WPBO Waterbird Count Fall 2010

We've moved!

2011-03-29T05:02:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone. The WPBO blogs have moved! All of the blogs are now part of the main WPBO webite, which you can find, as always, at wpbo.org. The 2011 season is already underway, with hawks and owls on the move. So check it out!

Another one bites the dust

2010-11-19T07:06:00.000-08:00

In total there were 96,350 individual birds of 78 species this year which ranks as one of the five highest counts in total birds and the highest count of species seen during a single count year.

This season was marked by some very interesting days and exceptional numbers of species which are typically seen in much small numbers along with several periods of extreme inactivity due to the weather.  The most exceptional waterbird species seen this year included Pacific Loon, American Coot, American Avocet, Marbled Godwit, Red-necked and Red Phalaropes, Laughing and Lesser Black-backed Gulls, and Ancient Murrelet among many other “good” species that are annual or close to it.  Among those species Laughing Gull and American Coot are both new to the fall waterbird count while the Lesser Black-backed Gull and American Avocets were the second records and the Marbled Godwit was the third for the fall count.  In the end 19(!!!) species or groups of species were recorded in record numbers which is the most for any single year in the count’s 22-year history.

Overall numbers were spread across several different families of birds this year unlike some years when a single species or group accounts for a huge percentage of the total.  Thanks to an exceptional year for grebes and terns this year had the highest non-waterfowl total in the history of the count with 31,871 birds recorded that were not geese, swans, or ducks.  Among the waterfowl seen this year it was an overall poor year for geese which were nearly 1,000 birds below normal though it was the best year ever for swans with nearly triple the previous high count.  This year 19 Tundra and 11 Trumpeter/Tundra Swans were seen for a total of 30 which bests the previous high mark of 12 but quite the margin.  Ducks held their own with dabblers, scoters, and “winter” ducks (Long-tailed, Common Goldeneye, and Bufflehead) seen in well above to nearly record numbers while the Aythya species and mergansers were seen in well-below average numbers.  All totaled the number of ducks seen, 60,491, was about 5,000 above average.

Among the many reasons for beginning the waterbird count were loons and Red-necked Grebes which both had significant years in their own right.  On the loon front was the overall poor year which seems to be a continuation of the downward trend in their numbers over recent years.  The Common Loon total of 2468 is the 6^th lowest for the fall count and nearly 700 short of the long-term average while Red-throated Loon numbers were closer to average with a total of 258, about 35 short of the long-term average.  Grebe numbers however were the polar opposite with a record count of Red-necked Grebes, nearly 2000 higher than the previous high count, and the second highest number of Horned Grebes seen in a fall season.  The count of 18,577 Red-necked Grebes provides a unlikely record as this year did not see any major push of grebes like are seen in most years with the highest daily count of 2219 on August 19^th.  However, as the old saying goes “slow and steady wins the race,” the birds just kept coming all season long with counts of more than 1000 on five days and counts of over 450 on an additional seven days.

Shorebirds, gulls, jaegers, and terns often seem like the forgotten parts of the waterbird count though they account for a majority of the total species most years.  This year was no exception with those groups accounting for 39 species including record counts of 7 species.  Shorebirds in general were not particularly common this year with the total seen right at the long-term average though there were three species seen in record numbers including American Avocet, Baird’s Sandpiper, and Buff-breasted Sandpiper along with the unusual species already mentioned.  Gulls were seen in just above average diversity with an impressive total of small gulls including record numbers of Sabine’s and Laughing Gulls along with near record numbers of Black-legged Kittiwakes and a record-tying number of Lesser Black-backed Gulls.  While “white-winged” gulls were basically absent this fall there were decent numbers of Thayer’s and Great Black-backed Gulls which added a little diversity to the normal Ring-billed and Herring group at the point.  Jaegers also staged an impressive movement into the region this fall with record numbers of Parasitic and Long-taileds along with a record number of unidentified jaegers.  Last, but not least, are the terns which were noted in record numbers as well this fall with the vast majority of that accounted for by the 3060 Common Terns which is a record high count for that species.

Overall it was quite the year for watching birds at the point and there were some excellent rewards to those who were willing to wait for them.  Among those who deserve recognition for their contribution to this fall’s count are the two people who were willing to give me days off, Jason Bojczyk and Adam Byrne, and to everyone else that spent many hours or only a few minutes out there to help me count birds or pass the time I want to say thank you.  I know I had a good time this fall, though depending on the day you spent at the point that may surprise you, and I hope that everyone else came away with a good feeling from this season.

The Top Ten List

Long-tailed Duck (20,104)
Red-necked Grebe (18,577)
Red-breasted Merganser (9114)
Greater Scaup (4419)
Canada Goose (3993)
White-winged Scoter (3726)
unidentified Scaup (3230)
Common Tern (3060)
Common Goldeneye (2909)
Herring Gull (2828)

New Record Highs for the Fall Count

Tundra Swan (19)
Tundra/Trumpeter Swan (11)
Blue-winged Teal (2506)
Northern Shoveler (184)
Redhead (1477)
Red-necked Grebe (18,577)
American Coot (1)
American Avocet (8)
Baird's Sandpiper (277)
Buff-breasted Sandpiper (31)
Sabine's Gull (30)
Laughing Gull (1)
Lesser Black-backed Gull (1)
Common Tern (3060)
Parasitic Jaeger (26)
Long-tailed Jaeger (4)
unidentified Jaeger (41)
Ancient Murrelet (1)
unidentified Alcid (1)

As a side note for any one interested I managed to see 212 species (there were an additional 5-10 species seen this fall which I didn't get) at the point this year along with a few other species seen in the area but not the point proper. It was a pretty good year for diversity especially when you consider there wasn't anyone scouring the woods most days.

Scott Schuette
2010 Fall waterbird counter

last week

2010-11-19T06:52:00.000-08:00

Well the season ended on the 15th as usual, the final week was fairly mundane with the highlights being a Harlequin Duck on the 12th, continuing small numbers of Black Scoters, a pair of Sanderlings that were still sticking it out as of November 17th, a small group of Dunlin on the 14th and 15th, a flock of 5(!!!) Black-legged Kittiwakes on the 11th, a Sabine's and Lesser Black-backed Gull also on the 11th, and a Thayer's Gull on the 10th. Otherwise it was just the regulars making their way past in small numbers.

Another alcid

2010-11-08T19:26:00.000-08:00

Today was really quiet and the next few days should be similar but what it lacked in overall numbers and diversity it made up for in quality. The best was clearly an Ancient Murrelet that flew by going east just after noon today providing the second alcid sighting of the Fall. Taking a second position on the rarity list for the day was the season's 4th Black-legged Kittiwake that floated in the air for a little while this morning before heading out onto the big part of the lake. It was pretty quiet otherwise with only 100 or so birds seen and most of them were Long-tailed Ducks.

Yeah, I think they call this WINTER

2010-11-07T16:48:00.000-08:00

A day off and fingers that are not frozen has given me a chance to report on a few of the birds that have graced the point lately. While the overall numbers have been very good for this time of year that is mostly due to a surge of birds on the 5th which accounted for 5578 of the 6628 total birds seen since November 3rd. Of course just seeing more than 100 birds in day is something to be thankful for in November so there's no complaining here (ok, well at least not right now). The weather, well that is a totally different story and I reserve the right to complain any day where the temperature never tops 25 degrees and the windchill fluctuates between -5 and 0, like it did on the 5th. The forecast for the upcoming week is for better weather (did I actually hear 50! degrees on the news this evening?) and sun, of course that will also lead to poor bird movement but at this point I'm fine with just being comfortable.

What I term "Winter Ducks" typically involve those species that I don't think of arriving in any numbers where I grew up (just north of St. Louis, MO) until the weather turns cold and are often those species most likely to remain through the winter while many other species move south once the lakes and rivers begin to freeze. So it is no surprise that they are now the most common species each day by a large margin and should remain so through the final week plus of the season. On the 5th there was a very strong movement of these species, the largest single day of the year in fact, which was comprised mainly of Long-tailed Ducks (3948), Bufflehead (568), Red-breasted Merganser (498), and Common Goldeneye (451) which were accompanied by the first flight of Hooded Mergansers this year with 11 being noted in the first two hours after sunrise. The other days this week have seen much smaller, but steady, numbers with daily averages of 145 Long-tailed Ducks, 14 Buffleheads, 62 Common Goldeneyes, and 90 Red-breasted Mergansers.

In other waterbird news dabbling ducks and Aythya ducks have been virtually non-existent lately with very small numbers of Mallards and American Black Ducks still seen most days and up to a few dozen scaup seen daily though normally its only 5-15. Scoter numbers have also fallen off drastically with White-wingeds averaging about 12 per day while a single Surf was seen on the 4th and a few Blacks were noted on the 3rd, 4th, and 5th. The loon numbers remain about the same with the average daily count for Common and Red-throateds being 15 and 1 respectively while grebe numbers have dropped to 12 for Red-necked and 2 for Horned.

Shorebirds still show up on occasion this time of year with a single Dunlin on the 5th and two Sanderlings on the 6th being the arrivals in recent days. Gulls have continued in moderate diversity with single Black-legged Kittiwakes noted on the 3rd and 6th, both individuals were young birds, and the first Bonaparte's Gull in some time was found on the 3rd riding the waves on the point. Among the large white-headed gull clan there was a juvenile Thayer's Gull on the 6th and two Great Black-backed Gulls, a 1st winter bird on the 3rd and an adult on the 6th.

Lake or ocean?

2010-11-02T18:33:00.000-07:00

juvenile Thayer's Gull

The past few days have seen a myriad of different conditions from chilly (27 degrees) to warm (45 degrees), calm to windy, and sunny to drizzle. Of course the lake still seems to be re-adjusting after last week's storm with the current shape of the point more like a pear rather than the previous scythe shape and it seems there are also still a few avian gems left out there on that huge expanse of water.

The clear highlight and the most frustrating bird of the Fall was seen on Sunday afternoon while I was at home enjoying the couch and a football game when an unknown alcid was spotted twice just offshore as it flew short distances through the waves never to be seen again. Prevailing thought from those who saw it is that this bird was probably a DOVEKIE but unfortunately the observers could not pin it down for long enough to put a confirmed label on the bird. Sometimes they just get away.

The overall waterfowl make-up has been similar each day though the actual numbers has fluctuated quite a lot. The most unusual species were both noted yesterday morning when the Fall's first flock of Snow Geese (8 birds) passed just to the west of the point and another 2 Tundra/Trumpeter Swans were noted flying north across the lake. Once again Long-tailed Duck has been the most common species with daily counts of 559, 1620, and 164 while Common Goldeneye and Red-breasted Merganser held onto the next two spots. Smaller numbers of Mallard, White-winged (and a few Black) Scoter, Bufflehead, and scaup have also been noted daily along with a scattering of other species in ones and twos each day.

A few loons are still trickling through each day with average daily numbers of Common and Red-throated dropping to 10 and 1 respecitvely while grebe numbers have fallen to similar levels with 11 and 2 being the average numbers for Red-neckeds and Horneds over the past three days.

Shorebirds are still mostly non-existent but a Red Phalarope flying down the beach before momentarily dropping into the waves at the point's tip today was a clear highlight. The only other species to be noted lately were two continuing Sanderlings seen yesterday. On the gull front the diversity and numbers continue to improve (usually not a good sign for those who enjoy warmth) with different Thayer's Gulls appearing the past two days and a juvenile Great Black-backed Gull that continues around the point since late last week. Also making another appearance on the point was a juvenile Sabine's Gull which showed up shortly after the phalarope around noon, this is the first sighting since October 22nd.

Other birds seen lately have included a good movement of 14 Rough-legged Hawks on the 2nd, the continuing Spotted Towhee through the evening of the 1st, and a much increased number of finches (including Pine Grosbeak and White-winged Crossbill) with large flocks redpolls arriving on the 1st that had at least 1 Hoary among them.

Winter is a coming

2010-10-30T17:15:00.000-07:00

Long-tailed Duck at St. Paul Island, AK

Today was downright cold with a chilly north wind off the lake and persistent rain/drizzle throughout the morning into the early afternoon making for less than pleasant conditions. Yesterday was a little more mild with western winds and partly cloudy skies, I mean the temperature actually reached higher than 40 degrees as opposed to today's high of 35 at the point. But with nasty weather often comes the birds and so while my fingers and toes have loudly voiced their displeasure with the working conditions of late the counting itself has been good.

As the duck diversity begins to drop (along with the thermometer and my core body temperature) this time of year it also signals the arrival of the largest daily duck flights which can make for a more entertaining day of counting. While the largest daily totals are yet to come, at least we hope, the past two days have seen large movements led by Long-tailed Duck (only 115 yesterday but 2712 today), Red-breasted Merganser (1408 yesterday and 1164 today), and Common Goldeneye (389 yesterday and 739 today). Each day has also seen decent flights of Bufflehead (253 and 104) while all three scoters have been seen each day but not in overwhelming numbers, though the counts of Black Scoters (32 and 11) have been pretty good. A few dabblers, mainly Mallard, American Black Ducks, and Green-winged Teal, are still being seen daily while a few scaup have also made their way past the point. The waterfowl highlights over the past two days have been 2 Hooded Mergansers and 1 Canvasback yesterday and a flock of 10 Tundra Swans (likely birds that have been present at the Tahquamenon River mouth over recent days) today.

Loons are still flying past in the same numbers that they have all season with Common Loon counts of 28 and 48 over the past two days with just 1 or 2 Red-throateds also seen each day. The grebe numbers also continue to hold steady with another little burst of Red-neckeds mixed into the duck flight, the daily counts of 130 and 74 are the best in almost two weeks. Horned Grebes are still around but in much smaller numbers with 11 on today's count. No unusual gulls have been noted over the past two days and shorebirds continue to be quite scarce with a Dunlin yesterday and two Sanderlings today, both sightings came in the final half hour of the count.

A little bit windy

2010-10-28T17:23:00.000-07:00

flock of American Avocets on the 28th

Well that was quite a storm! The highest wind I personally dealt with while counting was about 55 MPH though I heard that there were speeds of 63 MPH recorded at the point so either those were during the night or I am a poor judge of wind speed, either way it was strong. With that said the power is still out at the point and I am currently in Paradise as tonight's temps were just gonna be a little too cold to stay in the house with no heat. Because I haven't been able to post for quite some time now I'm not going to go over everything that has happened since the 23rd but I'll just give some highlights from each day.

October 24th:

My day off, there was a decent Long-tailed Duck flight, another Harlequin Duck, 6 more Trumpeter/Tundra Swans, and a good count of 161 Green-winged Teal to top it off.

October 25th:

A good duck flight despite the poor wind conditions with a solid 500+ Red-breasted Mergansers and the best scoter numbers in awhile with 17 Surfs, 175 White-wingeds, and 23 Blacks. Very little else was willing to fly into the wind though.

October 26th:

A pretty poor day overall but what can you expect with 30-45 MPH winds out of the SE (i.e. the direction the birds were trying to fly). A few Scoters, Long-tailed Ducks, and Red-breasted Mergansers still managed to fly south and the first Great Black-backed Gull of the season was an adult bird that flew west with the winds during the afternoon.

October 27th:

A pretty unique day overall, winds from the SSW/SW sustained at more than 30 MPH with gusts into the 50s and perhaps 60s along with the usual rain, etc... The best birds were an American Coot (only a handful of previous records from the point) and a Franklin's Gull which were both present for only a limited time during the morning and afternoon respectively. Also of note were the first Killdeer and Lesser Yellowlegs since mid-September along with 42 Blue-winged Teal which had not been seen in any numbers since early-mid September. Other gulls seen among the Herrings and Ring-billeds which were sheltering on the point throughout the day included a juvenile Thayer's and 2 different juvenile Great Black-backed Gulls. The only ducks willing to fly in any numbers were Long-taileds with 573 recorded but only about 100 other ducks seen in total.

October 28th:

Today was a bit more tame than the 27th both on the bird and weather fronts. The clear highlight of the day was a flock of 8 American Avocets which flew by late morning, briefly setting down on the point before heading on south along the shoreline. This represents only the 2nd or 3rd point record and highest total ever recorded here. Other birds were similar to recent days with a good count of 22 Black Scoters, a new daily high count of 106 Buffleheads, a mini-resurgence in Common Loon and Red-necked Grebe numbers after a very poor showing the past few days to 38 and 35 respectively, and another (or continuing?) juvenile Great Black-backed Gull roosting on the point.

10/22 and 10/23

2010-10-23T16:40:00.000-07:00

juvenile Northern Goshawk

Today was almost pleasant on the point with mild temps (32-50 degrees), no precipitation, and lighter wind although its direction (ENE/E/ESE) left something to be desired while yesterday was unexpectedly unpleasant with rain for nearly 4 hours during the late morning and early afternoon to go with moderate SW wind and temperatures that never reached 40 degrees.

The waterfowl highlights of the past two days both came today with a family of 4 Tundra Swans that made a close fly-over of the shack late this morning and a Harlequin Duck which passed by with a flock of White-winged Scoters during the last hour of the count. The first Long-tailed Duck push of the season continued yesterday with 2906 counted while the number dropped off considerably today into the 600-700 range. A few Mallards and American Black Ducks continue to pass each day with small numbers of Northern Pintail and Green-winged Teal also noted while the Aythya numbers continue to be low with about 100 total birds yesterday including 15 Redheads and only 12 total birds today. Scoter numbers are holding firm in the low-moderate range with 4 Blacks seen yesterday but none located during today's count. Rounding out the ducks currently being seen are consistent numbers of Buffleheads and Common Goldeneyes with daily averages around 25 and 60 respectively and moderate numbers of Red-breasted Mergansers with daily counts of 371 and 302 over the past two days. Loon and grebe numbers are almost mirror images of each other with Common Loon and Red-necked Grebe both averaging about 30 per day while just a couple Red-throated Loons and Horneds Grebes are being seen daily.

