[mou-net] Mass migration event, Duluth
Despite the hot and humid weather in Duluth recently, especially today with a high temperature of 84 degrees, there was a mass migration event that stunned the counters at Hawk Ridge beginning at sunrise and continuing throughout the day. The total of 91,667 migrating non-raptors represents one of the highest counts ever recorded in Duluth, and is certainly the largest flight of birds I have ever witnessed on the North Shore in nine years as counter at Hawk Ridge. Note that this count represents a combined total from both Hawk Ridge, and morning and evening counts on the shore one mile from Hawk Ridge. My thanks to Alex Lamoreaux, Kaija Gahm, and Steve Kolbe for helping to count all of these birds today. Some of the highlights from today include the following: 28,054 Common Nighthawks (this is the third highest count for MN, and follows a flight of 13,723 on August 29th this year, bringing the 2015 season total to about 50,000 nighthawks- thanks to Steve Kolbe's diligent evening counts), Today's weather was nearly identical to the conditions during a similar mass migration of neotropical birds in Duluth on 21 August 2013 including 30,874 Common Nighthawks, but note that the majority of today's flight was actually in the morning. 9 Red-headed Woodpeckers (ties the local high count set on 26 September 1983) 45 Eastern Kingbirds 1085 Blue Jays (seems early for a count of this magnitude) 233 Catharus thrushes were seen in morning flight (following a large nocturnal migration), including 3 Veery, 1 Wood Thrush, 1 Gray-cheeked, 39 Swainson's Thrushes, and 189 unidentified Catharus sp. 12842 Cedar Waxwings (represents a new state high count, slightly higher than the 12,612 Cedar Waxwings counted at the same locations on 29 August 2010). 33,758 warblers (19 species were identified, with a majority of the flight probably American Redstarts and Nashville/Tennessee Warblers). 21 Scarlet Tanagers (high fall count) 198 Rose-breasted Grosbeaks (new state high count) 1563 Red-winged Blackbirds Daily updates of the migration at Hawk Ridge are posted at HawkCount, which can be found on links at www.hawkridge.org and www.hawkcount.org. Karl Bardon Count Director Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
[mou-net] mass migration event, Duluth-Superior, 12 April
This is a belated report since I thought it had sent on Sunday ... There was a mass migration event along the Duluth-Superior lakeshore on Sunday April 12th, including 34,000 American Robins, plus smaller numbers of Rusty Blackbirds, Common Grackles, Pine Siskins, Purple Finches, and Northern Flickers (low hundreds of each), and a few Common Redpolls, Yellow-rumped Warblers, and Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers. Although I have seen migration of this magnitude in fall, this day was so amazing because all the birds were so low and close, at tree height, with a continuous river of songbirds from sunrise until nearly noon. Raptor migration was equally impressive with 1083 Red-tailed Hawks counted including 9 dark morph Westerns, plus 676 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 442 Turkey Vultures, 158 Bald Eagles, 24 Rough-legs, 12 Northern Harriers, 3 American Kestrels, 2 Merlins, 1 Peregrine Falcon, 1 Osprey, 1 Northern Goshawk, and 1 Swainson's Hawk. With two successive days of very strong south winds, this is probably the best landbird flight I have ever seen here in spring:). Smaller numbers (but still impressive) continued on Monday (eg, over 5,000 robins and 289 flickers). Karl Bardon Duluth | Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
[mou-net] mass migration event, Duluth, 29 September 2013
For the second time this season, a mass migration event overwhelmed the counters at Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory this morning, with 17,548 non-raptors counted from our two count sites at the apt near the mouth of the Lester River, and the Hawk Ridge main overlook. A massive river of birds flowed through the sky for three hours beginning at sunrise, occurring in a broad front from along the Lake Superior shore to up and over Hawk Ridge over a mile away. Although the majority of this flight was warblers (11,674 counted), and most of the warblers were Yellow-rumps, many other species were moving as well. Flocks of American Pipits, American Goldfinches, and other species mixed into the loose waves of warblers, and the first large flight of American Robins of the season built the numbers even further. After an entire week of south and east winds, passage of a cold front late yesterday afternoon finally brought a shift in wind direction to the west, and this is no doubt what triggered this awesome movement of birds. Radar last night indicated a large lift-off of birds, and I was able to see hundreds of birds moving over the city lights around midnight, so this flight was not unexpected, but in terms of overall numbers of birds this was one of the larger flights I have seen at Hawk Ridge/Lester River, and it is the largest warbler flight I have seen in seven years of counting. But it is not the largest flight of warblers ever, since three higher counts were tabulated in 1987-1988 just up shore at the Lakewood pumping station, including an amazing 29,335 warblers on 1 October 1988 (Eckert et al.). As I have noted elsewhere, comparison of recent counts at Hawk Ridge/Lester River (2009-2012) to historical counts at Lakewood (1987-1990) indicate the overall number of warblers are down by about 65%. We post detailed daily updates of all the raptors and non-raptors counted at Hawk Ridge/Lester River on the HMANA website, www.hawkcount.org, which can most easily be linked through the Hawk Ridge website www.hawkridge.org. New this year, we also have a Hawk Ridge blog hawkridgeblog.blogspot.com (which also has an easy link from the Hawk Ridge website), where I provide a weekly summary of the raptor and non-raptor counts every Sunday. A (nearly) complete list of today’s non-raptors counted is as follows: 27 Canada Geese, 1 Wood Duck (first of season), 2 Common Loons, 1 American White Pelican, 1 American Golden-Plover, 17 Herring Gulls, 1 Red-bellied Woodpecker, 9 Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, 11 Northern Flickers, 1 Least Flycatcher, 1 Red-eyed Vireo, 692 Blue Jays, 13 Horned Larks, 64 Barn Swallows, 5 Red-breasted Nuthatches, 12 Eastern Bluebirds, 1641 American Robins, 276 American Pipits, 1 Gray Catbird, 515 Cedar Waxwings, 1 Tennessee Warbler, 3 Nashville Warblers, 1 Cape May Warbler, 1440 Yellow-rumped Warblers, 105 Palm Warblers, 1 Black-and-white Warbler, 1 Common Yellowthroat, 10,214 unidentified warblers (99% of which were probably Yellow-rumps), 1 Clay-colored Sparrow, 1 White-crowned Sparrow, 2 Lapland Lonspurs, 2 Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, 4 Bobolinks, 3 Red-winged Blackbirds, 108 Rusty Blackbirds, 13 Common Grackles, 78 Purple Finches, 349 American Goldfinches., and 1895 unidentified passerines. Karl Bardon Duluth, MN Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
