To learn more about the ongoing efforts to monitor bird migration at Brockway Mountain, please visit: Brockway Hawk Watch.

Rocky Ridge proved to be both beautiful & rugged.

The massive raptor migration through the Keweenaw, which clearly is most prominent at Brockway Mountain, is well known.  What is hardly known at all is just where the raptors we see at Brockway are actually going.  Brockway’s eastbound numbers are always much, much greater than the westbound numbers.  Extensive observations at Manitou Island off the tip of the Keweenaw pretty clearly show that no large numbers of raptors cross Lake Superior there.  So many of us Keweenaw people have come to the conclusion that the Brockway / Keweenaw raptors probably eventually move southwest toward Duluth and thus around the Big Lake.    But just what are the patterns of raptor movement through the tip of the Keweenaw?  Where are all those westbound birds that Brockway just doesn’t get?     The Raptor Net idea was supposed to help answer those questions.  At least twice in the past decades small groups of Keweenaw hawk and bird watchers arranged for a day or two of coordinated counts at various sites in the Keweenaw.  This year we actually achieved six days of counts (28 April through 3 May) at three different sites.  Of course the main site was Brockway and we also had observers on Rocky Ridge and also at Bete Grise beach.  Each site was supposed to visually cover about one third of the Keweenaw.   Brockway covers the north third, Rocky Ridge covered the middle third and Bete Grise covered the south.  So we believed that most raptors moving east or west through the Keweenaw could be recorded by one of our sites.  In addition to those mainland sites we had an observer out at Manitou Island for a full twelve days.   Manitou is a major complicating factor in any study of Keweenaw raptor movement.  Its pretty straight forward to count raptors, eastbound and westbound, at Manitou’s western tip.  But the problem is that Manitou is almost like a storage battery for raptors.  You don’t really know how many raptors are “on” the island.  You can count birds coming from and returning to the mainland Keweenaw but you never really know how many raptors are just “on” Manitou.  From our observations there we know that some days the number “on” Manitou is well over 1,000 and its possible the hundreds of raptors hang out at Manitou for several days.  So Manitou really complicates any analysis of movement of Keweenaw raptors.

So how did we do?  Did we find the missing westbound birds?   We tried hard but we really didn’t find those westbound birds.  The Bete Grise site did have more westbound than eastbound birds, as expected, but the numbers didn’t account for the large numbers of eastbound birds seen at Brockway. It seems likely that our six days just wasn’t long enough.  We had reports of many hundreds of birds moving west at Bete Grise several days after our count period ended.  Were those birds stored up over at Manitou for a few days and returned west after our count?

Here are the totals for the six day period:

                Eastbound      Westbound        Total
 Rocky Ridge         412            365          777
 Bete Grise           63            254          317
 Brockway           2056            618         2674
 Manitou             595            755         1350

I’d like to thank our volunteer observers :  Mike Swaney, Wendy Sharp, Bill and Nancy Leonard, Bill Deephouse, Tom Rozich, Ruth Gleckler, Lynn Murphy, Catherine Andrews,  Keren Tischler, Curt Webb, Phil Quenzi, Marj and Ray Krumm, Nancy Auer,  Quentin and Emily(?) Sprenglemeyer and Arthur Green

P.S. -  Manitou Island does have its data posted on HawkCount.  But I have been lagging in my work and have yet to post the thousands of westbound raptors at Manitou from this spring.  I’ll get to it soon.   We had 2155 eastbound raptors and 3087 westbound at Manitou from 28 April through 9 May.

Joseph Youngman

Last year’s Raptorthon brought many birds & some remarkable weather.

Bear with me!

What’s become clear to me over the past two springs is that this count needs to continue beyond the three year survey period envisioned by the fine people who put it together.  As a scientific project, this count provides essential coverage in the central flyway that HMANA uses to help assess the health of raptor populations nationwide.  (Unlike the northeastern US, there are relatively few hawkwatches in the Midwest.)  As an educational initiative, this count exposes hundreds of people firsthand each spring to the migration spectacle with an intimacy that is almost unparalleled anywhere else.  (Seriously.  Where else do birds routinely pass so close that they sometimes almost hit people and parked cars?)  As a conservation initiative, the data this count produced in 2010 and 2011 played a significant role in securing the grant from the Michigan DNR Trust Fund so the Township of Eagle Harbor (with help from several partnering organizations) could purchase the top of Brockway Mountain this summer.  (That means that the very spot we conduct our counts will become protected space permanently!)  As a focal point for ecotourism, this count functions as a healthy incentive for thousands of people to come visit and spend money in the Keweenaw Peninsula, one that doesn’t require bulldozing more forest or turning towns into theme parks.  (Even the thought gives me chills!)  So this count is a win-win for everyone involved, and it’s one of those odd exceptions where what’s healthy for business is healthy for the birds.