The Sabine's Gull show continued yesterday with a bird that hung out around the point for much of the day and a second bird which was seen intermittently to the west of the point as it would feed on the lake before moving back towards the west and out of sight, however with a the change in weather overnight there were no Sabine's seen today after 10 consecutive days of sightings dating back to the 13th. For the first time in almost a week there were sandpipers on the point yesterday and today with a pair of Sanderlings among the roosting gulls at the tip.

Meat-eating birds continued to make their share of appearances over the past two days with a few Rough-leggeds Hawks and a single Short-eared Owl noted flying in off the lake while small numbers of Bald Eagles, Northern Goshawks, Red-tailed Hawks, and Merlins are seen on the point. Overall bird numbers remain low on the point though an increase in Pine Siskins and a recently arrived Northern Shrike were noted today along with continuing Brown Thrasher, Indigo Bunting, and Evening Grosbeaks.

The Long-tailed season begins

2010-10-21T15:22:00.000-07:00

juvenile Sabine's Gull

Today's weather has taken the top spot in the "I wish I was somewhere else" category with temperatures that fluctuated between 30 and 35 degrees all day with wind gusting up to 35 MPH and just as icing on the cake we had rain, freezing rain, sleet, dry snow, and wet snow come through in waves throughout the day, FUN!!!

Overall waterbird movement was good, however about 75% of that was Long-tailed Ducks which had their first good movement day with 1498 recorded. A few dabblers were again seen with small numbers of Gadwall, American Black Duck, Mallard, Northern Pintail, and Green-winged Teal noted along with a pair of Canada Geese that flew in during the morning. Other diving ducks seen included the highest counts yet of Bufflehead and Common Goldeneye with 72 and 66 respectively, a similar number of scoters to recent days with 7 Surfs, 28 White-wingeds, and 9 Blacks, a small increase in Aythya ducks over recent days, and another decent merganser day. Loon numbers held firm with 26 Common and 1 Red-throated seen while Red-necked Grebes were down a bit to 22 with no Horneds observed for the first time in quite awhile.

The Sabine's Gull show continues (though only for a few privileged individuals it seems) with a single bird noted in the early morning and then up to 2 birds that were seen at the point's tip for most of the afternoon from 12:30 until the count ended around 4. The birds this afternoon were actually the most cooperative yet with most of their time spent within 100 yards of the point.

Sabine's Gull invasion

2010-10-20T17:31:00.000-07:00

This year's great Sabine's Gull numbers just got amazing with the past few days being the best yet for the species. On Monday for the second time this year there were two sighted and on Tuesday there was a single bird seen and with that sighting the single season record was broken with 20, today however, was by far the best yet with no less than 4 juveniles seen. Three birds were visible at one time late morning and a single bird flew in from Canada a little later to add to the total for the day. It remains to be seen how long this "invasion" will last but as far as I am concerned it doesn't need to end anytime soon.

In other news the weather has been seemingly very good for the past few days but the waterbirds have been a little disappointing given the conditions. While total numbers each day are not that bad, and the flight was actually pretty good on Monday, it has been a little bit of a letdown, given that our poor migration weather had finally broken, not to have a larger movement. The weather (strong western winds with some wintery precip) is suppose to remain similar through Saturday so we will see.

The only slightly unusual duck species to be seen of late were 2 Canvasbacks that flew past on Monday afternoon with a small group of scaup and scoters providing the first sighting of the year for that species. In dabbler news the number of Gadwalls, American Black Ducks, Mallards, Northern Pintails, and Green-winged Teal continue to hold firm with daily sightings of all species, and in some cases, in good numbers. Scoter numbers were best on Monday when 30 Surfs, 83 White-wingeds, and 24 Blacks were seen while all three species have been seen each of the past two days but in smaller numbers. Aythya ducks were present in good numbers on Monday (about 1100 total birds) but there has been fewer than 50 each of the past two days. Smaller numbers of Buffleheads and Common Goldeneyes continue to pass by of late with the most common waterfowl being Long-tailed Duck and Red-breasted Merganser with average daily totals of 250 and 400 respectively.

Common Loon numbers have yet to drop-off (not that they have been that high to start with) with an average of 35+ for the past three days while Red-throateds just continue to move by in small, but consistent numbers with daily tallies of 4, 2, and 2. Horned Grebe have dropped off from the large numbers last week with only 2 each of the past three days while Red-neckeds are still moving by with about 45 per day to begin the week.

Beyond all of the Sabine's Gull the clear gull highlight was a non-breeding adult Black-legged Kittiwake that graced the point with its presence for a preciously short time on Wednesday afternoon only 15 minutes prior to the end of the count. The Thayer's Gull also remained until Monday but has not been seen since then. The only shorebird noted in the past three days was the season's sixth Wilson's Snipe which was tallied on the morning of the 18th as it flushed from the Jack Pines to the west of the shack.

For notes on recent landbirds and the Common Ground-Dove found today please take a look at the sightings blog.

Broken promises

2010-10-17T16:59:00.000-07:00

Thayer's Gull

In an ironic twist of fate the weather man was correct in his predictions for the past few days but Mother Nature simply wasn't listening as favorable weather for migration has been largely free of our feathered friends. Of course there are always a few birds with an average of about 1500 per day but with the light-strong western and northern winds that have been present since the 14th it seems like a let down more than anything. The forecast continues to be promising though so hopefully we can get on the right track soon and have a little more to be excited about.

Overall duck diversity is still pretty good with an increase in dabbler numbers over the past few days while the expected divers continue to be seen. A surge of Gadwalls, American Black Ducks, and Northern Pintails over the past few days has been a welcome sight while decent numbers of American Wigeons, Mallards, and Green-winged Teals have also been noted, 3 late Northern Shovelers were seen on the 16th. There were decent numbers of Aythya ducks on the 14th but since then they have been in short supply with small numbers of Redheads, Ring-necked Ducks, and Lesser Scaup joining the flocks of Greater Scaup. The best duck of late was the third Harlequin Duck of the season which was noted with two Surf Scoters on the 15th while overall scoter numbers have been good with daily high counts of 28 Surfs on the 14th, 320 White-wingeds on the 14th, and 13 Blacks on the 15th. "Winter" ducks are beginning to increase as well with small numbers of Buffleheads and Common Goldeneyes showing up more frequently in recent days while Long-tailed Duck numbers are steadily increasing as one would expect.

Loon numbers are holding steady with a daily average of more than 50 Commons from the 14th to the 17th while up to 5 Red-throateds continue to be seen daily. Grebe numbers have also held their own with about 20 Horneds per day lately while Red-neckeds continue to add to the record high count at a rate of nearly 90 each day. As is customary this time of year shorebirds have been very few and far between with a group of 4 Dunlin on the 15th being the only birds seen other than an occasional Sanderling. The juvenile Sabine's Gull first noted on the 13th was still being seen regularly each day through the 17th with a second migratory bird noted on the 15th. The season count now stands at 17, just two short of the all-time season record. The only large white-headed gull noted beyond the two ubiquitous species was a 1st-winter Thayer's that was found among the the roosting gulls on the point late this afternoon.

It's the season of sparse landbirds so this weekend's low numbers were no surprise but there were a few nice birds noted with a Townsend's Solitaire seen at the edge of the Jack Pines on the morning of the 17th being the best. Other good birds noted included a Sharp-tailed Grouse that was found along the trail to the point on the 16th, a Short-eared Owl that came across the lake on the morning of the 17th, and a Brown Thrasher frequenting the feeders during the afternoon of the 17th. Other birds seen of late included a few lingering warblers (mainly Yellow-rumped) and a lone Blue-gray Gnatcatcher while winter finches (including Common Redpoll and Evening Grosbeak) and Snow Bunting numbers continue to increase with each day that passes. Raptor numbers have been good lately with the increased Buteo migration in recent days totaling about 15 Rough-leggeds and 25 Red-taileds while Bald Eagle, Northern Harrrier, Northern Goshawk, Merlin, and Peregrine Falcon have also been seen coming in across the lake or hunting the point.

Biggest day yet

2010-10-13T14:54:00.000-07:00

Bald Eagle from St. Paul Island, AK

As expected a weak front moved through pre-dawn and with it being the first break in the "nice" weather in quite some time the birds were moving with it. The day itself was actually quite nice as the rain stayed away leaving us with cloudy to mostly sunny skies and pretty moderate temperatures given the persistent winds from the NW all day. There were no major highlights for the day but an early morning Harlequin Duck, a distant Sabine's Gull, and yet another unidentified jaeger topped the list. Tomorrow is suppose to be similar, though with a greater chance of showers during the count, so we will see what it has to bring.

Overall waterbird numbers were the best of the season and while Aythya ducks were a large part of that total, with 207 Redheads, 6 Ring-necked Ducks, 708 Greater Scaup, 50 Lesser Scaup, 576 unidentified Scaup, and 401 unidentified Aythya ducks, there were also seasonal high counts for a number of other species including White-winged Scoter (389), Black Scoter (23), Bufflehead (15), Common Goldeneye (11), and Red-breasted Merganser (234), of course most of these numbers will be far exceeded later in the season but for now they are the high water marks. Small numbers of dabblers are also still moving through with the first American Black Duck and Gadwalls in some time seen today along with a moderate flight of 52 Mallards among others. Loon numbers were not much improved however with 39 Commons and 5 Red-throateds making fly-bys, but grebe numbers were much improved with a good late-season count of 487 Red-neckeds and another nice flight of 50 Horneds to boot.

The shorebird clan made a glorious re-appearance on the point today with a total of TWO: a fly-by Wilson's Snipe early this morning and a single Sanderling on the shore. The only other notable sighting in the gull realm was a group of 11 Bonaparte's Gulls during the late-morning which was the first such sighting in quite awhile.

Landbirds were less in evidence than waterbirds on this day but a small group of White-winged Crossbills were seen passing over the point for the first sighting of the fall while a small movement of Bald Eagles (at least 8 birds) was noted throughout the day.

Early week lull

2010-10-12T15:22:00.000-07:00

Rough-legged Hawks

The past few days have all been without any great highlights as the high pressure system is still influencing the weather on Lake Superior. Each day has seen a different wind selection with west on Sunday, north yesterday, and south today and as one might assume the overall number of birds has decreased each day this week. The next two days are suppose to see a short series of fronts move into the area so hopefully my next posts will be with better news.

On the duck front yesterday and today were quite poor with Long-tailed Ducks and scoters accounting for most of the birds seen as there numbers continue to increase and hold steady respectively. Sunday had a larger duck movement which was mostly Aythya ducks which totalled about 900 birds. All three days have seen small numbers of Black Scoters (with 12 on Monday) and there have been Ring-necked Ducks on two days which are the most uncommon species to be noted recently. Loon numbers are still low with an average of 22 Commons and 3 Red-throateds while grebe numbers are about as expected with 29 Red-neckeds and 4 Horneds on average each day. There continues to be no shorebirds or unusual gulls around the point as of late though a light-phase adult non-breeding Parasitic Jaeger made a fairly close pass of the point on Sunday morning.

Sunday and Monday both saw the arrival of another late fall/winter species when a group of 7 Rough-legged Hawks flew in across the lake on Sunday afternoon and a pair of Snow Buntings appeared along the lake shoreline on Monday morning. Other birds making appearances include a Northern Goshawk all three days, a Black-backed Woodpecker on Sunday, Orange-crowned Warblers on Sunday and Monday, and most other late fall passerines on at least one of the three days.

Loon hat trick

2010-10-09T15:30:00.000-07:00

Common Redpoll from St. Paul Island, AK

The past two days have seen similar weather: light-moderate winds with A LOT of sun and warmer than normal temperatures. Pretty much all that means is that the big high pressure system is still controlling our weather and ruining what should be one of the most productive times of the year at the point. Thankfully there are enough decent birds on the lake to produce a few nice sightings both yesterday and today but overall migration has stalled considerably. Tomorrow is forecast for W/NW winds and some clouds so maybe that will be accompanied by a resurgence in bird numbers.

Yesterday and today both saw two "write-ins" appear off the point with yesterday's being a Sabine's Gull and a White-rumped Sandpiper (the first of the fall) and today it was a family group of 5 Tundra Swans and 2 separate Pacific Loons. The loons flew east about an hour apart and were still retaining their full breeding plumage which made up for the continuing small numbers of Common and Red-throateds this season. Also seen yesterday was another unidentified jaeger to add to this year's record count.

Basic migrant waterbird numbers were weak both days with yesterday being a shade better than today. Scoters, Mergansers, and Aythya ducks continue to be most abundant with small numbers of the more common dabblers and a few additional divers mixed in for good measure. Long-tailed Ducks are still passing through in small numbers while a Hooded Merganser this morning was the second of the season and still a bit on the early side for them. Grebe numbers were much better yesterday with 112 Red-neckeds and 42 Horneds as compared to 13 Red-neckeds and 11 Horneds today, Common and Red-throated Loon numbers were basically the same with mid-20s for the big species and a couple for their snaky-necked cousin each day.

Shorebirds are in short supply these days but a single American Golden-Plover was seen both days with a few Sanderlings still on the point and a Dunlin joining them today. A Bonaparte's Gull was noted each day with the much reduced Ring-billed numbers down to about 30-40 around the point each day.

Non-waterbirds have been a bit better these past couple days but again that may simply be due to a few pairs of eyes in the woods during the morning. Yesterday was mostly forgettable with a Northern Goshawk and White-breasted Nuthatch being the most interesting birds while today saw an increase in Common Redpoll and Evening Grosbeak numbers along with a few new migrants including a late Osprey, an additional White-breasted Nuthatch, and the first Blue-headed Vireo seen this fall.

A point milestone

2010-10-07T16:28:00.000-07:00

juvenile Bonaparte's Gull

While one of the original reasons to start the waterbird count at Whitefish Point was to document the loon migration, one of the other main reasons was to document the Red-necked Grebe passage. On the loon front this year has been very underwhelming with Commons at only half of their longterm average and Red-throateds are at two-thirds of their longterm average, but after today's count of 211 grebes we have passed the previous high count of 16,624 set in 2001 with 16,709 now recorded and another month plus to add to that total. The old adage "slow and steady wins the race" seems to sum up this year's grebe migration with no one singular day making up a huge portion of the total but instead many good days adding up to make a record-breaking number.

Overall migration was better today than yesterday with Aythya ducks making up a large percentage of the birds seen yet again. The top three species were similar with Greater Scaup still first with 490 counted while Red-breasted Merganser slid into the two spot with 227 and Redhead was again third with 188. Dabbling duck numbers (particularly American Wigeon and Mallard) were much lower than yesterday while scoter numbers remained steady (107 White-wingeds, 74 Surfs, and 1 Black) and "other" diving duck numbers were about the same. Of note were the first 2 Buffleheads of the season that went past soon after sunrise. Accounting for the overall increase in birds for the day were the Gaviidae and Podicipedidae families with 138 Common and 9 Red-throated Loons seen along with 211 Red-necked and 55 Horned Grebes.

Well on a positive note there were 6 Sanderlings on the point today so I at least wasn't shut out in the shorebird department again, unfortunately that's about all there was in the shorebird, gull, tern, and allies bird realm.

Its amazing what a difference having a few eyes in the woods makes as today's landbird list was much larger albeit with no major highlights. The most notable species included the season's first Common Redpoll among the hordes of Pine Siskins and a Clay-colored Sparrow among the Chippies. A few Rusty Blackbirds were noted flying in off the lake early this morning.

A bit more on track

2010-10-06T17:50:00.000-07:00

Today's weather was similar to those of late but with the influence of a weak low pressure system that moved into the area early in the afternoon which increased the activity this morning. Winds were from the south most of the morning with a mid-afternoon shift to the west but even that could not hamper the will of the birds as they must have realized this could be the only good day to move soon. In a true testament as to how improved the day was, I managed not to bring out the chair at all, that's a first in almost a week.

As one would expect Aythya ducks were the dominate birds on the move with in excess of 1000 birds from that genus seen today. Greater Scaup were the most common duck with 413 while American Wigeon claimed the number two spot at 206, just ahead of Redhead which rounded out the top three at 191, also seen in numbers exceeding one hundred birds were Mallard (169) and White-winged Scoter (111). The most interesting duck seen today was a male Wood Duck that flew past with a ball of scaups early in the morning while single Northern Shoveler and Blue-winged Teal this afternoon were the first of their species in quite a while. Loon and grebe numbers were nearly the same as they have been over the past few days.

For the first time this year I was unable to find a shorebird today though another juvenile Sabine's Gull and a single unidentified jaeger were a nice consolation. Also seen for the first time in a little while were a few Bonaparte's Gulls that joined the Ring-billeds feeding off the point.

The only non-waterbird of note today was a Black-backed Woodpecker that made a quick appearance on the Merlin pole late this morning, otherwise it was pretty much the same in the woods.

Same old, same old

2010-10-05T20:54:00.000-07:00

For the past few days a big ball of high pressure has been sitting around the Great Lakes which has meant a little bit of "Groundhog Day" syndrome for me up here. Each day I know exactly what to expect, cool and clear mornings with light bird movement and a late morning warm-up into the high 50s/low 60s with almost no birds and lots of sun. Its a great recipe for a lengthy afternoon nap, unfortunately for me that's a luxury which I am not afforded. It sounds crazy but I'm really hoping for some clouds and colder temperatures, at least then I wouldn't be so tempted to close my eyes and go someplace a little more exotic.

