friendly debate. Rich, WPBO’s hawk counter, believes that I, the waterbird counter, have the worse end of the weather deal. I don’t think that I do. While I am stationed on the windswept beach, it’s really not that bad. The waterbird shack — save for [...]
The trees speak. Through a concerted effort of mystical orchestration, they take the wind and turn its voice into their own. It is a language I cannot interpret; no matter how hard I try, the rustling of branches remains unfathomable, and the message simply dissipates in the breeze. Still, as I watch the horizon for [...]
Black coffee and bright wind maps: that’s how I start days, up here in Paradise. As I trace back towards the source of the colorful lines that flow past the Point, I imagine — and anticipate — the birds they might be ferrying. When this morning ritual is complete, I throw on my heavy layers [...]
It's Easter Monday, and as I stand here on the hawk deck at Whitefish Point Bird Observatory — in below-freezing temperatures, with frigid north winds whipping off of Lake Superior, and snow (yes SNOW) falling from the sky — I have to ask myself, "Has the time moved at all?" There may be less snow [...]
What exactly is it about a sunny day that seems to bring out the best in everything? From people to plants, and of course, to birds, the entire world rejoices in the splendor of bright daylight. With the exception of plants (who take that wonderful sunlight and turn into vital life energy), perhaps no other [...]
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 [...]
There is nothing like a gray day to set one's mind on a contemplative path and the first week of the hawk count certainly provided me with a string of them. Luckily for me, a watcher of the skies, my only limits were the clouds. Even so, my imagination takes me far beyond and if [...]
Welcome to the Spring 2020 hawk watch. My name is Rich Couse and this season I will be your hawk counter, birdy blogger, and all-around Voice from the Hawk Deck at Michigan Audubon's Whitefish Point Bird Observatory, but first, a little about myself. A year and a half ago I moved from New England to [...]
Most hours of most days, the little flock of Snow Buntings are the closest thing to company out at the waterbird shack. They’re pretty good for that, actually--hardy birds that flit about the frozen beach, gleaning the sparse grass, giving happy calls even when the snow is so profuse I can’t see the lake. Watching [...]
To the Inuit of Nunavut, the arrival of the Long-tailed Duck (or in their language, aggiarjuk) heralds spring’s coming. Traditional songs exalt the event--”When we have survived the worst and the future looks promising, the Long-tailed Ducks have now returned. As they return, they are full of joyous spirit.” At Whitefish Point, where one spends [...]