So, I’m asking for your help!  On May 31, shy of just one week from now, I will begin a Raptorthon atop Brockway at nautical twilight to raise funds for both the Keweenaw Raptor Survey and the Hawk Migration Association of North America.  Last year’s Raptorthon at Brockway raised over $1100, and helped stay some of the requisite costs in running this count for a full season.  Please help support this count by writing me with your pledge (email: bedfordhawks@gmail.com) today.   (Or you can also donate directly via HMANA.)  Because I’m asking you to dig into your pockets, it’s only right that I dig into mine, so I’m personally pledging $5 for each raptor species I see, and $0.50 for each non-raptor species I see or hear; and to make things interesting, I’ll kick in another $50 if the total raptor count at the end of the day exceeds 500 birds as it did last year.  Naturally, if you can be at least so generous, we would be ever so grateful, but whether big or small, your pledge/donation matters!

Thank you for allowing me this soapbox for so worthy a project.  It has been my distinct honor to serve as counter both this year and last, and it is my wish to see that this count continue long into the future.

With Thanks,
Arthur

Musing from somewhere below Brockway,
Arthur

And warblers are definitely approaching prime, too.  We’re now regularly hearing Black-throated Green Warbler, Ovenbird, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Northern Parula, Palm Warbler, and Blue-headed Vireo from up on the mountain.  Today, I also heard Rose-breasted Grosbeak and American Redstart.  Things are shaping up, and following my “tradition” last year, I’ll mark my first Northern Waterthrush with a beer (no, not on the mountain!) just as I did for my first migrant Turkey Vulture.

I still have some catching up to do.  Among other topics I promised to address were books on cloud identification, and Joseph Youngman’s Raptornet.  Also, we had a terrific group of school kids join us atop Brockway on May 4, and I’m reminded of my overseas counting experience when I think of how important the educational component is to any raptor survey and the community it serves.  I’ll admit I’m feeling the burn at this point in the season, so I will do what I can do to take all this on one bit at a time.  Thanks, as always, for your patience!

Good Hawkwatching to you!
Arthur

As good a day as any to watch hawks.

Yesterday’s flight seemed to help validate my suggestion in my previous entry about getting out on the mountain when the weather clears this week.  You really have nothing to lose.  Sometimes wind directions are less than stellar.  It’s true that south or southeasterly winds are indeed the “magic” winds for Brockway, and often bring the best (& closest) flights, and I’ve said this a lot.  But especially during peak migration periods, many species of raptors routinely migrate no matter what the winds are.  This runs counter to the usual “wisdom” that says that hawks don’t migrate except on such-and-such winds.  Or won’t fly if the winds are too strong.  Or <insert other pearl o’ wisdom that many hawkwatchers nod sagely to but never question here>.  It’s a mistake to conflate actual migration with the observed migration at Brockway, even if, practically, it may not seem like there is much point in splitting hairs (especially when you’re not seeing any birds, or they are ridiculously far away!).  But especially later in the season (as I learned last year), juvenile Broad-winged Hawk seem to move no what the winds are, and it’s possible to see decent flights even with northerly and easterly winds (something I would have considered less likely earlier in the season) so long as these winds are not strong enough to push the birds beyond the range at which you could detect them.  So, again, while we’re in this peak period, no harm in giving it a go even if things aren’t ideal.  You might see a lot more than you thought you would!

Cordially Yours from atop Brockway,
Arthur (who likes hawks just as much whether they are very close or ridiculously far!)

In any case, if the weather clears a bit this week, it might be seriously worth your while to drop what you are doing and try the mountain for a few hours.  There are never guarantees, of course, but you may find yourself handsomely rewarded for your effort!

I’ll close for now by mentioning that we also recorded our first American Pipit and Pine Warbler on the mountain on Tuesday.  Passerine migration seems set to pick up in the days ahead.  Stay Tuned!

========================================================================
Brockway Mountain
Copper Harbor, Michigan, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 29, 2012
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Species            Day's Count    Month Total   Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Turkey Vulture               2            172            174
Osprey                       1             14             14
Bald Eagle                  13            190            835
Northern Harrier             4             85            100
Sharp-shinned Hawk          46            406            445
Cooper's Hawk                0              2              2
Northern Goshawk             0             13             14
Red-shouldered Hawk          0              5             17
Broad-winged Hawk          608            783            783
Swainson's Hawk              0              2              2
Red-tailed Hawk             38            350            456
Rough-legged Hawk           10             91            154
Golden Eagle                 1             13             26
American Kestrel             1             33             42
Merlin                       0              3              5
Peregrine Falcon             0              4              4
Unknown Accipiter            0              2              2
Unknown Buteo                0              2              7
Unknown Falcon               0              0              0
Unknown Eagle                0              2             14
Unknown Raptor               0              9             11

Total:                     724           2181           3107
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Observation start time: 08:00:00 
Observation end   time: 16:00:00 
Total observation time: 8 hours

Official Counter:        Arthur Green

Observers:        

Visitors:
213, including Debb Potts, Judy Beuter, Karen Karl, Tim Frick, Pamela &
Robert Yerks.  (Is it me, or this mountain just busier this year?)