Duck numbers remained steadily unimpressive with the big pushes typical for this time of year still not happening due to the current weather patterns. The most common species however have been right on target with scoters (mostly White-winged), scaup (mostly Greater), and Red-breasted Mergansers leading the daily tallies since Sunday. Smaller numbers of dabbling ducks continue to pass by with Green-winged Teal, Northern Pintail, and Mallard leading that group and a scattering of other Aythya ducks as well as a few other scoters and the occasional Long-tailed Duck add to the diver numbers. Loon and grebe numbers have been steady with 20ish Common and a couple Red-throateds seen daily while around 50 or so Red-neckeds have been joined by 10+ Horneds to start the week.

A first of the year showed up on the 4th while a nearly forgotten friend made an appearance this morning. Yesterday was the grand arrival of the fall's Dunlin season when a single bird flew past the point during the afternoon as well as a Sandhill Crane. Today marked the first jaeger of October when an unidentified bird was noted multiple times during mid-morning. Few other birds have been around of late with a single American Golden-Plover still hanging around been the most notable.

Landbird numbers have held steady in much the same way as the waterbird numbers with the same grouping of birds still about but with few arrivals or departures. Of note today was a strong showing by Red-tailed Hawks when at least 15-20 birds used the warmer temperatures to their advantage as they kettled and moved SE along the lake shore during the early afternoon. Passerines have remained consistent with sparrows and chickadees still being the dominant forest birds while a few other late migrants join them each day. The most unusual bird for the point seen recently was, drum roll please, a female House Sparrow which was present around the bird feeders yesterday afternoon. If that doesn't get you out here in a hurry I am at a loss as to what will.

Start of October

2010-10-02T14:57:00.000-07:00

October began yesterday with light to moderate NW winds and continued today with strong N winds and a few spits of frozen precipitation from the sky. The afternoons continue to be fairly nice with sunny skies helping to thaw out frozen extremities after morning temperatures that are hovering just above freezing. Tomorrow is predicted to be as cold but with less wind which should make for a more enjoyable experience to those braving the point in the morning.

Diversity continues to be pretty good with yesterday and today showcasing a different group each day. Yesterday was by far the year's best loon showing with 218 Commons (though only 8 Red-throateds) with a slight continuation of the previous day's grebe show. Today saw many fewer loons (27 Commons and 3 Red-throateds) but more ducks with scoters (151 White-wingeds, 95 Surfs, and 2 Blacks) leading the way. Both days have continued to see small numbers of dabblers, mainly American Wigeon and Green-winged Teal, with ever increasing numbers of Aythya ducks which are still mostly Greater Scaup but include a smattering of other species/unidentified birds. Today was the biggest Long-tailed Duck day to date with 16 while Red-breasted Mergansers continue to pass by in small numbers each day.

Shorebirds have been almost non-existent the past couple days with daily counts of 2 and 6 Sanderlings while yesterday also had 2 American Golden-Plovers and a fly-by Wilson's Snipe. The most notable bird yesterday was a juvenile Sabine's Gull which worked along the point's shoreline from east to west in the early afternoon.

Strong winds continue to hamper birding in the woods but the suite of cold weather birds (minus the finches and a few later migrants) typical for this time of year are building in numbers each day. Sparrows continue in the largest numbers with an American Tree Sparrow arriving yesterday along with increasing numbers of Fox Sparrows. Warblers on the other hand are in ever decreasing numbers with only a handful of Yellow-rumpeds and Palms seen of late. A Northern Goshawk and a Merlin continue to hunt the flocks of larks, longspurs, and pipits on the point each day.

Good way to end the month

2010-09-30T15:54:00.000-07:00

Sanderling

Today's weather was nearly as predicted, the winds came out of the W/NW all morning and afternoon long but to our benefit the rain stopped pre-dawn and the sun came out in the afternoon which made the point a much nicer place to be. Activity was good early this morning and continued steadily through the day with only a moderate drop-off in the afternoon, much different than the precipitous decline in activity that has been typical of late. Tomorrow's forecast is for similar conditions to today with a greater chance of rain so we will see if the birds are still going to use the favorable winds to their advantage.

Presumably making their final large push of the season Red-necked Grebes were the most common bird of the day with 914 counted, of note they continued to move past at rates above 100 birds per hour till the end of the count. A number of other birds also had their best showing to date with Horned Grebe (61), Common Loon (116), Ring-necked Duck (32), Greater and Lesser Scaup (209 and 95 respectively), and Surf Scoter (220) among them. Duck diversity remained good with 16 total species including 124 Redheads, 1 Black Scoter, and 7 Long-tailed Ducks. Surprisingly only 6 Red-throated Loons were counted despite the much larger numbers for their larger cousins.

There were very few other waterbirds around the point today but for the first time this season there appeared to be a southward movement of Ring-billed Gulls during the morning and a few Bonaparte's Gulls continued out on the lake. A single American Golden-Plover along with at least one Sanderling are still hanging on along the beach.

The woods continue to be quite active with sparrows making up a large percentage of the biomass these days but there are still a few late warblers and other migrants. So far it seems the winter finch forecast is holding true as the number of Pine Siskins continues to build each day.

Peregrine Falcon

Increased diversity

2010-09-29T18:56:00.000-07:00

As has been the case in recent days the weather was mediocre for bird flight and so the past two days have been average with good diversity but only small numbers of individual species. Yesterday's wind was moderate to strong from the N/NW and today was light turning strong from the S/SW, not anything to hinder migration but nothing to really get it going either. Tomorrow and Friday are forecast to be strong from the W/NW with sporadic rain which seems like a recipe for a good flight along the lake.

The past two days have had good waterfowl diversity with 18 species of ducks seen (and Canada Goose) including all three scoters and an increased number of scaups of both species. No species have been present in exceptional numbers but there have been small mixed flocks regularly passing the point into the early afternoon as of late. Loon numbers have remained in the same pattern with Common Loon counts in the high-20s both days and a combined 11 Red-throateds with most of those coming today. Horned Grebes have increased in numbers with day counts of 18 and 11 while Red-neckeds remain in the 50-100 per day range.

For the first time in awhile I did not see a jaeger today though yesterday was more "typical" of this year with the continuing juvenile Parasitic and one unidentified bird out on the lake during the morning. Shorebird numbers were no better with a few American Golden-Plovers around the point both days and a trio of juvenile Sanderlings still patrolling the shoreline. Yesterday a migrant Greater Yellowlegs made a brief flyover and an unidentified phalarope was seen momentarily as it worked the breakers off shore before disappearing as quickly as it appeared.

A resurgence in raptor numbers the past few days has led to more action on that front lately with Bald Eagle, Northern Harrier, Red-tailed Hawk, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Northern Goshawk, Merlin, and Peregrine Falcon all hunting the point at various, and sometimes overlapping, times. In the prey category sparrows have made their grand arrival with large numbers and good variety present in the woods while a few warblers (mostly Yellow-rumpeds) and thrushes are still hanging on for good measure.

Blondes? Brunettes? Nope, I'll take a Redhead

2010-09-27T19:52:00.000-07:00

Today's weather appeared like it would be no better than recent days when I checked the forecast before reluctantly rolling out of a warm bed this morning but like I have learned while trying to predict bird migration in the past, what we presume to happen is often not what does. All day it was clear and sunny with light S winds but for some reason there were birds. To be fair they were almost all Redheads or other species associated with the Redhead flocks but at least there was movement. In the end I tallied 401 Redheads today mostly coming through in flocks of 15-40 birds that sometimes trailed a few hangers on, and sometimes did not.

Small but respectable numbers of other duck species came through as well with the next two highest counts being 76 American Wigeons and 75 Greater Scaup. All of the regular dabblers appeared at some point or another while the divers were in smaller numbers with very few scoters coming through and a much reduced merganser count. Loon numbers continue to be low with Red-throated nearly out-pacing Common today but a late surge gave the Great Northern variety a 13 to 9 advantage. Red-necked Grebes continue in small numbers with 54 seen while a pair of migrant Horned Grebes and a single bird hanging around the point this morning were the only ones noted of that species.

As has become typical of recent days the same light-phase juvenile Parasitic Jaeger cruised the point on several occasions today while two other distant jaegers added to the total of unidentified birds for the year. Shorebirds were again scarce with a single American Golden-Plover joining a small group of Sanderlings as the only healthy birds left while an injured Baird's Sandpiper was there but who knows for how much longer.

The woods were a bit more alive today with a Black-backed Woodpecker heard from the shack this morning and small numbers of passerines including an improved warbler count with at least 6 species seen. Most notable was a late Ruby-throated Hummingbird that buzzed the shack this afternoon, if the records I have are correct this would be the latest sighting for the point by one day.

9/24 and 9/25: They had so much potential

2010-09-25T16:48:00.000-07:00

Cold "wall" that came through on 9/24

The past two days have been characterized by very mediocre bird movements and interesting weather. Yesterday was warm, eventually getting up into the 60s, and humid in the morning when a serious cold front plowed through that dropped the temperature 10-15 degrees and hit me with rain for the last 2-3 hours of the count. The picture above is the front itself, truthfully I can't ever remember seeing clouds make a 90 degree right angle before. Today was all about the wind, it blew out of the N and NNW and it blew hard. The winds this morning were sustaining themselves in the 20-25 MPH range with gusts well over 30 at times. Despite, or perhaps because of, the winds bird movement was pretty poor except for Canada Geese.

Canada Geese continue to be the most common birds of late with counts of 137 and 480 the past two days while other waterfowl are still showing but in sporadic groups. Yesterday saw a decent movement of dabblers while today was mostly scoters and mergansers with only a handful of dabbling ducks noted. While on the loon front numbers continue to be about the same with Commons totaling 87 for the two days and Red-throateds totaling 18. Red-necked Grebes made a bit of an improvement today with 61 seen which is better than the 10 that were seen on Friday.

Shorebirds are still in short supply with a small flock of Sanderlings providing most of the total though a Baird's Sandpiper has been present for two days now and an American Golden-Plover was seen this afternoon. As has become the norm up here this year jaegers were noted both days with a continuing light-morph juvenile Parasitic seen both yesterday and today while the light-morph adult that has been hanging around for several days was again noted this afternoon. An additional unknown jaeger was seen this afternoon bringing the season's total to 61 jaegers!

The conditions have not been conducive to birding the point itself when I have had the opportunity for a couple days so I have seen very little but a few intrepid birders did scout the woods this morning with Rusty Blackbird and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker being the top prizes.

MIZZ-UR-A-BULL weather

2010-09-23T15:53:00.000-07:00

adult Lesser Black-backed Gull in the harbor

So today dawned with rain and strong E/SE winds, and it never changed. Rain showers hit the point on and off all day long and the wind picked up through the day never deviating from the ESE or SE. Despite that some birds still flew on and with tomorrow's forecast of similar conditions but with winds from the SW and W my hopes are high for what might fly by.

Today's best bird by far was a non-breeding plumaged Laughing Gull that made two quick passes along the lake in front of the shack about 9 and 11 this morning, unfortunately the bird never came in to the point to roost or in shore for a picture. While this species is a rare, but not entirely unexpected, late spring and summer wanderer to the area a fall bird anywhere inland is exceptionally uncommon and much like the recent southern finds on Lake Michigan it could be due to recent tropical systems from the Gulf of Mexico. Also quite rare for the point was an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull that was found after the count concluded in the Whitefish Point harbor while looking in vain for the Laughing Gull; add in another juvenile Sabine's Gull and today was quite the gull day for the point.

Overall diversity was good today despite not having a large count of any particular species or group. The most common species for the day were White-winged Scoter (59), Canada Goose (47), and Northern Pintail (43), the breakdown is notable because for the first time this year the top three does not include Red-necked Grebe. Duck diversity was good today with handful of dabbler species including the first 2 Wood Ducks of the year, 9 American Black Ducks, and 16 Northern Shovelers while divers consisted mostly of White-winged Scoters and Red-breasted Mergansers with the first 2 Long-tailed Ducks of the season flying the wrong way past the point this morning. Loons far outnumbered grebes for the day with 23 Common and 17 Red-throateds as compared to 10 Red-neckeds and 4 Horneds.

Jaegers were present once again with at least 4 individuals seen today including 2 Parasitics and 2 unknowns. The parasitics included a light-morph adult bird that is likely the same bird that was seen a couple days ago and a light-morph juvenile that made a number of passes throughout the morning and afternoon. Shorebirds were almost non-existent with 16 Sanderlings along the shoreline and a group of 6 American Golden-Plovers that set down on the point during one of the rain showers being the only ones seen.

Due to the weather I wasn't able to bird the woods at all today so I have no idea what may or may not be in there right now but the flock of "open land" birds on the point is still present with the Lapland Longspur count up to 13.

Its all about the highlights

2010-09-22T13:35:00.000-07:00

Much like yesterday it was a day with a few clear highlights but a lot of time with few to no birds passing by the point. The overall weather pattern for today seemed promising with moderate WNW to NW winds all day but the lack of real fronts seemed to doom the movement of birds on the lake since the number of migrant ducks and loons was much lower than yesterday. The forecast for tomorrow is not a great one (E/ESE winds) but I haven't been too accurate with my predictions lately so who knows.

The top tier birds were once again in the Laridae and Stercorariidae families with a juvenile Sabine's Gull passing by early this afternoon while the curtains still have not fallen on this year's jaeger show as a juvenile Long-tailed, an adult Parasitic, and an unknown bird were all seen before noon today. Also unusual for the point were a trio of Trumpeter/Tundra Swans which flew past late this morning.

Among the other birds seen Canada Goose was once again the most common with 308 while Red-necked Grebe was second with 56 and Common Loon slid into the three spot with 32. Duck numbers were down once again with 29 Greater Scaup, 14 Red-breasted Mergansers, and 12 Common Mergansers accounting for almost all ducks seen. After yesterday's good loon showing today was a different story as only 1 Red-throated Loon was noted. Shorebird diversity remained at a whopping four with a Greater Yellowlegs being the most notable among them.

Raptor and landbird numbers continue to decline with not even a Merlin noted this morning.

Warm, warm, cold

2010-09-21T13:26:00.000-07:00

Today's weather was interesting to say the least with both warm and cold fronts passing over the point, warm fronts bringing thunder and lightning to liven up the early morning and a cold front in the afternoon to make sure I didn't get too comfortable out there and start napping. The winds associated started more southerly but were swinging to the west as the day progressed with SW being the most common direction for the day. And is usually the case that meant a pretty good bird day with the total number of birds a bit lower than I anticipated but the highlights were certainly enough to make up for that.

The most unexpected bird title went to a Marbled Godwit that flew into my scope view as I was scanning the point about 8:00 a.m. this morning and landed for a very short time before heading off to who knows where. A close second, and the coolest for me personally, were 2 juvenile Sabine's Gulls which showed up during the first and second hours of the count. The second bird came in along the shoreline and flew across the point into Whitefish Bay.

General waterbird movement was highest in the first couple hours after sunrise with loons and grebes making up a majority of the birds. Overall the most common bird of the day was Canada Goose thanks to several large groups in the afternoon with Red-necked Grebe taking second with 62 birds and Common Loon in third with 56. Red-throated Loons had their best day by far this year with 31 all counted before noon, while ducks were sparse with a few dabblers in the morning and a small scoter movement throughout the day ending with 21 Surfs and 10 White-wingeds. The season's first Cackling Geese were two singles among groups of Canadas this afternoon.

The only other new arrival among the shorebirds present today was a juvenile Pectoral Sandpiper while a Black-bellied Plover, 2 American Golden-Plovers, and 18 Sanderlings continued from previous days. A few Common Terns and Bonaparte's Gulls continue around the point and an unidentified jaeger was noted in the haze as one the warm fronts passed through this morning.

Flocks of common passerines were present on the point this morning with Blue Jays, American Robins, Yellow-rumped Warblers, and Pine Siskins particularly obvious while a few new migrants were seen including a Bobolink and a few Black-throated Green Warblers.

9/19 and 9/20

2010-09-20T13:43:00.000-07:00

Jason gave me yesterday off and among the birds they saw were another Sabine's Gull, 2 unidentified jaegers, and decent selection of dabbler and diving ducks.

Today was a nice day to be on the point but bird numbers were fairly weak. Wind was almost non-existent today and when it did make an appearance it was from the S and SE, this morning's weather could be summed up by three C's: calm, clear, and cool.

Overall movement was pretty slow with the 244 Canada Geese making up a majority of the migrant birds recorded while Common Loon was second with 57 and Red-necked Grebe was third with 39. Duck migration was slow but 11 species were noted with 19 Northern Pintails, 9 Greater Scaup, and 7 Surf Scoters leading the way. Red-throated Loon numbers remained steady with 7 seen while a few Horned Grebes were seen as well.

Once again a light-morph adult Parasitic Jaeger was noted during the waterbird count and another unidentified phalarope was seen too far out onto the lake to tell if it was a Red-necked or Red. Other shorebirds seen today included 4 Black-bellied Plovers, 3 American Golden-Plovers, 1 Lesser Yellowlegs, 12 Sanderlings, and 1 Baird's Sandpiper.

Woodpeckers were unusually common at the point today with a Hairy landing on the shack itself while a Downy, Pileated, and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker were noted during the morning and afternoon. The woods had a good number of birds in them but the species breakdown was the same as recent days.

Just another LTJA

2010-09-18T14:34:00.000-07:00

Red-necked Phalarope from St. Paul Island, AK

For the third time this season a Long-tailed Jaeger was found, but for the first time it wasn't just me that saw it. A light-morph juvenile flew past the point this morning to the delight of the 5-10 other birders present who got an unexpected treat. Not all that more common at the point were the 2 Red-necked Phalaropes that were working the breakers just off the point for a while early this afternoon. The birds really got going on the moderate W and W/NW winds that held through the day with an early morning shower ending about 8:00 a.m. really seeming to get the birds flying.

