Black-throated Green Warbler

Highlights: Vesper Sparrow, Rose-breasted Grosbeak

While it remained windy today's sun was very welcomed after yesterday's rain. Sightings today included Broad-winged Hawk, Northern Goshawk, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Least Flycatcher,Tennessee, Nashville, Magnolia, Cape May, Yellow-rumped & Black-throated Green Warblers, American Redstart, Common Yellowthroat, Lincoln's & Vesper Sparrows, and Rose-breasted Grosbeak.

Northern Goshawk

Merlin cooling off

Compton's Tortoiseshell

Chris Neri

Black-backed Woodpecker

Highlights: Black-backed Woodpecker & lots of warblers

There was a lot of activity in the woods today. There were literally hundreds of Nashville Warblers, I don't remember ever seeing so many of one species of warbler other than Yellow-rumpeds. There were also more Black-throated Green Warblers than I ever remember seeing in a day. Other warblers included Yellow, Magnolia, Cape May, Yellow-rumped, Blackburnian, Palm, Black & White, American Redstart, & Wilson's. Other sightings included Black-backed Woodpecker, Red-eyed Vireo, & White-throated, White-crowned, & Lincoln's Sparrows. Numbers of Red-breasted Nuthatch, American Robin, & Purple Finch also picked up a bit today. Really a fun day in the woods.

Blackburnian Warbler

Lincoln's Sparrow

Peregrine Falcon

The above Peregrine landed in the brush pile next to the waterbird shack within about 25 feet of Tom and me. We were shocked to look up and see it that close.

Compton's Tortoiseshell

Butterflies: White Admiral, American Copper, Monarch, Compton's Tortoiseshell, & Northern Pearly Eye.

Chris Neri

Whimbrel

I covered some of the waterbird count for Tom today, so I was unable to give the woods as much coverage as usual. There was decent activity in the morning with sightings including Northern Goshawk, Belted Kingfisher, Red-eyed Vireo, Nashville, Yellow-rumped, and Pine Warblers, & White-crowned Sparrow.

Yellow-rumped Warbler with Ant Lion

Northern Pearly Eye

Chris Neri

yesterday's duck again

Yesterday's duck was present again this morning and this photo is in today's better light. I also left the file size larger than usual, click on it for a larger view. Thanks for the comments, and nice to hear from this spring's waterbird counter Andy Northrup. The woods were fairly active today and there were several nice flocks of warblers. They were mostly Yellow-rumpeds, but there were also Tennessee, Nashville, Cape May, Black-throated Green, & Palm. Other sightings included Wilson's Snipe, Scarlet Tanager & Lincoln's Sparrow.

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Sanderling

Chris Neri

Not sure

The above duck was on the net house pond today. We're leaning towards Redhead, but we're really not positive about the identification of this bird and would appreciate any comments. Otherwise the woods were relatively quiet. Sightings today included Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Nashville, Cape May, Yellow-rumped & Black-throated Green Warblers, and Clay-colored Sparrow.

Nashville Warbler

Semipalmated Plover

Chris Neri

Cape May Warbler with a moth

House Wren

Well, we've made the switch from our nocturnal schedule owl banding to our day schedule.
The woods have been fairly productive the last few mornings with sightings of Tennessee, Chestnut-sided, Magnolia, Cape May, Yellow-rumped, Black-throated Green, Blackburnian, Palm, and Bay-breasted Warblers, American Redstart, Northern Waterthrush, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Pileated Woodpecker, and House Wren. The wren has actually been present for a couple weeks now. The shorebirds have been decent and it is exciting that one of this summer's Piping Plover chicks has returned. We only know that it is one of the chicks thanks to Erin Roche and the plover crew who banded the chicks this summer. There was also a Chaffinch today. While Chaffinch have become a regular spring sighting since a bunch of birds were released in Chicago, I believe this may be the first fall sighting.

Piping Plover chick in early July

Piping Plover, one of the summer's chicks on August 24

Striped Hairstreak


There have been a few butterflies around, including American Copper, Pink-edged Sulphur, Monarch, White Admiral, Common Wood-Nymph, and Northern Pearly Eye

Chris Neri

Piping Plover Nesting at the Point

Piping Plover are again nesting at Whitefish Point! The above photo is of Erin Roche and the nesting female. Erin has been working on the recovery program for this federally endangered species for years, and is currently working with them for her PhD. In impressive fashion she and others from the Piping Plover crew, sorry I can't remember all of your names, came to the Point and found the nest. They were able to band the female and set up an enclosure to protect the nest. Upon being released the female walked just a short distance, stretched and relaxed a bit (photo below), then returned to her nest. This is the first nest to be found at Whitefish Point in at least 2 decades. Congratulations to Erin and the whole crew, and thanks for letting us observe your work.

We'd like to thank all of you who pledged to the 2009 WPBO staff birdathon. It was a huge success and over $6,000 was raised for the summer owl research! This is crucial support, without which it would not be possible for us to continue this unique project. We find it impossible to properly express our thanks through words on the blogs. We are simply very grateful, thank you.

Well the spring research seasons have officially ended. Sightings of Pacific Loon, Parasitic Jaeger, and Marbled Godwit added some excitement to the last week of the count. Overall songbird activity, particularly warblers, was fairly low this spring. It has continued to be a cold spring and activity has remained fairly slow into June, but there continues to be some activity. Recent sightings include Green Heron, White-rumped Sandpiper, Olive-sided & Yellow-bellied Flycatchers, Cape May, Blackpoll, & Mourning Warblers.

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher

Common Nighthawk

Blackburnian Warbler

Evening Grosbeak