Weather:
Temp 44-55F.  BP 30.25 inHg, with diminuendo!  Very Light to Moderate
variable breezes all day; the wind was decisively indecisive today.  Good
visibility w/mild to moderate haze & mild heat "shimmer."  Partly cloudy,
becoming progressively overcast by mid afternoon; light Cirrostratus around
my periphery thickened and began enveloping the sky w/small patches of
Altocumulus evident after midday.

Raptor Observations:
We're now clearly entering our peak period for Broad-winged Hawk.  By in
large, the day's flight moved at good height over Brockway & the valley
between Rocky Ridge.  Some BW kettles, however, were spotted N moving over
the lake, and some westbound kettles were observed moving well beyond Rocky
Ridge to my S.  Interesting counterpoint to the day's eastbound count of 608
BWs were the 563 BWs moving westbound, most of them observed somewhere
over/beyond Lake Medora.  Whether these westbound birds are indeed the same
as the ones I counted earlier moving overhead moving eastbound is something
I can only speculate about.

Non-raptor Observations:
39 Common Loon, 37 Sandhill Crane, 2 Tree Swallow, 3 Yellow-rumped Warbler,
4 Horned Lark.

Predictions:
Rain, but a fair chance that the weather will clear and flights will resume
in force.
========================================================================

The  Good Book for hawkwatching in North America has long been Hawks In Flight (Dunne, et al.).  Relying primarily on black & white drawings with only a sparse section of photographs in the back of the book, it would be a mistake to dismiss this book as quaint.  It imparts the fundamental approach/philosophy to identifying raptors at distance better than any other book out there, with the possible exception of its European cousin, Flight Identification of European Raptors (Porter, et al.), from which HIF is descended in concept and execution.  HIF is inexpensive, and will not be a difficult read for you if it is taken in chunks rather than digested whole in only a few sittings.

Another book you’ll want is Hawks From Every Angle (Liguori 2005), an indispensable photographic reference that complements HIF.  Reading sections as the need arises might be the best approach here, as the book was probably intended more as a reference than a guide for the newcomer.  Without context (i.e., the actual bird), it may be difficult to interpret text like “intermediate birds can display a variable amount of white mottling on the chest“.  So work through the book to get a general view of each bird without getting bogged down in the details, and then selectively pick at sections in detail.  Interestingly, this book is one of the few to note Brockway Mountain as a significant spring watchsite several years before the KRS project was launched.  (And, indeed, some of the photographs selected for inclusion in the book were actually taken here!)  In any case, the book will wear well as you become a more experienced hawkwatcher.

Two other books which, while not strictly oriented to hawks, will also do much to train your eye and encourage your appreciation of the migration spectacle.  They are both easy reads.  The first, Sibley’s Birding Basics (Sibley 2002) is a stellar introduction for those new to watching birds.  Even if you stick to just watching hawks at Brockway, this book will prepare a useful framework you can build on while on the mountain.  The second, How Birds Migrate (Kerlinger 2009), will help put avian migration in context of a bird’s life history and our ecology, and uses actual examples to illustrate the flight strategies employed by different species of birds during migration.

And, finally, I would be remiss if I glossed over the conservation story of Hawk Mountain Sanctuary as told by HMS’s first curator, Maurice Broun in Hawks Aloft (Broun 1948)  This book, as one reviewer said, is magic!  And its story remains remarkably relevant today.  The story of Hawk Mountain Sanctuary should be known to every hawkwatcher.

Shortly, I’ll post about some of my favorite cloudspotting books, as cloud identification has become an indelible aspect of my hawkwatching experience.  In the meantime, I hope you’re continuing to follow us on HawkCount!  While the next few days promise sparse to moderate flights, I suspect we’ll have a lot of eager birdies in the pipeline as soon as conditions change.

Good Hawkwatching,
Arthur

An icy reception. (April 17)

We’re approaching the peak for both Broad-winged Hawk and Sharp-shinned Hawk, recording our first of the former on Friday (April 21), with a continuing trickle that’s going to become heavy as step into the closing days of April.  This is one of the most exciting times of year to be hawkwatching at Brockway, so I hope you’ll be watching the wind forecasts in the days ahead.  Those magic S/SE winds are the ones to watch for!

For your amusement, I threw together a quick graph showing the three largest dates of goosie movement since the beginning of the count.  In all (as of April 23), 13759 Canada Goose moved in this first wave.  Golf lovers everywhere are probably mortified!

The First Wave.

New sightings on this past week include Lapland Longspur, Eastern Phoebe, Rusty Blackbird (April 17), Killdeer (April 18),  Tree Swallow (April 20), American Tree Sparrow, White-breasted Nuthatch (April 23).

Also notable was the adult dark morph Swainson’s Hawk that passed casually with an adultRed-tailed Hawk on April 22.  They are a rare but reliable fixture at Brockway; while we see only a handful each spring, it’s nice to have that occasional glimpse of a species you wouldn’t typically expect this far east.

Enough people have been asking me to recommend my favorite books for raptor and cloud identification, so tomorrow I will address that.  As always, thank you for reading!

Watching the world turn green from atop Brockway,
Arthur