Overall movement was similar to last weekend with 2000+ birds counted, the three most common being Red-necked Grebe (892), American Wigeon (384), and Common Tern (307). Overall duck numbers were much increased with dabbler diversity good including 14 Gadwall, 6 American Black Ducks, and 22 Northern Shovelers while divers were led by Greater Scaup that had its best day so far at 191 while Redhead was second at 59. Loon numbers remained almost unchanged with 31 Common and 5 Red-throateds noted while Horned Grebes had their best day at 24. Shorebird numbers continue to be very poor with a handful of Sanderlings being the only ones seen today.

Landbird numbers on the point were good this morning with large numbers of thrushes and sparrows joined by many of the late fall migrants at the beginning of their migration window. Warbler numbers were decent with 9+ species seen including Black-throated Blue and Northern Waterthrush. Falcons put on a good show this morning with 3 Merlins and a Peregrine hunting the exhausted passerines trying to make it safely across the lake.

I may have spoke too soon

2010-09-17T14:22:00.000-07:00

Light-phase juvenile Parsitic Jaeger chasing a Ring-billed Gull

Well any day where the wind blows between 15 and 25 MPH from the wrong direction for bird migration would not be looked to for much movement and today was just that case. The wind was from the S all morning and afternoon and picked up with time, the forecast has it coming from the SW to NW for the next few days so hopefully this will just be a fluke poor day in an otherwise good weekend.

The highlight today was a light-morph juvenile Parasitic Jaeger which came in right to the point's shoreline this afternoon providing all out there with amazing views at the bird which was the first light-phase juvenile jaeger we have seen this fall. The overall waterbird tally was fairly low with 55 Red-necked Grebes, 27 Canada Geese, and 21 Common Loons leading the way. Duck numbers were way down from previous days but scoters continue to trickle past with 15 White-winged and 1 Surf observed. Also seen in reduced numbers were Red-throated Loons and Horned Grebes with 2 and 3 respectively. The only shorebird species seen besidesSanderling were a pair of Wilson's Snipes that flew out of the dune grass and headed south this afternoon.

Overall numbers of landbirds on the point seemed to be up from recent days but much of that was likely due to the American Robin, Blue Jay, and Cedar Waxwing flocks which moved in to the area. Small numbers of expected thrushes, warblers, and sparrows continue in the woods as does the flock of Horned Larks, Lapland Longspurs, and American Pipits on the point itself.

Lapland Longspurs

Season-to-date Jaeger Summary

2010-09-16T17:01:00.000-07:00

Pomarine Jaeger from St. Paul Island, AK

Parasitic Jaeger from St. Paul Island, AK

Long-tailed Jaeger from St. Paul Island, AK

I had a request for a summary as of today (Sept. 16th) of this year's jaeger numbers. The highest number of jaegers recorded during any fall waterbird count is 53 in 2000 so the tally of 44 so far this year is well on its way to setting a new mark. The breakdown is

Parasitic: 15

Long-tailed: 2

Unidentified: 27

Also note that there have been at least 1 Pomarine, 1 Parasitic, and a few unidentified Jaegers seen in the afternoon or evening after the count.

The start of a new season

2010-09-16T16:13:00.000-07:00

Sanderling

Today signaled the beginning to the high season with poor weather dominating and yet birds still passed by in moderate numbers. The day was nothing but E, ENE, and NE winds (once again the rain passed around the point) but despite that there was still some duck, loon, and grebe movement past the point throughout the day, it was a sight for sore eyes.

The majority of birds on the move today were the 380 Canada Geese which flew by before noon, a distant second were Red-necked Grebes with 49, and third was grabbed by Common Loon with 42. Overall duck numbers were not exceptional but diversity was good with 2 American Black Ducks, 12 Green-winged Teal, and 11 Northern Shovelers leading the dabbler pack while 9 Redheads, 9 Greater Scaup, 12 Surf Scoters, and 9 White-winged Scoters headlined the divers. Other grebe and loon movement was moderate with 12 Horned Grebes noted this morning and 13 Red-throated Loons passing by in the afternoon.

A Ruddy Turnstone and 2 Baird's Sandpipers joined the 28 Sanderlings on the point this morning while an unknown Phalarope flew over the point from south to north, but was lost almost immediately when it dropped into the waves along the lake shore. Another jaeger passed by off the point, an unidentified light-morph adult, and small numbers of Bonaparte's Gulls and Common Terns continued to be seen feeding in the rip current off the point's tip.

No new landbirds were noted today but overall warbler numbers were better with increased numbers of Orange-crowned, Black-and-white, Northern Parula, and Nashvilles while several of each Philadelphia and Red-eyed Vireos were seen. Golden-crowned Kinglet, Cedar Waxwing, and White-throated Sparrow continue to make up the majority of the passerine flocks that are now being hunted by a juvenile Northern Goshawk as well as the resident Merlin.

An empty lake

2010-09-15T14:13:00.000-07:00

Well I think after two days jam packed with moving waterbirds there just aren't that many left around Lake Superior right now. Today was cool, but mostly sunny with light west winds early on turning to north by the afternoon. Once again the rain showers kept mostly to the north shore of the lake sparing me a much less pleasant day at the "office."

On the bird front there were few highlights with the most notable sighting being a group of 5 Surf Scoters flying past early this morning. Small numbers of dabblers and divers continue to pass by with Greater Scaup (14) and Red-breasted Merganser (7) being the most common duck species seen. Overall the most common species seen today were Red-necked Grebe (156), Common Goose (26), and Common Loon (19) while Horned Grebe (18) was the best-of-the-rest. A small number of Red-throated Loons (3) passed by again today.

Shorebird diversity was a bit improved over recent days with 6 species including a Black-bellied Plover, an American Golden-Plover, a Least Sandpiper, and a Baird's Sandpiper. Small numbers of migrant gulls and terns were working the point with 4 Bonaparte's Gulls and 8 Common Terns seen.

The woods continue to have a moderate bird show with the same basic birds present today as yesterday including a few new birds that were headlined by a Pileated Woodpecker, one Bohemian Waxwing, and a Wilson's Warbler.

Another highlight reel day

2010-09-14T16:48:00.000-07:00

Harlequin Ducks from St. Paul Island, AK

Yesterday was pretty darn good but today had little to no drop-off in the bird department. The definite highlight was an early Harlequin Duck which flew along the point and took a quick breather in the rip current off the tip before heading on south about 8:30 this morning. Less than an hour later as I watched a juvenile Parasitic Jaeger attempt to grab a struggling warbler making its way across the lake I noticed a bird weaving its way through the wave troughs, it was another Red-necked Phalarope, the bird eventually lost me when it stayed below the wave peaks for too long to predict where it would re-appear. All-in-all not a bad hour to be standing out there.

Total bird numbers were down slightly from yesterday but the species diversity was actually better today thanks to a couple new diving ducks for the season. First-of-seasons (FOS) included a pair of Ring-necked Ducks in the company of several Greater Scaup and a quartet of Black Scoters that flew past a little before noon, add to that 3 separate White-winged Scoters and a single Surf Scoter about 1 p.m. and today constituted my first scoter sweep for the season. While diving duck numbers continue to increase, about 75 birds seen today could be lumped into that designation, dabbler numbers dropped off a bit more with a few teal, wigeons, and pintails adding some variety. On the overall waterbird front Red-necked Grebe continued to show strongly with 1665 counted while Canada Goose was again in second place as the skeins of geese eventually totaled 483 today. Greater Scaup made its way into the top three for the first time with 47. Loon numbers were a bit down from yesterday when just 33 Commons and 3 Red-throateds could be located flying past.

Almost surprisingly given there abundance so far this fall only one jaeger was seen today, the aforementioned Parasitic, and shorebirds were again in short supply with 2 American Golden-Plovers joining the handful of Sanderlings still on the beach.

The woods continue to produce small numbers of birds with my FOS Scarlet Tanager and Fox Sparrows seen this afternoon while Golden-crowned Kinglets and Palm Warblers were the dominant passerines on the point while small numbers of warblers are still joining the mixed-species flocks (including a few Cape Mays, Blackpolls, and Bay-breasteds). The point still has its flock of open land birds which now contains 44 Horned Larks, 5 Lapland Longspurs, and a few American Pipits while a few raptors still make an occasional appearance to dine on the many passerine migrants caught out in the open.

Long-tailed and more

2010-09-13T16:19:00.000-07:00

This morning dawned with moderate-strong W winds and just had the feeling like it would be one of those good days. From the beginning Red-necked Grebes were moving in large numbers and smaller numbers of ducks, loons, and Horned Grebes were evident amongst them. The birds that really bring people to the point didn't show up until 9:30 a.m. though, that's when the season's second Long-tailed Jaeger (an adult with broken off tail streamers) kited past the point, some distance away but close enough to still be appreciated. About 30 minutes later a juvenile Sabine's Gull made a short appearance and was then followed by a Red-necked Phalarope which was lost when it flew into the rip current at the point's tip. It took another few hours but eventually a juvenile Parasitic Jaeger came by (an unidentified bird flew past about the same time as the Long-tailed) to give a 2 jaeger species day. Guess it pays to be on that spit of land 8 hours a day every once in a while.

Beyond the highlights there was a good waterbird movement led by Red-necked Grebe which took the day's top spot with 1760 while Canada Goose was second with 242 and American Wigeon was the most common of the ducks with 73. Small numbers of Blue-winged Teal and other dabblers also made an appearance while diving duck numbers remained steady with Greater Scaup, White-winged Scoter, and Common Merganser being the most common from that group. Loons were present in increased numbers with 52 Common and 11 Red-throated seen today while 19 Horned Grebes joined their larger cousins. A young Forster's Tern joined the few Common Terns that were around this afternoon and an American Golden-Plover flew over calling on an otherwise poor shorebird day.

A non-waterbird count Wood Duck was flushed from one of the point's small ponds this afternoon while the woods on the point still held a few birds but were quieter than yesterday. Small flocks of passerines were moving around this afternoon made up mostly of Golden-crowned Kinglets, Yellow-rumped and Palm Warblers, and White-throated Sparrows but a few others were among them including a Philadelphia and a Red-eyed Vireo, 2 Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Orange-crowned and Cape May Warblers, and a few Lincoln's Sparrows. A first for me on the point was a Ruffed Grouse that was in the underbrush near the Fog horn Pond.

Dabblers on the move

2010-09-12T17:12:00.000-07:00

No post yesterday as Adam gave me the day off to do some much needed grocery shopping, it seems I picked a good day as it was nothing but south and southeast all morning and waterbird movement was expectedly weak. Of note were 4 more jaegers (2 unidentified and 2 Parasitics) but overall numbers were fairly low, though they still beat a couple days ago.

Today was a different story, there were birds early, and there were birds often. Without a doubt this was a banner day for Blue-winged Teal movement on Lake Superior as we tallied 1488 this morning and afternoon with another 236 unidentified teal seen, Green-winged Teal was much less common with 62 seen this morning. Along with the teal most other expected dabblers were seen this morning including an impressive count for Whitefish Point of 82 Northern Shovelers while other counts included 301 American Wigeons, 3 American Black Ducks, 63 Mallards, and 8 Northern Pintails. Diving ducks continue to be seen in small numbers with 30 Redheads, 32 Greater Scaup, and 16 White-winged Scoters leading the pack.

Other waterbird numbers included 307 Red-necked Grebes, 16 Common Loons, 8 Horned Grebes, and 64 Common Terns. As has become normal so far this fall there were 4 jaegers seen today, all in the final 2 hours of the count, with a single Parasitic and 3 unidentified birds (one that got away may have been a Pomarine). Shorebirds were still present in low numbers with a single Baird's and 2 Buff-breasteds still present on the point's shoreline.

For info on today's passerine/landbird movement take a look at the sightings blog.

A new day

2010-09-10T14:32:00.000-07:00

Today may not have been the best waterbird migration day nor the best day in the woods this Fall but after the past few days it sure seemed like it was. A big boost in the overall numbers was the re-appearance of Canada Geese flocks and sparrows added some diversity to the woods, in the end it was just nice to see something was moving up here once more. Tomorrow's forecast is for similar weather, the avian forecast to-be-determined however.

Skeins of Canada Geese coming south from the Hudson/James Bay region made up almost half of today's birds with 243 counted and easily outdistanced Red-necked Grebe (62) for the most common bird of the day. Coming in third was Green-winged Teal with 29, one ahead of Common Loon which increased from the past couple days to 28. Other waterbirds rebounded a bit as well with a single American Black Duck, 14 White-winged Scoters, 2 Red-throated Loons, and 2 Horned Grebes also seen today.

Shorebird numbers were better than recent days with new arrivals including an American Golden-Plover than came in during the last hour of the count and 3 Buff-breasted Sandpipers that arrived around noon. Also found today was a Wilson's Snipe that was flushed from the dune vegetation close to the shack. An unknown Jaeger species passed by on the lake early in the morning and small numbers of Bonaparte's Gulls and Common Terns were again present along the point.

Passerines were in much larger numbers today around the point with the expected mid-to-late Fall mix of American Pipits, Horned Larks, Savannah Sparrows, and Lapland Longspurs now present on the point for the second straight day. In the woods American Robins and Yellow-rumped Warblers were in the largest numbers while 9 other warbler species were found including a late Yellow and a female-type Black-throated Blue. Other birds present included numbers of Golden-crowned Kinglets, Hermit Thrushes, a House Wren, and solid sparrow numbers which included 2 Field, 2 Vesper, a Swamp, and a few Lincoln's among the more regular species.

More birds than colors in a rainbow

2010-09-09T14:36:00.001-07:00

And when I say that I am being literal, we did eventually manage more total birds today than there were individual colors in the rainbow that showed to the south of us this morning. Though it did take some time to rack up 8 total birds, it did finally happen. My heavy sarcasm has likely led you all to infer that the large bird movement did NOT happen today, instead one of the slowest days of the year was in its place. Winds were strong to moderate out of the NW turning to the N by the afternoon with rain surrounding us though we remained dry on the point itself, seemingly good weather for a movement but I guess there was more going on than I could account for. Maybe tomorrow.

Highlight has to be used loosely for anything today but 2 Red-throated Loons would qualify as today's best birds with a Common Goldeneye vying for second place in the category. Among the most numerous were Red-necked Grebe (69), Common Tern (18), and Common Loon (12), those three species accounting for more than 85% of the total birds seen today.

Total shorebird numbers were slightly higher than the past few days thanks to 18 Sanderlings on the point this afternoon though diversity was no better with a Semipalmated Plover and a Least Sandpiper the only other species noted.

Passerines were just as poor with the woods deathly quiet this afternoon during my walk though two new birds for the fall did grace the point, 3 Horned Larks and a Lapland Longspur.

Sabine's and Parasitic

2010-09-08T16:48:00.000-07:00

The winds did indeed shift overnight and today I was greeted by strong WNW and eventually NW winds that blasted the point under cloudy skies all morning long. By mid-morning the sustained winds were causing waves on the lake to reach the 10-15 foot range and a small contingent of freighters were sitting in Whitefish Bay so as not to become 2010's Edmund Fitzgerald. Of course the birds can fly above the waves so while it seems many (at least hopefully) decided to wait for the weather to die down a bit a few still decided to get up and use the strong tailwind to their advantage. The weatherman says similar weather for tomorrow but with a little calmer winds so we will see what that has in store for us.

Since this blog is suppose to be about Whitefish Point birds not the weather I guess I'll mention the few highlights that did come by. The season's second and my first juvenile Sabine's Gull spent about 5-10 minutes kiting over the waves along the point a little before 10 this morning while in other news the season's jaeger total continued to rise with 5 seen today including two intermediate juvenile birds that came close to the point and could clearly be ID'ed as Parasitics. That brings the season total to 30 jaegers including 25 over the past week alone.

However, overall waterbird numbers were lower than hoped for with Canada Goose remaining the most common for the second consecutive day at 164 birds while Red-necked Grebe was again second with 135 and Common Loon clung to third with 27 birds counted. Duck numbers rebounded a bit with the season's first Hooded Merganser early in the morning, a single of each Scaup species, and 2 White-winged Scoters in the afternoon. Red-throated Loons continue to move by in small numbers with 5 seen today, the season's highest yet total. Shorebirds, terns, and Bonaparte's Gulls continue in small numbers with little change in species makeup or abundance.

The high winds hampered birding on the point itself for yet another day with a couple American Pipits circling the point being the most notable landbird seen.

What would I write about if not for jaegers?

2010-09-07T13:49:00.000-07:00

The morning greeted me with 20-25 mph winds blowing out of the SE and a dearth of birds on or near the point. As the day passed by the winds began to slow a bit and by the time I left this afternoon they were coming from the S/SW and rain was beginning to fall. The forecast tells me that I'll return to the point with strong W/NW winds tomorrow morning so hopefully all of the birds that have been stalled yesterday and today will be making their way south past the point then.

Among the birds that did pass by today the highlight was yet another jaeger, a light-phase adult, but given the great distance and behavior, the bird could not be identified between Parasitic and Pomarine. For the first time this year Canada Goose was the most common bird for the day with a whopping 27 while Red-necked Grebe came in second with 24 and Common Loon outpaced Common Tern 17 to 16 for third place. Duck numbers continued to be weak with a few teal and other dabblers struggling past through the day.

