Greetings! This is the weekly summary of Whitefish Point sightings for May 6-7th. Again (and again and again….) the winds haven’t been exactly favorable for migration, but the birds still continue to arrive. While the waterbirds and the hawks haven’t been exactly gangbusters, we all have been pleased by the return of neotropical migrants to the region. It does look like that we have a few unpleasant days to get through, but south winds are on their way for next week. Still there is some snow in the forecast for the weekend, and that could produce some interesting bird activity. Or shut it down completely.

Common Loon by Skye Haas

Common Loon by Skye Haas

Well I hate to say it, but it has been a low numbers season for ducks. Dabblers have been nearly non-existent for a while now (except for that early season Northern Pintail movement), and the first Blue-winged Teals (and only) were only just recorded on the 9th. Scaup are also low, though there is still time for them to have a good flight day. The arctic sea-ducks however normally don’t peak for another week or so and we are anticipating more of these robust tundra breeders by. Long-tailed Ducks had a good day on the 10th with 104. White-winged Scoters are gearing up with the current season peak of 34 on the 11th. A small handful of Surf Scoters have flown by, and even though they are not recorded every spring season, Black Scoters have been seen on the 7th (2), and the 9th (4). Red-breasted Merganser is another species that should have a few more good flight days yet to come, with a total of 156 on 7th. Common Loons sadly have also been low with our possible peak flight day being the 5th with 742 birds. Hopefully there is one more big push of these fantastic birds, but 1000+ loon flight days haven’t happened at Whitefish in several years now. However Red-throated Loons, being a tundra breeder migrant later and tend not to peak until mid May. Our best day so far has been 64 on the 8th. Red-necked Grebes are having a good season with 144 on the 5th. Horned Grebes have been nearly absent with less than 10 recorded this year.

Lesser Black-backed Gull by Skye Haas

Lesser Black-backed Gull by Skye Haas

Shorebirds are typically peak towards the end of the season, but we’ve gained a few new species in the last couple of days. Piping Plovers first arrived on the 6th and are doing courtship displays. Semipalmated Plover arrived on the 12th and Black-bellied Plover on the 11th. A flock of Dunlin arrived in the rain on the 12th and Short-billed Dowitcher  on the 11th. Least Sandpipers continue to pop every few days. There has been a light but steady Ring-billed Gull migration going a few days this week, and Bonaparte’s have been regular as well. With only a handful of records for Whitefish, a 1st year Lesser Black-backed Gull was a treat on the 10th.

Swainson’s Hawk by Ted Keyel

Hawks have been somewhat slow this week, but a few strong days were noted earlier in the week. Very exciting was the first Swainson’s Hawk of the season, a dark morph bird on the 7th.  Also on the 7th was our 2nd highest Sharp-shinned Hawk day of the season with 1158 and our one of two 300+ Broad-winged Hawk days of the year so far. We are still hopeful that a big Broad-wing day is coming soon, and should we ever get a southwest wind it will likely happen! 11 Peregrine Falcons total between both migration counts on the 8th was a solid day and 35 have been recorded for the hawk count this season. Overall the Hawk Count passed 15,000 birds for the year, crossing the magic line of being known as a “good season”. Also notable is that 17 species of raptors have now been recorded, thus by becoming the most diverse raptor season in the 37+ years of counts here at Whitefish Point!

Speaking of record breaking, the owl banders have now surpassed the all time record for number of Long-eared Owls banded with over 300 captured this season! The season does seem to be slowing down thought and only a few have been seen on the evening lift-off from the hawk deck. A Snowy Owl spent the 6-7th on the beach.

Orange-crowned Warbler by Zak Pohlen

Orange-crowned Warbler by Zak Pohlen

Songbirds are finally returning! There are still several species that need to show up, and many species have just been seen in single digits, but still to have birds that wintered in the tropics back flying over the shores of Superior is a welcome sight. Eastern Kingbird made an appearance on the 10th, and Least Flycatcher on the 10th. Blue-headed Vireo returned on the 3rd. With the return of Bank Swallow on the 12th, all species of Swallow have been recorded this week. Good numbers of American Pipits are on the beach currently, with over 100 seen on the 12th. Lapland Longspurs and Horned Larks are present every day, and a few Snow Buntings lingered on early in the week. Also lingering have been a couple of single Bohemian Waxwings observed this week. Always notable, but more so in the spring was a Townsend’s Solitaire on the 8th. Warblers came trickling in the last few days and while there are many to come 16 have been seen so far with a peak of 15 species on the 12th. Species observed so far include- Ovenbird, Black-and-white, Orange-crowned, Nashville, Common Yellowthroat, American Redstart, Cape May Warbler, Northern Parula, Magnolia, Blackburian, Chestnut-sided, Black-throated Blue, Palm, Pine, Yellow-rumped, and Black-throated Green. Sparrows have had some great numbers with lots of White-crowned and White-throated at the feeders.

Lark Sparrow by Skye Haas

Lark Sparrow by Skye Haas

Eurasian Tree Sparrow by Skye Haas

Eurasian Tree Sparrow by Skye Haas

A “good bird” was a handsomely marked Lark Sparrow on the 10th-11th. Other species include Lincoln’s, Swamp, Song, Savannah, Vesper, and a few American Tree Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos lingering on. The first Scarlet Tanager, Rose-breasted Grosbeak and Baltimore Oriole was seen on the 12th. Small numbers of Rusty Blackbirds have sporadically been seen this week and the first Bobolink was recorded on the 11th. There have been a few small pods of Evening Grosbeaks around the feeders, with a few Pine Siskins, American Goldfinches , Purple Finches and Red Crossbills rounding out the finch totals. And representing the 8th Whitefish Point Record was a flyover Eurasian Tree Sparrow on the 9th.