Species’ numbers from this week’s are included in parentheses ().
Advection fog is common during spring warmups as warm air moves over cold surfaces. A thick, unrelenting fog has not lifted from the Straits in four straight days. Poor visibility has completely stalled the count. Fortunately, the first three days of the week had clear weather and favorable winds.
Daily counts of Common Loon (40) are quickly building! Peak loon movements will take place in late April. Flights of Canada Geese are also increasing in numbers (518).
A trio of Greater White-fronted Geese (3) was a fun surprise of April 11th. This stocky brown “specklebelly” goose migrates long-distances to breeding grounds in the Arctic tundra. Sightings on the Great Lakes are infrequent. North American populations move primarily through the Prairie Pothole region.
Other notable sightings for this week include the first Great Egret (1) for the season on 04/13. A flyover Wilson’s Snipe (1) on 04/16 is the second species of shorebird recorded this spring. An adult Kumlein’s Iceland Gull (1) was spotted harassing a local Bald Eagle alongside a group of Herring Gulls on April 10th.
Falcons and Northern Harriers in active migration are a common sight for the waterbird count. These species move across a wide front compared to other raptors, often low to the waterline.
Fox Sparrows have an extremely short spring migration window. Many passed though this week on the way to boreal forests of Northern Canada. It is always a delight to spot one backscratching through leaf-litter.