Shorebird diversity remained around 5 species with Sanderling still present in the largest numbers and a group of 6 American Golden-Plovers flying over being the most interesting. Much like the water the point's woods were also quiet today with a total of 8 warbler species seen including Pine and Wilson's but little else showing itself.

9/5 and 9/6

2010-09-06T17:06:00.000-07:00

Adam gave me a little rest time yesterday so I spent the day either in the woods or inside but those at the point did see a decent duck diversity, 598 Red-necked Grebes, 3 American Golden-Plovers, a juvenile Sabine's Gull, and a single Jaeger Sp.

Today's count was less exciting as the winds shifted to the S/SE overnight and continued that way through the afternoon eventually picking up some speed by the time I left the shack.

Migrant highlights passing the point today included a Surf Scoter, 4 Red-throated Loons, 20 Horned Grebes, and yet another juvenile Parasitic Jaeger. Passing in the largest numbers were 103 Common Terns, 99 Red-necked Grebes, and 23 Common Loons, a clear decrease in numbers from recent days.

The forecast is for a return to west and northwest winds in the next couple days so hopefully that will herald a few more birds and little less time fighting to stay awake in the afternoon.

Jaegers galore

2010-09-04T14:12:00.000-07:00

Well today was one for the Whitefish Point record books, no less than 14 jaegers (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) were seen today with 13 during the count (including a group of 3) and 1 within the first hour after the count ended. Only two could be definitively identified as Parasitics though jizz and percentages suggest that all likely were. Given that this count has been performed for nearly 25 years and the previous record was 6 or 7 illustrates just how unique today was.

The uniqueness was not just confined to the jaegers as the weather this morning and afternoon was more suggestive of mid-October than early September with cool temps (40-50 degrees F all day), high winds (20-30 mph), and regular rain squalls off of the lake. The weather overnight included very high winds and torrential rain which downed trees and flooded the point itself creating a small lake where there was once just gravel. Tomorrow is suppose to be lighter winds and sunnier skies so hopefully all of those birds set down by this weather event will be gracing us with their presence.

A few other birds showed up in between jaeger sightings today topped by 1241 Red-necked Grebes, 262 Canada Geese, and 30 Common Loons. Small numbers of ducks continue to pass by with 4 Northern Pintails, 8 White-winged Scoters, and 2 dark-winged Scoters being the most notable among them.

Small numbers of Common Terns were again seen today with up to 11 feeding about the point during the count. A few shorebirds remained on the point despite the weather and included a Ruddy Turnstone, Semipalmated Sandpiper, and Baird's Sandpiper.

Very few other birds were seen given today's weather but at least a few raptors and warblers are still poking about on the point for the time being.

3 Jaeger day

2010-09-03T14:23:00.000-07:00

While moderate to strong SW to W west winds dominated today and storms passed all around, though most missed the point to my benefit, the number of birds passing through again dropped from previous days. As seems to be the case when the birds stop moving that's when jaegers appear off the point, so it was no surprise and perhaps a bad omen that I was graced with at least three today with two being clear cut Parasitics and the third undoubtedly also a Parasitic but at a distance which made a 100% decision difficult.

With the drop in overall bird numbers Red-necked Grebe again took the top spot with a grand total of 48 birds seen today, Canada Geese stole the second spot with a group of 17 early on, and Common Loon rounded out the top three with 15 throughout the day. Small numbers of dabbling and White-winged Scoters continued to pass by today and a single Red-throated Loon also flew past early this afternoon.

Common Terns were again present but in much smaller numbers with a total of 9 seen while shorebirds continue in small numbers including newly arrived Ruddy Turnstone and Pectoral Sandpiper, the later being the first of the fall.

Passerine migrants continue to reduce in numbers and while small numbers of the more common warbler species were seen the diversity and total abundance was not large. The current weather outside and the forecast for the near future looks very promising so hopefully tomorrow's post will have better news to report.

Finally a Canada Goose

2010-09-02T12:46:00.000-07:00

While I realize the 6 Canada Geese that passed the point may not be that exciting I had been stunned by the fact that I had not seen one yet at the point so for the first time in a long time, I enjoyed when they came by. However, no other new birds for the fall passed by today under increasingly cloudy skies with light to moderate SE to S winds probably not helping matters much.

For the second straight day Common Tern was the most common migrant with 412 passing by while Red-necked Grebe held the #2 spot with 106 birds seen. Common Loon put on its best showing so far this fall and climbed into the #3 spot with a total of 103. Duck numbers were drastically reduced from yesterday with 4 American Wigeons, 17 Blue-winged Teal, and 25 Common Mergansers the only ones seen. Horned Grebes and Red-throated Loons continue in small numbers with 6 and 2 respectively.

Another jaeger passed by the point today which was almost assuredly an adult light-morph Parasitic but the distance and poor early morning light caused me to enter Jaeger Sp. on the taly sheet. Also passing through were 2 Sandhill Cranes midday, 4 Bonaparte's Gulls, and another Forster's Tern. Shorebird numbers were greatly reduced from yesterday with fewer than 15 birds of 6 species seen.

Overall land bird numbers were also much lower with numerous migrant warblers seen flying off the point during the morning and small numbers still hanging on in the woods. The only additional passerine species noted today were Blue-headed Vireo and American Pipit. Raptor numbers seemed to be higher today with multiple Northern Harriers, an Osprey, and a Bald Eagle all arriving off the lake.

Common Tern bonanza

2010-09-01T14:58:00.000-07:00

As predicted the weather changed abruptly last night with several cold fronts rolling through into the morning bringing with them a complete shift in bird activity. Instead of warm and sunny with poor action, the temperature dropped, the wind turned to the west, the rain started, and low and behold the birds started to move past the point once more. The forecast is for winds from the SE tomorrow so we will see how it holds up, but so far September is looking good.

While all species were up for the day the real highlight was the movement of Common Terns between 8 and 10 this morning with nearly 1500 passing by in those two hours alone giving a daily total of 1696 birds that made them far and away the most common for the day. With the strong cold front that rolled in just before 11 came an increased movement of waterbirds which brought the total of Red-necked Grebes up to 603 for the day and Blue-winged Teal up to 542 ranking them second and third respectively. Duck numbers continue to improve with nine total species including 20 American Wigeons, 1 Lesser Scaup, and 79 White-winged Scoters, while loon numbers were the best of the season with 32 Commons and 3 Red-throateds.

Besdies the glut of Common Terns other Larids passing during the series of fronts were 6 Black and 1 Forster's Tern along with 5 Bonaparte's Gulls. Shorebird numbers were also on the rise with 2 Black-bellied Plovers, 1 Lesser Yellowlegs, and 1 Buff-breasted Sandpiper added to the regular mix of Semipalmated Plovers, Sanderlings, and peeps.

While waterbird numbers were much increased the real movement today was on the passerine front so to see a summary of what was found in the point's woods check out the sightings blog.

... keeps some boredom away

2010-08-31T13:02:00.000-07:00

Adult light-phase Parasitic Jaeger from St. Paul Island, AK

Well after breaking my consecutive day streak of seeing jaegers yesterday I managed to start a whole new one today when an adult light-phase Parasitic Jaeger cruised past the point about 10 this morning. However, as was expected bird movement was light overall with strong south winds associated with the last of the high pressure system that has controlled our weather for the past week or so. Mercifully scattered cloud cover and the strong winds helped to mitigate the heat and humidity that had made afternoons so unpleasant lately.

Passage migrants were led by Red-necked Grebe (shocker!) with a still low count of 33, while 27 Common Terns placed them second and 8 Common Loons rounded out the top 3. Horned Grebes returned in small numbers with 6 scattered across the morning and a single Red-throated Loon in the late morning added a little spice to the count. Duck numbers remained low with 2 American Black Ducks being the only species of any note.

Shorebirds numbers and diversity remained similar with 15+ Sanderlings still pacing the point's sand and gravel shoreline while the peep count was made up of 1 Baird's, 1 Least, and 1 Semipalmated Sandpiper. A Lesser Yellowlegs made a pass overhead early this morning.

Most of the resident raptors made an appearance on the point today while a juvenile Peregrine Falcon that flew in mid-day was clearly a migrant. Passerine migrants were few and far between but the woods did produce a few Swainson's Thrushes, a House Wren, and 7 warbler species including a Black-throated Blue.

Tomorrow's forecast includes a cold front, west-to-northwest winds, and reduced temperatures, can't wait.

Swimming weather

2010-08-30T17:09:00.000-07:00

As the high pressure system continues to produce near record high temperatures and little to no bird immigration for yet another day the overall bird numbers continue to drop both on the point and passing by the point. On the positive note swimming in Lake Superior off the point today felt quite nice with air temperatures in the mid-to-upper 80s by the afternoon.

On the waterbird front Red-necked Grebe was the most common with 24 seen today while Red-breasted Merganser held the second spot with 12 and Horned Grebe snuck into number three with 8 individuals for the day. Shorebirds were scarcer than late with Sanderling numbers holding steady around 25 while all other species were much reduced or absent.

Non-waterbirds were still present but activity was weak with the high temps and humidity causing an early drop-off in bird movement. New migrants included an Eastern Wood-Pewee, Baltimore Oriole, and a Ruby-crowned Kinglet while warbler diversity peaked at 7-10 species.

Tomorrow's weather is suppose to be more of the same but depending on which meteorologist you believe there should be a break in this weather between Wednesday and Friday so here's hoping it comes sooner rather than later.

The streak ends

2010-08-29T15:36:00.000-07:00

Well I guess it couldn't last forever but the run on jaegers over the past few days sure was nice while it lasted. The weather conditions were essentially the same as the previous few days with sunny skies and light south winds once again, the large number of people swimming in the lake all along the point suggests this may be the last gasp of summer before the fall really kicks in.

Bird numbers were similar to recent days with 150+ Red-necked Grebes back in the top position and Blue-winged Teal returning to the #3 spot with 34 while Bonaparte's Gulls took over the #2 position with 39 thanks to a group of 25 late in the day. Common Loon numbers returned to double-digits with 11 for the morning and afternoon.

Shorebird numbers were steady with 24 Sanderling and 17 Baird's Sandpipers leading the way, a single Solitary Sandpiper flew by calling early in the morning. The only other migrant Larids were 11 Common Terns which flew past in small groups during the morning.

Common landbird migrants were again showing signs of building numbers with flocks of American Robins, Cedar Waxwings, and Yellow-rumped Warblers conspicuous at the shack while thrush numbers continued to increase in the woods and a consistent variety of warblers remain in the woods including Black-throated Blue and Wilson's. The first Yellow-billed Cuckoo of the season was also detected this morning while a new Peregrine Falcon came in off the lake during the afternoon.

A Jaeger a day...

2010-08-28T17:27:00.000-07:00

Well the jaeger show continued at the shack today with 2 Parasitic Jaegers passing by on an otherwise very uneventful morning and afternoon count. The first, an adult or close to it, dark-morph passed by in the count's 3rd hour while the second was found in overpowering heat haze around noon and could only be placed as a sub-adult or adult Parasitic. Hopefully I can go for the hat trick tomorrow and pick up a Pomarine giving me all three in as many days.

Moderate south-southwest winds dominated all day while clear skies and a lot of sun were the tell-tale marks of continuing high pressure. This is suppose to last a few more days but they say rain is on the horizon. On a personal high note for the first time this year I can say that Red-necked Grebe was not the most common bird, that title was stripped away by the 33 Blue-winged Teal which topped the 29 mark set by their Podiceps cousins. Rounding out the top 3 was Mallard with a whopping 6 seen throughout the day.

Shorebirds were again represented by the same variety on the point while single Lesser Yellowlegs and Solitary Sandpipers passed overhead during the morning. Bonaparte's Gulls also increased over recent days with a couple large groups late bringing the total to 74 birds.

Landbirds were less numerous than recent days but 2 Cooper's Hawks moving in off the lake, a small kettle of 17 Broad-winged Hawks mid-morning, and a fly-by Pileated Woodpecker early on added some spice to the bland concoction the lake was serving up.

Long-tailed Jaeger

2010-08-27T15:56:00.000-07:00

The day all came down to a minute or so around 9:30 am when an adult Long-tailed Jaeger cruised on past the point, just far enough out to keep me from getting a picture, to give me my second jaeger species so far in August. Other highlights for the day included the first 2 Red-throated Loons for the season and my first Caspian Terns for the point this season. The picture below was taken in Alaska but its just to show I do know what an adult Long-tailed Jaeger looks like in real life.

Apart from the aforementioned highlights the day wore on pretty slow with only a handful of birds seen in the afternoon and a near miss on a nap from your truly. Comfortable temps in the mid-70s, a nice breeze out of the south, and weary eyes from hours of little activity nearly got the better of me but I managed to stay awake till the bitter end. To the delight of the vacationers and locals the weather forecast is for similar weather all weekend long, those of us at the shack might have a slightly different take on the weather outlook however.

Red-necked Grebes continued with 156 seen today while all other waterbirds amounted to a total of about 50 birds with 8 Blue-winged Teal and 7 Common Terns leading the pack. Common Loon numbers dropped to only 3 and a pair of Horned Grebes late morning were the only of their species noted. Shorebird numbers were actually up from previous days with the 24 Sanderlings accounting for most of the increase while 4 Ruddy Turnstones continued and 7 Buff-breasted Sandpipers were newly arrived.

Typical raptors again showed well at the shack this morning chasing exhausted birds in off the lake while common birds seemed to be preparing to move as small flocks of Blue Jays, Common Ravens, and Chipping Sparrows were noted in the jack pines.

Lake Superior spouts off

2010-08-26T14:26:00.000-07:00

No, I am not crazy enough to think the lake is making fun of me for sitting next to it all day staring at birds flying by, though I may be later on this fall but we will just have to wait and see if that happens. I was however fortunate enough to watch the start of a water spout this morning as the one cumulonimbus cloud over the lake decided to put on a short-lived show when it sent down a funnel cloud that made it about half-way to the lake before losing steam and dissipating. Growing up in Tornado Alley and living in the desert I'm pretty familiar with other tornadic events but this was my first water spout.

Unfortunately the birds could not hold the excitement created by the weather as the light northwestern winds didn't seem to be pushing much south or east. Red-necked Grebes were again the most common with 300+ noted today while Common Tern (66) and Blue-winged Teal (25) rounded out the top three. About a dozen Common Loons flew past while a poor duck showing was highlighted by a slight increase over the past week in White-winged Scoters at 9.

Shorebird diversity remained about the same with a small contingent of Baird's, Semipalmated, and Least Sandpipers joining the Sanderlings and Semipalmated Plovers on the point. The only clearly new arrivals for the day were a group of 6 Ruddy Turnstones that were found mid-morning but had disappeared by the afternoon.

Non-waterbird diversity continues to be pretty good with a decent raptor show today as the local Merlins, Sharp-shinned Hawks, and Northern Goshawks duked it out over hunting rights to the point this morning, the Merlins seemed to come away victorious. Passerine numbers were a bit down from the past two days but a healthy contingent of warblers continue in the woods including Black-throated Blue, Blackpoll, Ovenbird, and Northern Waterthrush, while small numbers of Swainson's Thrushes, a Philadelphia Vireo, and a couple Lincoln's Sparrows were also noted during the day.

8/24 and 8/25

2010-08-25T14:25:00.000-07:00

Jason spelled me yesterday morning and afternoon so I could catch up on some much needed sleep and check out the woods at my leisure. Not much to report waterbird wise but he did see 3Whimbrel in the early afternoon and dabbler numbers were higher than previous days. The woods had a nice selection of warblers with the season's first Ovenbird and Bay-breastedsamong them.

Today started out promising with light-moderate southwest winds and rain on the horizon. While bird numbers were up markedly from previous days the onslaught of waterbirds that we hoped for never quite materialized. Presumably that just means we will have an even better day once they decide to make a break for the coast.

I feel by this point everyone is aware what the most common bird for the day is going to be but I'll say it anyway, Red-necked Grebe with just shy of 500 birds seen today. A distant second to grebes were Blue-winged Teal with 71 (99 Teal Sp. were also recorded) and then a tie for third at 23 between Common Loon and American Wigeon. Other ducks seen today included single American Black Duck, Mallard, Northern Pintail, White-winged Scoter, and Common Goldeneye and a pair of Greater Scaup.

Shorebird diversity remained low with a single Solitary Sandpiper being the most uncommon while the highest counts belonged to Sanderling (19) and Baird's Sandpiper (16). The day's best sighting came in the late morning when an adult dark-phase Parasitic Jaeger passed by out on the lake. Unfortunately it never came in to the gull roost on the point, though I'm sure the gulls preferred it this way. Also noted today was a single Caspian Tern.

The best action involved the non-waterbirds as large numbers of migrants arrived last night and throughout the morning on the occasional fronts that passed through. Migrants noted from the shack included a Sora, Broad-winged Hawk, and Clay-colored Sparrow while several walks through the woods produced at least 15 species of warblers (including the season's firstBlackpolls), a House Wren, the season's first Swainson's Thrushes, and a pair of fly-over Red Crossbills.

Whimbrel saves the day

2010-08-23T19:37:00.000-07:00

For the fourth straight day there was little waterbird movement past the point as non-existent to light east/southeast winds predominated the morning and afternoon once again. As always Red-necked Grebe was the most common bird at 75+ for the morning while Bonaparte's Gull (12), Horned Grebe (7), and Common Loon (6) rounded out the top 4 species counts for the day. Only a handful of ducks were seen with 4 White-winged Scoters topping the list.

The bright spot for the morning was a Whimbrel which flew up the beach from the south and continued west from the point towards the lighthouse and out of sight. Other shorebirds present were much the same as yesterday with Baird's Sandpiper and Sanderling showing in the greatest numbers.

