It was mostly cloudy with a light breeze this morning at the Point. The warmer weather has brought in several new migrant bird species. Bonaparte’s Gulls flew past us during two counts with 12 individuals in the larger flock. Swamp Sparrows could be heard singing from the interior wetland. Other new spring migrants included Yellow-rumped Warbler and Eastern Towhee. The Fox Sparrows, which were abundant two-weeks ago, appear to have moved north, but there were still many Hermit Thrushes present. We expect to see White-throated Sparrow and Blue-gray Gnatcatcher soon. Not surprisingly, duck numbers continue to decline. There were only a few Common Goldeneye and Scaup left, but Blue-winged and Green-winged Teal were both seen for the first time this year. Northern Flickers, which are regularly detected at Point au Sable, were particularly conspicuous this morning. They were recorded during all three point counts and were seen or heard frequently while we walked between points. Sadly, European Starlings were seen investigating nest cavities at the end of the Point. One of the resident Bald Eagles was sitting on their nest but we did not see the other parent. All together, we recorded 36 species for the morning.
Observers: Nicholas Walton, Erin Gnass, Kari Petrashek, Ashley Fehrenbach