The Point in the 1st snow of the fall

Close up of the top photo showing birders
at the waterbird shack

Highlights: Short-eared Owl, Snow Bunting

We had the first snow of the season overnight. There wasn't much accumulation, maybe 2 inches, but it looked beautiful with the dark skies and changing leaves.Tom had two Short-eared Owls come in off the lake and the first Snow Bunting of the season out at the waterbird count today. There was not much change in the woods today with sightings including Ruffed Grouse, Downy Woodpecker, Red-breasted & White-breasted Nuthatch, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Winter Wren, Hermit Thrush, Palm Warbler, American Tree Sparrow, Lapland Longspur, and Purple Finch.


Palm Warbler

Whitefish Point Lighthouse

Chris Neri

American Tree Sparrow

Highlights: Magnolia Warbler, Wilson's Snipe, Red Crossbill

It's been a couple days since I was able to give the woods coverage in the morning. As is to be expected we continue to see a transition to some of the mid to late season migrants. The first American Tree Sparrows of the season have arrived and Rusty Blackbirds (photo to left) have been present the last few days. Evening Grosbeaks have been coming into the feeders and Red Crossbills have been observed as flyovers the last couple days. There has also been good numbers of Downy Woodpeckers and Golden-crowned Kinglets, and Dark-eyed Junco numbers have begun to increase. Ruffed Grouse sighting have also increased at the Point and in the surrounding area. There is still at least one Blue-gray Gnatcatcher hanging around and a Magnolia Warbler was a bit of a surprise today. Other sightings today included Hairy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Red-breasted and White-breasted Nuthatches, Golden-crowned and Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Winter Wren, Orange-crowned, Yellow-rumped and Palm Warblers, Clay-colored, Savannah, White-throated and White-crowned Sparrows, Lapland Longspur and Pine Siskin.

Magnolia Warbler

Chris Neri

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

Highlights: Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Red Phalarope, and Boreal, Short-eared & Northern Hawk Owl

It was just one of those days when the Point was buzzing with excitement. It started off with a Short-eared Owl flying in off the lake. As we were watching the owl come in a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher flew towards the lake from behind us and eventually ended up on one of the Sharpie sticks. We then saw what we are all but absolutely certain was a Boreal Owl come down the lakeshore and cross the lake. This is the first time I have ever seen a Saw-whet or Boreal Owl in flight during the day. Not long after this sighting a Boreal was found roosting and being mobbed by a Gnatcatcher and Chickadees. After the count we got a call at the house that a Short-eared was sitting on the tip. As we were walking out to the tip a call came over the radio that a Northern Hawk Owl was on the Merlin Pole. After the Hawk Owl headed out over the lake we went to the tip to look for the Short-eared and a Red Phalarope flew down the lakeshore and landed on the water off the tip. Just a sick day at the Point. We'd like to thank Leonard & Barb Graf, Ken Mettie Jr., Lucas Foerster, Skye Haas, Ryne Rutherford, Darleen Friedman, Jeff McCoy, Tex Wells, Lyle Hamilton, Sean Bachman, and about 30 others folks for their contributions in making this an extremely enjoyable day at the Point.

Other recent sightings include Ruffed Grouse, Rough-legged Hawk, Northern Goshawk, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Eastern Phoebe, Golden-crowned and Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Orange-crowned, Nashville, Yellow-rumped, Pine, Palm, and Black-and-White Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, Dark-eyed Junco, Lincoln's, Swamp, White-throated, and White-crowned Sparrows, Rusty Blackbird, Red Crossbill, Pine Siskin, and Evening Grosbeak.

Northern Hawk Owl

Red Phalarope


Merlin with Downy Woodpecker

Chris Neri

Highlights: Northern Saw-whet Owl (above photo)

I was back in Philly for a while to attend my niece's wedding which is the reason this blog hasn't been updated recently. Tom & I want to thank all who responded to us privately about the jaeger identification from the last post. While this record has to be reviewed by the Michigan Rare Bird Records Committee to be official, we received very helpful tips and the consensus is that it is a Long-tailed Jaeger. The weather has been a bit nuts the last few days and activity in the woods has slowed a bit, but there has been some activity. Recent sightings include Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Red-breasted & White-breasted Nuthatch, Golden-crowned & Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Brown Creeper, Hermit Thrush, Orange-crowned, Yellow-rumped, Pine, Nashville, & Palm Warblers, Savannah, Lincoln's, Swamp, White-throated and White-crowned Sparrows, Rusty & Brewer's Blackbirds, Purple Finch, and Pine Siskin. While over 800 Saw-whets have been banded here this year, the one found roosting in the woods today was the first one to be found this year. This fact really demonstrates the importance of the information gathered by the owl banding in regard to our understanding of the major role that Whitefish Point plays in the migration of Michigan's smallest owl.

Golden-crowned Kinglet

The temperature has dropped significantly over the last few days. When we get quick drops in the air temperature in the fall the warm water temperature creates some major heat distortion. This in turn creates some bizarre optical illusions out over the lake. The above photo is of a freighter which at a distance appeared to be two vessels. The heat distortion unfortunately also wreaks havoc on our ability to identify distant birds out over the lake, increasing the frequency of statements such as, "well it's definitely a bird".

Chris Neri

I'll try again

I cannot control the blog. In my post from today it doesn't allow you to click on the above image, hopefully this one will. See the below post for more on the above jaeger and todays complete post. The below photo is today's dark morph Red-tailed Hawk.

Long-tailed Jaeger

Highlights: Long-tailed Jaeger, Yellow-billed Cuckoo

Just after the waterbird count ended today the above Long-tailed Jaeger came up the lake shore and cut over land to the bay shore. The identification of young jaegers is very complicated, but this bird shows multiple field marks good for Long-tailed. I left the files larger than usual so you can click on them for larger images. As always, comments on this ID are welcomed.

There has been good activity ion the woods and recent sightings include Northern Goshawk, Merlin, Red-tailed Hawk (including a dark morph), White-breasted and Red-breasted Nuthatches, Brown Creeper, Golden-crowned and Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Gray-cheeked Thrush, Nashville, Chestnut-sided, Magnolia, Cape May, Yellow-rumped, Palm, Pine, Blackpoll, Black & White, and Wilson's Warblers, American Redstart, Common Yellowthroat, Northern Waterthrush, and Lincoln's, White-throated, White-crowned Sparrows.

Chris Neri

Moose

Highlights: Moose, Canada Warbler

We'd like to thank all the folks who attended the WPBO field trip led by Jerry Ziarno and Tom Wheeker. While there was other excitement at the tip Point this morning the sighting of a bull Moose stole the show for many of us. He made it out to the tree line behind the Merlin pole and was seen by many right from the waterbird shack. We continued to see a drop off in warbler diversity as the mid-season migrants have begun appearing. Sightings in the woods today included Ruffed Grouse, Northern Goshawk, Bald Eagle, Black-backed Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Blue-headed Vireo, Golden-crowned and Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Tennessee, Nashville, Black-throated Green, and Canada Warblers, and Lapland Longspur.

Lapland Longspur

Ruffed Grouse

Chris Neri