Passerine numbers seemed to be building in the jack pines on the point today with small flocks of American Robins, Yellow-rumped Warblers, and Chipping Sparrows about this morning which included smaller numbers of Red-breasted Nuthatches, Cape May, Black-throated Green, Black-throated Blue, Palm, and Nashville Warblers, a Northern Waterthrush, and a Black-backed Woodpecker which ventured out to the jack pine edge before thinking better of it and heading back to the trees.

Bears and Birds, well bears at least

2010-08-22T14:48:00.000-07:00

The morning's highlight was a young (discussion on whether he was this year's or last year's offspring never amounted to a final consensus) Black Bear which made two short trips down the path and out to the edge of the jack pines this morning. He must have heard the Blueberry Festival was this weekend and wanted to make sure he had a chance to get in on the action.

In other news today we saw more birders than birds pass by the point under increasingly sunny skies and light-moderate N winds. The day saw the fall's first Sandhill Cranes pass overhead and a Surf Scoter early on but it remained slow most of the day with Red-necked Grebe(163) and Common Tern (31) leading the day's waterbird counts. Also passing by were 7Common Goldeneyes, 9 Common Loons, 2 Horned Grebes, 7 Bonaparte's Gulls, and 2 Lesser Yellowlegs, while continuing shorebird numbers were down markedly from yesterday with less than 10 Baird's Sandpipers about and only a scattering of the shorebird species from recent days.

Passerine numbers were again low while raptors were in evidence throughout the day as 2 Sharp-shinned Hawks, a Northern Goshawk, 2 Merlins, and a juvenile Peregrine Falcon hunted what birds were on the point during the morning and afternoon.

The weather forecast remains poor for a big migration event in the near future but that can only mean the numbers will be building until the weather turns in their favor, at least I hope that's what it means.

Both photos courtesy of David Bell.

Baird's Sandpipers galore

2010-08-21T15:17:00.000-07:00

Well this day was all about the Baird's Sandpipers with several groups found along the beach to the south of the point that totaled about 100! birds in all. Also along the beaches were at least 16 Sanderlings and 7 Buff-breasted Sandpipers with smaller numbers of Semipalmated and Leasts. A fly-over Solitary Sandpiper in the afternoon was a first for the fall.

Waterbirds however had another slow day from the point with less than 100 migrants noted this morning. Red-necked Grebes still led the way at 19 but Horned Grebes weren't far behind at 11. Duck numbers were low as expected and Common Loon numbers dropped to 5 for the day.

Merlins continue to harass the points smaller birds while a Belted Kingfisher and Osprey livened up the scene a little bit as well.

The winds are shifting as we speak and the rain seems to be moving out so hopefully tomorrow will be a better day for those at the shack.

On the bright side of things...

2010-08-20T15:25:00.000-07:00

Well on the bright side today I stayed dry, and that about covers the bright side. From the start it looked pretty bleak and the birds just never got going today with strong southeasterly winds prevailing all morning long. A few brave souls attempted southern movements but the final tally was just over 100 Red-necked Grebes and less than 100 other birds with Common Tern (40), Common Loon (8), and Horned Grebe (8) topping the other list. The day's best bird was a Black Tern which passed by around noon, while only 11 ducks were counted for the day, with 6 Mallards being tops among them.

The point's shorebird flock seemed to have made good use of the night as only a few birds remained today with the only potential new arrivals being 4 Buff-breasted Sandpipers which could be a re-appearance of the same group as a few days ago.

Non-waterbird sightings were nearly as rare today though accipiters put on a good showing with a single Cooper's and 2 Sharp-shinned making passes of the point, several Northern Harriers came in off the lake mid-morning, a Cape May Warbler posed in the closest tree to the shack early on, and a very lost Ruby-throated Hummingbird made a pass by me on the point before quickly returning to the trees he left.

The forecast is for storms and western/northern winds so hopefully things will get going again soon.

Both the weather man and I were right, sign of the apocalypse?

2010-08-19T14:04:00.000-07:00

I drove to the point and then walked to the shack in a cold, dark rain, I ended the day with a sunburn, go figure. The day started off ugly with the back end of the system that pushed west across the UP bringing rain, light fog, and no birds, but after about 30 minutes it began to clear and everything changed. As the morning went on the clouds dispersed, the wind lessened and shifted to the north/northwest, and the birds began to flow under ever-sunnier skies which means both the weather man's prediction and my prediction, based on his prediction, were correct, eerie. Tomorrow's forecast is for rain and southerly winds so lets hope the meteorologists aren't accurate for two straight days.

After a rough first hour of the count which accounted for under 25 birds and no Red-necked Grebes the dam began to burst with nearly 500 Red-necked Grebes in the second hour and then over 850! in the third hour, numbers declined throughout the rest of the day but the total count ended at 2155, a slight increase over Tuesday. Common Loon numbers were again steady with 16 moving past while duck diversity was significantly better than previous days including the season's first Gadwalls, Northern Shoveler, and Greater Scaup.

Shorebird diversity was slightly higher with 9 species as Black-bellied Plover and Lesser Yellowlegs were replaced by a Spotted Sandpiper, a Ruddy Turnstone, and 2 Buff-breasted Sandpipers while Baird's continued to be the most common at 26 individuals. Tern numbers were higher than previous days as 25 Common Terns passed by the point with a couple unidentified Sterna Sp. passing by mid-morning.

Other birds noted today included a pair of Broad-winged Hawks in the early afternoon and a clear turnover in migrant passerines on my walk back from the shack which included a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, 3 Red-eyed Vireos, and numerous warblers (Magnolia, Black-throated Blue, Palm, Black-and-white, Wilson's, and Canada).

South winds are not my friend

2010-08-18T14:50:00.000-07:00

Second day on the job and I'm already complaining about something, bad sign for November. The winds today came out of the south/southwest all morning long at speeds up to 20-25 MPH making the movement of birds to the south all the more challenging, although they seemed to be better at moving against the wind than the few Monarchs that were attempting to move south today. The weather man says a shift to western and then northern winds tonight though so maybe that will re-open the floodgates.

As expected Red-necked Grebes still led the count with close to 300 birds (or 1700 less than yesterday) passing by while White-winged Scoter and Blue-winged Teal held the #2 and #3 positions respectively. Seasonal firsts included 2 Surf Scoters mixed in with the White-wingeds and 3 Horned Grebes mixed in with the Red-neckeds while the Common Loon numbers held steady at 15 for the day and a Black Tern floated past around 11 a.m.

Counting shorebirds was made all the more difficult as the incessant hunting by Northern Harriers, then Northern Goshawks, and then Merlins left the birds a wee bit wary as the day wore on. Still the flock contained a Black-bellied Plover, a Lesser Yellowlegs, up to 8 Sanderlings, and up to 29 Baird's Sandpipers at different points throughout the day.

Other birds noted throughout the day included an ever increasing flock of swallows over the point itself comprised mainly of Cliff but also containing Tree, Bank, and Barn, that grew into the low hundreds by the afternoon, a number of raptors (most of which were chasing the shorebirds), and a few chips from the forest along the walk out that materialized into Tennessee, Nashville, Yellow-rumped, Palm, and Canada Warblers.

Its just some more Red-necked Grebes

2010-08-17T14:29:00.000-07:00

So I finally made it to the point yesterday after a few days of disagreements between myself and the rear differential on my pickup, I thought he should work, he disagreed, so we decided to part ways in Flagstaff, AZ. Anyway I made it here just in time to find a Parasitic Jaeger on the point last evening and get myself ready for the count this morning.

The morning's count started off with wind and a serious threat from rain but it seemed Mother Nature favored the USA this Tuesday as the inclement weather all stayed north along the Canadian shoreline. Which meant nicer weather but way too much heat shimmer for my liking. Despite the wind and "heat" the morning turned out nicely as a strong mid-to-late morning push of Red-necked Grebes contributed to a nice count of 2,017 by the time I left with a trickle still moving past. Also on the point this morning were 4 Buff-breasted Sandpipers among the smattering of Semipalmated Plovers and Sandpipers, Baird's Sandpipers, Least Sandpipers, and Sanderlings.

Other waterbird numbers were relatively low with 19 White-winged Scoters and 18 Common Loons topping the non-Red-necked Grebe list while 5 Bonaparte's Gulls and a single Common Tern broke up the Ring-billed/Herring Gull monotony.

Non-waterbirds around the point this morning included dueling juvenile Northern Goshawks, a Merlin trying to dine on the shorebirds, a Bald Eagle successfully dining on a fish, and a few birds in the trees that would prefer to remain nameless.

Jaeger

2010-08-16T20:08:00.000-07:00

Parasitic Jaeger

The official count wasn't that great today, with rain during the first five hours. Despite this, a good number of migrants were coming in off the lake. This included a bat that had me fooled for awhile. The highlight were 7 Black Terns, 5 of which were in non-breeding plumage, that kept passing around the point in the rain. 5 species of raptors and several swallow species were seen as well. Official results:

Mallard-3

Common Loon-9

Red-necked Grebe-23

Great Blue Heron-1

Semipalmated Sandpiper-9

Bonaparte's Gull-7

Black Tern-7

This evening was a lot better, with the highlight being the Parasitic Jaeger that Scott found. It stayed close to the tip around 5 minutes, chasing the gulls, before finally heading towards the harbor. Quite exciting!

White-winged Scoter-4

Common Loon-1

Red-necked Grebe-162

Grebe Sp.-4

Semipalmated Plover-1

Awesome Start!

2010-08-15T18:07:00.000-07:00

5 minutes into the count a Whimbrel started calling and was briefly seen, beginning a great day. The rest of the hour was decent, but at the start of the second hour things just kept coming and coming, including a ridiculous amount of White-winged Scoters this early in the season. Tons of waterfowl were specks in the scope, and if you include all the dabbler, grebe, and waterfowl sp., with the numbers below, then over 1,000 waterfowl were seen today. There was hardly a breeze until the last couple hours of the count.

Mallard-13
Blue-winged Teal-23
White-winged Scoter-232
Common Goldeneye-1
Common Merganser-3
Red-breasted Merganser-1
Common Loon-18
Red-necked Grebe-418
Black-bellied Plover-1
Semipalmated Plover-1
Whimbrel-1
Least Sandpiper-1
Bonaparte's Gull-6
Caspian Tern-1
Common Tern-4

Went back for a couple of hours this evening, but didn't have anything spectacular.

White-winged Scoter-1
Common Loon-1
Red-necked Grebe-24
Sanderling-5

Toodle Pip

2010-06-07T12:31:00.000-07:00

Well it's time to bid you a very fond farewell. I've had a thoroughly smashing time and am hoping to return at some point next year so will hopefully see some of you then.
Thanks to everyone who's helped make my stay so enjoyable, whether keeping me company at the shack, having me round for dinner and drinks, taking me birding, or just generally being an
all-round good egg.

The 2010 Spring waterbird count at Whitefish Point totalled 19,395 individual birds. The five most abundant species were: Common Loon (3542), Long Tailed Duck (2996), Canada Goose (2645), Red Breasted Merganser (2688), Sandhill Crane (1316), and White-winged Scoter (1215). You can get the full write up in the WPBO newsletter The Migrant - please continue to support the observatory in whatever way you can.

Tata for now,
Mike.

Both photos by K. Mettie Jr. - click on them to enlarge

It's a bit like buses...

2010-06-04T13:52:00.001-07:00

... you wait for ages then two turn up at the same time.
On Tuesday i was back at the shack having a busmans holiday, when i was approached by a couple who asked for directions to a site for Red Crossbills. Jerry told them of a good spot, and they went off to check it out. A bit later they stopped by the accomodation building and told Chris they'd just found a Kirtlands Warbler! A mad dash ensued (always lots of fun) and within 15 minutes we were watching the bird. It gave a great performance, singing away and approached to within about 10 feet at one point - a real stunner. The photo above is "digibinned"!

Great views were also obtained of the crossbills, then we had a team visit to Seney NWR where Chris was able to lure a calling Yellow Rail a little closer by tapping 2 pebbles together. We then finished the evening with a lovely dinner at the Ole Forest Inn, where the waitress reminded us of the actress Maggie Gyllenhaal. Some cocktails were imbibed before it was time to head back to the HQ - all in all a great day. Waterbird count totals to follow soon.

Sunday May 31st - Finishing with a bang

2010-06-03T10:03:00.000-07:00

Well the last day of the count was a good one, fog at the start hampered the count but may have grounded a few migrants. 2 Franklins Gulls were swimming on the lake while feeding on floating insects, then a Saw Whet was seen flying in off the lake and landing on a log on the beach. Shortly after, a Pacific Loon went through. So not a bad way to end the season! Loons and Canada Geese were still going through in good numbers in fact. I'll be posting the season totals fairly soon, so stay tuned for a bit longer - i've got a feeling most species were below average, but we'll see.
Thanks to everyone who came to see me at the shack, it was always nice to have visitors. Thanks to Jason for standing in for me a couple of days and allowing me to have some time off, and a big thanks to Phil for helping out with the count for the last two weeks, it was nice to be able to dash off if a good bird was found nearby!

5/30/10 - Bird-a-thon

2010-06-03T09:46:00.001-07:00

Here's a view from the beach in the evening (it's zoomed in quite a bit).

Sunday was Bird-a-Thon day so we were up well before first light and down to Vermilion where Bittern, Sedge Wren and Olive Sided Flycatcher were all nailed on call. Crossbills showed well after sun up, with a Field Sparrow heard by Chris being a rare bird for the area. Next we tried a trail for Spruce Grouse, no joy but a Ruffed was photographed by Libby. Then out to the waterbird shack where Phil had been counting. A Yellow Rail had just been found by Tim Bearwald - 10 minutes later and i would have been on the spot as it ran by! No further sign despite extensive searching. A nice scattering of shorebirds along the beach included a Willet. Nice to see the Piping Plovers have started to lay a clutch of eggs. Finally tally around the 120 mark i believe - not bad on what was a fairly quiet day birdwise.

5/29/10

2010-05-30T14:21:00.001-07:00

A cracking morning with loads of passerines on the move; sometime mid-count Chris radioed to say he'd found a Mockingbird so me and Jason thought we'd go look for it; Phil said he'd hold the fort. Then Chris and Nova said they'd found a Bay Breasted Warbler near the mist nets so we went for that instead. While looking around the area it was obvious there was a pocket of bird activity near a small pond, including a Yellow Bellied Flycatcher giving great views. While waiting quietly in some pines by the pond a close warbler passed through some willows about 15 feet away, about 5 feet off the ground. In my bins i could see that it had a plain dark grey head with no hint of a supercilium at all, but a very strikingly bold white eyering. I quickly scanned the plumage for distinguishing features and noted yellow underparts, fairly plain concolourous dark upperparts across the head, mantle and wings with strong black streaks on the upper mantle; in the brief view i wasn't struck by any bold wingbars. The breast was unpatterned but there were black streaks on the rear flanks. It quickly moved on and I was immediately thinking Kirtlands but wanted to check a field guide for confusion species. Luckily Geoff had one nearby, and i was able to eliminate a first spring female Magnolia due to their contrasting wings and mantle, lack of dark streaks on the upper mantle; paler head and mantle and usually, presence of either fairly obvious wingbars, a hint of a post-ocular supercilium or some patterning on the upper breast. I staked out the spot for about 2 hours but it seems the bird was just passing through, though i did find Least and Alder Flycatchers, Wilsons, female Mourning and probable female Tennessee Warbler and interestingly a female Magnolia which Geoff had reported, this being noticeably different to the bird i saw. I'm really pleased to have found a good Point bird which i've been hoping to do since i started here, though it's tinged with disappointment that it didn't stay around for others to enjoy; i can understand why some people have shown some scepticism, as i've been on the other side of the fence many times myself! However as i've said to a couple of folks whilst i've been here, i never claim a bird unless i'm at least 110% certain of the ID. I was lucky enough to find another life bird too, a Great Crested Flycatcher behind the shack, though unfortunately only NTVs were obtained of the Olive Sided Flycatcher in the same area as it flew back south, though it had been calling loudly and frequently.
Canada Geese continue to go through, with 366. Still some White Winged Scoter and R B Merganser too with 27 and 33 respectively. 42 Common Loons was more than in recent days, while 19 D C Cormorant included a flock of 16. Shorebirds were noticeable with 9 S P Plover and 16 Sanderling.
Here's an evening view from the beach to help you get an idea of the scenery:

5/28/10 cont. Peregrine... err... hang on...

2010-05-30T13:27:00.000-07:00

A bit of excitement during the count too. A sighting of a Peregrine came over the radio, i was busy counting so didn't immediately turn around. When i did i saw the bird flying away from us with some Broad Wings and remarked on its unusual, slow, stiff flight action, but was told that they sometimes fly like that here (!), though it seemed odd for it to be mixing so closely with the low flock of slow-moving Buteos. A minute or so later "Mississippi Kite" came over the radio; we couldn't see the bird but later found out that there was no Peregrine and it was in fact the Mississippi Kite! Hearty congrats to the 2 independant finders, but for me unfortunately, not UTB (Under The Belt) or OML (On My List) but "NTVs" (= Non-Tickable Views).

5/28/10 - Jolly Japes

2010-05-29T14:53:00.000-07:00

An interesting and educational day today, if a little frustrating at times. There was a passage of terns on and off the whole day in small groups which totalled 47, but due to the conditions both myself and Phil felt it was not possible to say with 100% certainty what species any of them were! The sky was cloudless, and looking into the sun the whole day meant that birds were generally silhouettes, and even structural details became hard to discern in the glare. Add to this heat shimmer and some tripod shake when not in the lee of the shack and you have a recipe for some challenging bird ID! Indeed at times the birds seemed to show features of different and dissimilar species at the same time. Yet another reminder, not that i need one, of just how hard seabirding really is.
A lone tern flew through towards the end of the count and we agreed it was a good candidate for either Sandwich or Gull-Billed; i see the former pretty regularly between late March and late September. So ironically we may have had a 2nd State record, we just don't know which species! I think it's fair to say that there was a consensus that at least some of the other terns were Arctics. It makes me wonder how many go by un-ID'd. If a supporting cast for this High Arctic bird were needed it was provided by a respectable count of 12 Red Throated Loons, which nests the furthest north of all the loon species, getting almost as far north as there is land and small pools of open water. Additionally i had a Parasitic Jaeger during the evening flight which probably nests the furthest north of the jaegers. It is generally the case that the birds which breed the furthest north migrate the latest.

Canada Geese continued to go through with almost 200 and there was a good high count of Ring Billed Gulls with 168 - they really were "all over the gaff", as they say in Sheffield.

Laugher

2010-05-27T13:27:00.000-07:00

A Laughing Gull flew over this morning, chuckling away which helped us to pick it up as it headed SE into the bay - unfortunately it just kept on going. This could be the same bird which Phil had 2 days ago, or could be a new bird. Canada Geese kept on going through, with a whopping 673 birds today. Loons made a slight comeback with 53, including 9 Red Throated. Five Swan sp looked large, heavy and long necked and were probably either Mute or Trumpeter but were too distant to ID. Black Bellied Plover put in a good showing with 34. And don't forget, there's still time to send in your pledges for the WPBO Bird-a-thon!

26/5/10 - O Canada!

2010-05-27T13:03:00.000-07:00

The Canada Goose migration is well and truly underway, 437 on Wednesday and 283 the day before. There is a somewhat smaller passage early in the Spring, but as i understand it, no one is completely sure where these new birds are coming from, going to, or why. The most likely explanation seems to be that it is some kind of moult migration, perhaps of failed or non-breeders from further south, seeking fresh grazing to the north. In the UK where Canada Goose is an introduced non-native, a small moult migration has developed up into Scotland from further south. Certainly a lot of the birds we are currently seeing look pretty shabby and in need of some new feathers! Conversely, seaduck (scoters and Longtails) have come to a very abrupt halt. A Prairie Warbler was spotted by Jack in the pine just behind the shack and sang for a while before heading back south.
I had a couple of days off and Ken kindly drove us to the Keweenaw for an overnight visit. We spent quite a lot of time with Max up on Brockway Mountain and had stunning views of some raptors, despite the 90 degree wind coming all the way from Texas. One of the highlights was seeing a wolf by the side of the road! In the meantime Phil kindly held the fort back at the shack and had 2 Parasitic Jaegers and a Laughing Gull - good stuff.

Fog

2010-05-23T21:10:00.000-07:00

Not much more to say really. Fog. Lots of it. More fog than birds certainly. A walk round the tip before the count produced 8 Black Bellied Plover, and while stumbling around behind the shack i had a flock of about 10 birds go over which looked and sounded like waxwings. Mid-afternoon they again flew over me, and i again failed to nail the I.D. Third time lucky, as i was walking out to the point for the evening flight they went over once more; this time i got my bins on them before they quickly disappeared and could see a yellow tail band - Cedar Waxwing fully trousered! Back of the net! And there were nearer to 20 this time. Hope they stick around. Another warm welcome to an even newer member of the team, Libby who will be volunteering here for a couple of months, supporting the team, providing guided walks and so forth. Do come along and support our programs if you can.

Waders...

2010-05-23T21:01:00.000-07:00

...sorry, shorebirds were starting to appear today - a walk round the point before the start of the count produced superb close views of 6 Dunlin, 1 Sanderling, 2 Piping Plover and 1 Spotted Sandpiper. 4 Whimbrel flew through mid-count. A shorebird flew over giving an unusual, quick 4 note wi-wi-wi-wi call; this is a close match for the description of Upland Sandpiper, though of course we'll never know what it was!
A warm welcome to the team again for Phil Chu; i know he needs no introduction to many of our visitors and was greeting old acquaintances as soon as he arrived. Phil will be helping out with the waterbird count for the next couple of weeks as usual. And he got off to a nice start by spotting a Black Tern, a great point bird and just totally stunning! Conditions were cloudier today and there were fewer duck; whether the two are somehow related i have no idea.

5/21/10 - Best day for Long Tails...

2010-05-23T20:51:00.000-07:00

... with 501. Also 193 White Winged Scoters. Back home we call them "Velvet Scoters" - i wonder why? 4 Surf Scoters were nice to see. A light passage of gulls was again evident, and another tern was seen mid-range; darkish tones in the plumage suggest Common, as do the short tail streamers. 2 Piping Plovers were again present, though no sign of any nest scraping as yet. Two pairs have been located at Vermilion Point according to the guys there. Nice to see 2 male and 1 female Bobolink over the shack first thing, plus Magnolia Warbler in the nearest tree and male Scarlet Tanager shooting through, thanks to another "heads up" on the walkie-talkie!

2010-05-20T18:12:00.000-07:00

A good count of Red Throated Loons today with 41. One Osprey and one Great Blue Heron, and another afternoon gull passage involved 8 Bonapartes, and about 90 each of Herring and Ring Billed.
The forecast is for the winds to turn much more to the south for the next few days. This could really open the floodgates... Interestingly i narrowly missed a Yellow Headed Blackbird in with the Blue Jay flock whilst i was trying to relocate a reported Henslows Sparrow, potentially a first for the Point. I wonder if things are starting to hot up.

Tern tern tern

2010-05-20T17:51:00.000-07:00

The clear skies and calm conditions continue unabated. Over 230 each of L T Duck and W W Scoter flew by, 140 R B Merganser, and 20 R T Loon. Towards the end of the count a steady passage of approx 50 Herring and Ring Billed Gulls was evident. One Piping plover was present. Highlight was about 3 groups of terns going through mid-distance first thing totalling 38. I am familiar with Common and Arctic which breed in N Wales where i live. They were silhouetted against the light so plumage features could not be discerned but they had tail streamers the length of Arctics. This is a pelagic species which tends to migrate up the east and west coasts; the other species with long tail streamers is Forsters which is a scarce but regular migrant, usually in small numbers. Interestingly i had a lone tern three days ago with long tail streamers; i noted at the time that its' call was "unlike Common".
One Red Necked Grebe was the first for many days.

Pileated Woody

2010-05-20T17:45:00.000-07:00

White Winged Scoter and Long Tailed Duck continue in good numbers, with 134 and 316 respectively. Bonapartes Gull numbered 42, loons 202 inc 23 Red Throated. A Piping Plover was again present and a Pileated Woodpecker was seen over the pines behind the shack.
One of the nice things of the last few days has been the continual presence of migrating birds. If the waterbirds ever stop moving, passerines are continually present overhead, inc an impressive flock of approx 1000 Blue Jays. Bluebirds, Kingbirds, pipits, Horned Larks, sparrows and warblers are also continually on the move.

Shorebirds picking up

2010-05-17T22:56:00.000-07:00

The last 2 or 3 days have seen a definite increase in shorebirds. Highlight today was a group of 35 Short Billed Dowitchers (luckily they were calling) which we picked up flying over the trees behind the shack just as Chris radio'ed to say he'd seen them from near the car park. The other highlight was cracking views of a 2nd calendar-year Goshawk which flew right over our heads and out over the lake, before being mobbed by a Herring Gull and heading back in over the harbour. Wasn't able to get on the Swainsons Hawk seen from the hawk count unfortunately!

Other birds:
W W Scoter 113
L T Duck 241
Merganser 250
R T Loon 30
Common Loon 199
Sanderling 1
Bonapartes Gull 122
Piping Plover 1

5/16/10 - Long Tailed Ducks...

2010-05-17T22:34:00.000-07:00

... 371 of them. Much better weather than yesterday and a good waterbird passage for the first 4 hours or so. In fact it was completely clear skies and no wind at all. Other birds:

W W Scoter 31
G Scaup 4
Merganser 219
Bonapartes Gull 49
Least Sand 1
Piping Plover 2

Highlight of the day was a Red Bellied Woodpecker which showed really well on the Merlin Pole. After the count, there was a concentration of birds down Memory Lane (at the end of the car park) and cracking views were obtained of Chestnut Sided, Parula, Orange Crowned and Yellow Warblers, Hairy Woodpecker and Rose Breasted Grosbeak among several others.
Dan and Ken then very kindly took me to look for Black Backed Woodpecker, and we got great views of a female. And a few days ago Jason took me to a good area near the Soo where we flushed a Sharp Tailed Grouse, and heard Le Contes Sparrow and Bittern. So doing quite well with some of those more difficult species!

SEO saves the day

2010-05-17T22:26:00.000-07:00

A Short Eared Owl salvaged a relatively quiet day on Saturday, this is quite a scarce bird at the Point i believe. It was seen flying in off the lake before disappearing low towards the harbour. I'm lucky in that i get to see them on the coast in the winter near where i live, and sometimes up on the moors in the summer too. The count was quiet due mainly to fog for about half the day. Luckily i was kept company by Ken and Dan for most of it which helped me keep me sanity...well almost.

Lark Sparrow at the shack

2010-05-14T15:59:00.000-07:00

Looks like the southerly winds did the business last night, combining with a bit of rain to bring down the birds. The walk to the shack was agonising this morning, as it was obvious from the large number of birds calling that lots of birds had arrived overnight. However, i'm a pro, so i soldiered on to the shack, nonetheless trousering Philadelphia Vireo, Least Flycatcher and Cape May Warbler on the way without breaking stride! Goodness knows what got missed this morning.
Clementine was again on the case, picking out a Piping Plover which was swiftly reported to myself. On having a look at the bird through the scope, it appeared to have no bands. 3 shorebird spp were also reported. A few hours later, a couple of lads from the PP Project base at Vermilion Point called in to say hi. We directed them towards the PP, and lo! there was another one with 2 Least Sandpipers. This bird was banded. Local birder Ken got some shots to read the bands and also photographed a Ruddy Turnstone, as well as a couple of new warbler spp.
The waterbird flight was fairly quiet, with about one third of the birds being uncountable due to the fact that they were flying the wrong way. I am more and more convinced that loons just like a headwind to provide some lift. Rather like swans, they're heavy but powerful birds and need a headwind to fly into. Their powerful pectoral muscles can provide the forward thrust no problem. The 747s of the bird world!
Our best day for Long Tailed Ducks this spring was on Wed when no less than 585 flew past the Point. That was also our best day for Surf Scoter with 19. Bonapartes Gulls have also started to pick up the last few days. Today was our best day for Red Throated Loons for a while with 27, although Commons were quite few. But best of all was a Lark Sparrow which spent most of the afternoon with a White Crowned and a Savannah feeding on Nyjer seed scattered about 20 yards from the shack. I understand this is less than annual at the Point, so is surely the same bird which had been present at the HQ until a few days ago?

Phew what a scorcher!

2010-05-11T16:40:00.000-07:00

Mergansers continue to go through in good numbers, 260 today. L T Duck are continuing to pick up with 79, likewise Scoters, with 36 White Winged plus 4 Surf which were spotted by Jason while doing the Hawk Count, who radioed us then Chris picked them up. Go team! Conversely, loons and R N Grebes staged a no-show, with only 48 and 7 respectively the whole day. Gulls are beginning to go through now, around 80 each of Herring, Ring Billed and Bonapartes. I spent some time after the count looking for passerines and got extremely excited when a B T Blue Warbler passed through the scrub - as we say in Britain, "Phew What A Scorcher!" This was followed by Nashville, Black and White and B T Green - another gem with its' glowing yellow cheek patch.
Don't forget to send in your pledges for our Bird-a-thon, all proceeds go to support the research work here at WPBO.
Finally it's worth mentioning that the Owls Roost Gift Shop will be open from midday tomorrow, and 10 am on Thursday.
Tata for now.

Here's the photo - what a cracking little bird.

2010-05-09T21:37:00.000-07:00

Click to zoom in.
Thanks to David at MTU for the shot.

Piping Plover back...

2010-05-09T17:18:00.000-07:00

... but apparently a different bird again. A banded bird was found by local earlybirder Clementine and successfully twitched by a keen group of student ornithologists and their tutor from Houghton. The bands were studied through scopes and camera from a respectful distance and the combination was something like:
R leg: orange over red
L leg: blue pink blue pink
Hopefully photos will emerge giving greater detail, but in the meantime that may be enough to establish its' life history which would be fascinating to me.

Waterbird passage was virtually non-existent today, though a female Snow Bunting found by the Ornithology Class showed down to a few feet and may be another bird that has come temporarily south on these northerlies. Unfortunately it appeared to have a slightly injured wing and may have had a close shave with the male Merlin that spent most of the day out on the point. Hope he doesn't take to eating plovers...

Otherwise, still waiting for the migrant flood. Any day now...

Where have all the birds gone?

2010-05-08T19:38:00.000-07:00

Well we're having a spot of weather up here at the moment. Even seasoned UPers tell me that it's exceptional. Strong northerlies and snow have put paid to migration; Common Loons are the benchmark species, and were very few today; yesterday "just" a hundred or so. As you may have read last night, i saw 3 Piping Plovers in the same scope view on the beach yesterday, what looked like a pair and a single. I've reloaded that post as i was hoping to add a nice photo which Jason's promised to let me use - if we can figure out the technology! One bird appeared to be display flighting at one point. However today there was no sign, although in the arctic conditions i'm really not surprised. I'm sure they're just a little further south on a slightly less exposed section of beach, feeding away and waiting for the winds to change again. Hopefully they'll return in the next couple of days. Can i politely ask all folks to keep a good distance from these nationally endangered birds and allow them to raise a family, thanks. I've been a bit unwell the last couple of days and have appreciated having Jason and Chris to step in where necessary, though i don't appear to have missed a great deal. Apart from the Glaucous Gull i mentioned last night which i saw landing at the tip (a 2nd winter/summer - "blotchy" plumage and pale eye - according to a young chap from SW Michigan who got nice and close to it), 3 Bonaparte's were attempting to ride out the storm in the slightly calmer waters in the lee of the point. Of note was the good number of Red Breasted Mergansers again two days ago - 236, this being my highest count so far.
Apparently my birding friends back home are having exactly the same experience as us - north winds and zero migration. The weather forecast for here is looking similar for the next couple of days before winds swing round to the east, hopefully releasing the floodgates and allowing a tidal wave of migrants to pour through.
That's the theory anyway....

5/7/10 - Piping Plover!

2010-05-08T19:20:00.000-07:00

And not just one, but three! One of which was banded.... I'll do a bit of research when i get a chance and get back to you, and with a full roundup of the last couple of days too - today and yesterday were quite quiet but there were a few interesting things, such as the Glaucous Gull, plus the Merganser flight is finally starting to pick up. For those statistically minded, tune in tomorrow!
Nighty night.

5/5/10

2010-05-08T19:13:00.000-07:00

Well the loons just kept on coming... no sooner had this seasons record been set than it was smashed. No fewer than 490 loons migrated through today, comprising 324 Commons; a fantastic 54 Red Throated, and 112 un ID'd. And it was really nice to see the Red Breasted Mergansers finally getting going with 159 of those. Red Necked Grebes had a better day than the recent average with 84, likewise the White Winged Scoters with 25. And still plenty of time for all those species to keep on flying by.
Just goes to show what a southerly wind can do!

2010-05-04T19:22:00.000-07:00

It was a bit bonkers today as far as loons were concerned - 435 in total (273 Common, 43 Red Throated and 119 un ID'd) being by far the biggest count of the Spring so far. Interestingly, the loons were still going strong when i had to call it a day after my 8 hours were up - darn! Wish i coulda stayed til dark... The other interesting sighting was 4 first summer swans which flew by. I got a good look at one side-on through my scope and it was a definite Trumpeter, even better views than the one a couple of weeks ago that had Tom "Big Sit" Bartlett cursing that he hadn't got a shot. In comparison to the Tundra Swan which i saw near the start of the count, this was much larger, heavier and had the jizz of a Mute Swan with which i'm very familiar, but had a large all-black bill lacking any orange or yellow. The head was also large and triangular and reminded me of a Whooper. I was kept company today by a flock of 46 American Pipits, another bird whose call i'm trying to commit to memory for that Fall encounter on my side of the pond! 124 Red Necked Grebes were nice to see too, though unfortunately no sign of the reported Le Contes Sparrow this morning which was apparently seen yesterday evening near the path to the shack. I did however connect with the Lark Sparrow which Chris found in our back garden - another first for me.
A big thank you to our newest member of the team, resident volunteer Jason who stood in for me on what turned out to be quite a quiet day yesterday - a particular thanks for not seeing anything too rare! That would really have spoilt my day off! It was nice to get my fix of Buffalo down at the Yukon and a couple of brewskis.

2010-05-02T18:04:00.000-07:00

Another good loon day, with a total of 143 including 12 Red Throated. One was actually on the water for a change, but as soon as i found it in my scope it dived! These things can swim a long way under water, and by the time i relocated it, it was calling before it then flew onward - only the second time i've heard one call, the last one being in Scotland many years ago. The supporting cast included a distant Caspian Tern over the harbour, 1 W W Scoter, 8 LT Duck, 11 D C Cormorant and 7 Killdeer. A stunning Nashville warbler was singing behind the feeders at first light, what a gorgeous bird!
Yesterday was foggy for most of the count and it was impossible to count any birds until it cleared. Loons could be heard calling, but i didn't know if it was one loon calling ten times or ten loons calling once! I stayed at the shack nonetheless, though the calls of songbirds in the nearby pines were like the songs of sirens trying to tempt me away.
After a long while the fog started to clear from over the trees and while checking for loons taking the "short cut" across the point behind the shack I noticed a distant Buteo without a red uppertail. Zooming in revealed a different pattern on the underside of the body and in particular two pale crescents near the ends of the upperwing. A quick look in my new Peterson (thanx Jim!) and i was extremely excited to discover it was a Red Shouldered Hawk! My first ever. I grilled the next folks to arrive and they reported that one had been seen earlier from the hawk watch.
One Wilsons Snipe was flushed from the path through the dunes just before the shack at first light. Interestingly, its' call was noticeably different from that of Common Snipe, with which it was lumped until recently. These days, splits are often based on DNA and vocalisations, and this one certainly sounded more "squelchy"! I'll be listening out for one on my local marshes next fall, though getting a description like that past the local rarities committee could be difficult!

Birds everywhere!

2010-04-30T17:45:00.000-07:00

It was a great day for migration today. Southerly winds brought lots of birds to the point and right from sun up there was a continual stream of songbirds passing overhead, soon joined by a continual stream of hawks. No less than thirteen Harriers passed the shack in the first hour alone! It's fascinating to watch these "Hen Harriers" as we call them, crossing the lake without hesitating like so many birds do. They just head out there without even gaining any height, and they look as though they're hunting out over the waves, which i don't think they are! You can see them a long way out there and they can catch you unawares at times! But as the waterbird passage shifted up a gear that was abandoned, and while the loons were modest in number (70), the Red Necked Grebes had their busiest day for well over a week (63). Red Throated Loons went through from time to time (10+), and interestingly the passage continued into the afternoon instead of tailing off - well we are getting towards the peak dates i guess.
Two different people asked me today how to separate them from Commons. It's a fair question, and one which i've been asked a lot in regard to various species while working in the visitor centre of a nature reserve. The most honest answer is, "jizz" - which is a combination of subtle things which comes through familiarity with the subject. You know how you can pick out someone you know really well in a crowd, even a long way off? Or how you can identify a Robin from a brief view at the end of the garden on a dark winter day, when it's snowing early morning? That's jizz. It comes through spending time observing a subject. So the best way to learn how to separate Common and Red Throateds is to spend time observing them whenever you can, there really is no shortcut!
6 White Winged Scoter were the highest day count so far, one Horned Grebe flew in and landed and it was great to see a Woodcock fly in off the lake, and straight past the shack. My first ever.

2010-04-29T17:13:00.000-07:00

Another good loon day, starting off slowly which made me start to think that they need more headwind to give them some lift. But gradually a respectable passage built up, and there were more Red Throated than ever - 43 of them positively ID'd, which with 105 Commons and 59 un ID'd makes a grand total of 207 i believe. The general passage was occurring to the left (northwest) of the point with a large proportion quite distant, perhaps the light winds meaning that they didn't need to hug the shoreline quite so closely? A Common was on the water again for part of the day, and for the last half of yesterday a Red Throated was too - a rare sight in this part of the world i understand. I guess i'm spoilt, as i used to live in a village called Llanfairfechan and they could be seen offshore all the time between fall and spring. A Caspian Tern was picked out on call as it flew past by Chris, who also chased a mystery bird which turned into a Palm Warbler. Bonapartes Gulls are beginning to go through, with 7 yesterday looking rather tern-like when initially seen through bins before the ID was nailed in the scope. They gradually came closer and gave reasonable views. It was nice to see and hear lots of songbirds on the move today, with lots of chirps and tsips overhead going frustratingly un ID'd. But i'm learning a couple of new calls every day which is encouraging, and it's nice to see these southerly winds bringing lots of birds in, with lots of hawks too including a Peregrine high and fast following the shoreline NE without slowing down!
After my last blog i went for a stroll from the HQ and had another Ruffed Grouse not far from the road which didn't seem bothered by my proximity.

2010-04-26T19:27:00.000-07:00

Our second busiest day for loons with a total of 239, almost all between 7 - 9 a.m. And almost all taking the short cut over the harbour and across the peninsula to the main part of Lake Superior, most slightly lower in altitude than on less windy days, as today there was a 20 km/h north wind, and with temps between 2 - 6 degrees C it was another chilly day as a couple of visitors found out! Consequently many of the birds disappeared quickly out of sight behind the taller trees as they cut across. One nice aspect of them using this route is that the sun is behind me and i can see birds going across a couple of miles away at least, and there's very little shimmer first thing. No definite Red Throats today, but a bloke from Ontario went away happy on Sunday having watched one fly low right over our heads! Closely followed by our first Surf Scoter of the count, a nice male which flew by giving great views. It's a species which always gets this Brit excited - funnily enough a couple of mates found no less than three this winter near where i live in North Wales, where even one is a mega rarity! Same day an immature Glaucous Gull flew by towards the end of the count in the shimmer, not great views but a bird that gets me even more aroused than a Surfie as i'm a bit of a larophile! Talking of larids, 2 adult G B B Gulls were count firsts yesterday as was a smart male American Wigeon, much more colourful than its Eurasian countepart. This one was clearly lonely and swam around after the local R B Mergs for most of the day like a little puppy! Ahhh.... Scaup went through in higher numbers than recently too.

Spring Fling

2010-04-24T13:34:00.000-07:00

Lots of folks at the shack today, all of whom were treated to great views of up to 8 Red Necked Grebes, four Horned Grebes and 15 R B Merganser. A Common Loon also landed off the Point towards the end of the count and called a few times before heading off north. The total loon count was 104, and included 13 Red Throated. These seemed to become more frequent later on, the exact opposite of the Commons. Starting to wonder if a pattern might be developing there. Some nice diversity at the shack first thing with 2 Bufflehead, several L T Duck and Scaup sp and the first scoters of the count - 2 White Winged. A Pine Warbler flew around overhead calling for a few seconds and a Horned Lark showed well on the pebbles. 2 or 3 Tree Swallows headed east - good luck to them, hope the weather doesn't change! Nice to meet a couple of former counters too. On the way back after the count an Evening Grosbeak was showing superbly in a tree above the feeders, what a stonker!
Yesterday a good count of about 180 loons, many quite high due to the very light winds and good visibility. And great to see a Belted Kingfisher heading out over the lake.
A couple of evenings ago i had lovely views of 3 Hermit Thrush feeding by the roadside, what utterly gorgeous birds. Sadly Mike Fitz spotted one dead on the shoulder on the way home from last nights dinner at the Falls. A very enjoyable evening nonetheless in great company.

Loon fest

2010-04-21T17:26:00.000-07:00

With the temp hovering around 4 deg C and a strong N wind, the windchill was off the scale and the only thing that kept me alive was the great movement of loons - over 300 of them! And as local birder Ken predicted yesterday, passage peaked in the second hour after sun up. At that stage winds were light but they quickly picked up and the loon flight stopped almost completely. Interestingly the vast majority today were quite low over the lake, mostly out beyond the Point, presumably due to the less sunny, cooler, windier weather with fewer taking the "short cut" across over the harbour. Otherwise hardly any other birds moving yet other than the regular trickle of R N Grebe. A few Sandhills came out over the Point and made a half hearted attempt to cross before wisely turning back in the strong wind. Cranes seem to be almost as hesitant as chickadees! Amazing to think up to 23 April last year there had been only 40 Common Loons but over 3000 cranes! Just goes to show the unpredictability of the natural world; who knows how many factors are involved in determining bird numbers - not just weather but weather the previous breeding season, predation of chicks, lemming populations, food abundance in the wintering grounds... a tangled web indeed.

Common Loon 272
R T Loon 47
R N Grebe 44
Sandhills 24

Yesterday evening after dinner i went for another walk down the top secret trail where i had the Spruce Grouse, and got lucky with my target bird - a Ruffed Grouse gave great views and eventually dropped back down to the ground to continue feeding. Got photos if you don't believe me.

Windows of Opportunity

2010-04-20T14:25:00.000-07:00

One thing that i'm starting to learn is that birds know when to seize an opportunity. The last two days have had periods of thick fog; today for just an hour or so, yesterday for half the day. Both days, as soon as the fog cleared, there was a major pulse of birds leaving the bay and heading out round the Point into the main part of the lake. Today a wave of 54 Common Loons all in a couple of loose "flocks", yesterday the fantastic sight of 180 Red Breasted Merganser all departing at the same time. This requires continual scanning as being in the middle distance they could be surprisingly easily missed! I guess they were keen to get going after all the strong NW winds then fog holding them back.

Today also yielded the first 3 Red Throated Loons of the year, the first two were helpfully with a Common for comparison! Another 31 Common Loons spread throughout the day made a day total of 85, though it was very quiet for the last 3 hours or so. Also the first Greater Yellowlegs flew through calling, sounding very similar to its Old World counterpart the Greenshank. Fantastic views of an adult Golden Eagle spotted by a visitor brightened the last couple of hours, it looked somewhat different to the Scottish birds i'm familiar with, having broad pale bars on the upperwing and an even paler head - in fact looking rather like an Imperial Eagle! Always gives me a big thrill to see one.
Groups of chickadees came to the edge of the pines by the Shack before panicking and turning back; yesterday while waiting here for the fog to clear a Pine Siskin called and gave good views.
On the way home a good long check of the feeders produced the first three White Throated Sparrows, while yesterday a Common Redpoll showed well, a scarce bird this year. Good views were eventually obtained of its undertail coverts, where 2 broad dark streaks could be seen, thereby eliminating its congener Hoary from the equation.

Great Northern Diver!...

2010-04-18T14:37:00.000-07:00

...or Common Loon as it's known over here, was definitely the theme of todays Count. I was hoping that there might have been some waterbirds held up in the bay by the strong NW winds round the Point yesterday, and while duck spp were almost non-existent, i was very pleased to see no less than 93 Common Loons re-starting their migration after an enforced lay-off! Most of these were migrating quite high and taking a major short cut by flying over the harbour, cutting across the peninsula and completely missing Whitefish Point! They could have been easily missed but luckily they were spotted using this sneaky tactic by Chris; i kept a close watch on this route and would estimate that about 2/3 of the total number took this flight line.

Yesterday, Sat 17th produced snow showers early morning; the advice was not to try counting - i went to the Point for a look and yep, the advice was good, i couldn't see the lake! I waited round the gift shop for a while for the snow to stop and had 2 Purple Finch, RB & WB Nuthatch and the female Chaffinch again. No change in the weather so went to see if anything was sheltering in the harbour. On the way i decided to try for woodland grouse so picked a disused-looking forest track, and after a 15 minute walk had excellent close views of a male Spruce Grouse.
The weather cleared in the afternoon so i did the last 2 hours of the Count but waterfowl were very few, though a Snow Bunting perched on the roof of the shack and called away, obviously feeling a bit lonely!

15th & 16th April

2010-04-16T16:54:00.000-07:00

Well i finally arrived after a long journey!
Nice to meet the rest of the WPBO team and some of the Board - thanks to Jerry for picking me up in Newberry at 6.15 a.m!
The weather started out warm and sunny and it was great to see a good hawk passage on Tuesday, especially so many Kestrels. An Eastern Phoebe was seen twice by the road, on Wednesday there was an excellent number of Flickers, some Lapland Longspurs, and a pair of Blue Winged Teal on a forest pool plus some Ring Necked Ducks and a Tree Swallow.
Yesterday was the first day of the Count, and with the wind switching from the West to the East, it was "in at the deep end"! A good passage of waterbirds at first light tailed off after a couple of hours but produced the following:

Canada Goose 3
Mallard 8
Pintail 4
Green Winged Teal 30
Greater Scaup 17
Scaup sp 3
LT Duck 31
Bufflehead 37
Goldeneye 12
Common Merg 7
R B Merg 7
Common Loon 7
Horned Grebe 1
R N Grebe 27
Sandhill Crane 364
Killdeer 1
Boney's 1
Tundra Swan 1

Today the wind had switched to the west again and passage was much lighter. Three Bald Eagles showed well for me and Tom and it was really nice to see a male Merlin on the Point most of the day, and a steady stream of Harriers continued to head out over the waves just like yesterday - really impressive stuff, they just aren't fazed by the strong winds, big waves and not being able to see the other side!

Canada Goose 22
G W Teal 8
Scaup sp 1
L T Duck 9
Bufflehead 7
Goldeneye 1
Common Merg 2
Common Loon 3
Horned Grebe 4
R N Grebe 12
Sandhill Crane 250
R B Gull 1

Most of the birds were in the first couple of hours, except the Cranes and even they stopped flying as the wind really picked up towards the end. There were more waterbirds sheltering on the lake than yesterday including a lovely pair of Bufflehead (rather small and cute), 4 summer plumaged Horned Grebes, several summer plumaged R N Grebes and a sum plum Common Loon. Overhead a Snow Bunting called and showed its diagnostic wingbars. A female Chaffinch was behind the Gift Shop and on the way home a female Hooded Merganser showed well in the harbour.
Will be interesting to see what the NWerly gales and snow bring tomorrow...Snowy Owl perhaps?

Fall 2009 Summary

2009-11-19T19:16:00.000-08:00

101611 individuals of 73 species of waterbirds were seen during this fall's count. The number of individuals is about 20 thousand birds above average. This was the second-highest amount of individuals seen in a fall and only the third fall with 6-figure individuals. This includes all of the "reasonable" ducks such as uncommon species like Eider species, Harlequin Duck, Canvasback, Hooded Merganser, and Wood Duck.

For the most part, the weather was accommodating for observation. Fog, haze, rain, and snow only hindered possible observation a relatively low amount of days. September and November were unusually gorgeous and August was normal. October was colder and wetter than normal but most of the rain fell at night. Snow only fell a few days with accumulation once.

The five most common species were:

Long-tailed Duck- 32841 (2nd highest seasonal count)
Red-necked Grebe- 10407
Scaup sp.- 7504
Red-breasted Merganser- 7178
Canada Goose- 5792

The only record high seasonal count set this fall was for Harlequin Duck which tied the seasonal record of 7. Scoters were drastically different between species with 255 Blacks-- a second highest seasonal count, 173 Surfs-- a second lowest count, and 3163 White-wingeds, a slightly above average number.

Noteworthy waterfowl seen this fall were Snow and Cackling Goose, Canvasback, Eider species on two different days, Pacific Loon, Western Grebe, Long-tailed Jaeger, Franklin's Gull, Iceland Gull, Black-legged Kittiwake, Sabine's Gull, and Forster's Tern. Interesting shorebirds included Piping Plover (the first time they bred on the point in 23 years), 12 Whimbrel (2nd highest fall count), Long-billed Dowitcher (4th point record) and Red Phalarope. Noteworthy non-waterbirds seen from the waterbird count were Northern Hawk Owl, Boreal Owl, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, and Tufted Titmouse (1st point record). Mammals also provided some highlights including Bull Moose, Red Fox, and a canine that was either a Wolf or large unusually marked Coyote.

Finally, I would just like to say that I had a great time as the fall waterbird counter. I would like to thank Chris Neri for spelling me once a week and joining me during the afternoons. I would especially like to thank all of the birders and visitors who stopped by during the count. It was great to spend time with the regular point birders and it was wonderful to meet new people almost every day.

Have a great winter everyone!
Tom Prestby

November 15, 2009- BL Kittiwake

2009-11-15T17:58:00.000-08:00

The 2009 fall waterbird count closed out with a much better day than any day the past week. The weather was much more typical of November with temps near 40 and winds out of the west at 30-40mph.

Waterfowl: Not large numbers by any means but better numbers than the past week and a steady trickle of birds throughout the day. Species diversity was up as well with 9 today. Highlights were a close flyby Red-throated Loon (one of three today) and 11 White-winged Scoters-- two of which officially represented the final birds detected during the fall 2009 waterbird count.

Gulls: An exhilarating highlight of the day was a juvenile BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE seen during the fifth hour of the count. We were able to watch the bird for several minutes as it effortlessly sailed NW straight into the 30mph headwind. This was the first of the season and great to see after I thought it may not happen this fall.

Other: A fun sighting was a Sharp-tailed Grouse that flew out of the woods near the merlin pole and flew a lap around the tip of the point before tucking back into the woods near the ponds.

Stay tuned for a season wrap-up post!

Tom Prestby
Waterbird Counter

November 14, 2009

2009-11-15T17:11:00.000-08:00

It was another warmer than normal day (about 50 degrees) but cloudy all day. The pattern of extremely slow waterbird movement continued-- 16 total birds were seen. The highlight was a NORTHERN HAWK OWL that made its way out to the tree line after being banded earlier in the day. This was the second Hawk Owl in the past 3 days at the point.

Tom Prestby
Waterbird Counter

November 13, 2009

2009-11-13T18:51:00.000-08:00

The November duldrums continue at the waterbird shack. Temps were in the upper 40's and a fairly strong wind blew out of the South all day. I could not even reach double-digit waterbirds today-- 9 migrating waterbirds were seen. Other highlights were a Northern Goshawk and the return of our pet Glaucous Gull after a one day absence.

Tom Prestby
Waterbird Counter

November 11 & 12- 2009

2009-11-12T19:06:00.000-08:00

Chris covered the count on my day off today and had the same results as I had yesterday-- very few birds. I saw 16 total migrating waterbirds yesterday and he saw 13 today. The only birds showing with any consistency now are Goldeneye, Bufflehead, and Red-necked Grebe.

Fortunately, the weather remains very pleasant so standing on the point when no birds are flying by is much easier than it would be during a "normal" November.

The highlight of the day today was a NORTHERN HAWK OWL that was seen during the morning and seen again and banded at dusk.

Tom Prestby
Waterbird Counter