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A sunrise at Whitefish Point |
The last few days, here at Whitefish Point, have been quite incredible. Before the 26th, my highest daily total of Red-necked Grebes was 65. I was happy with a measly 323 Red-necks on the 26th. If you told me I saw 323 grebes over the last two days, my reaction would be, "yeah, that's a typical hour". With all the east winds during the first week and a half of the count, I think all these grebes were just held up. Once the winds started coming out of the NW, the grebes started flowing through.
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The typical, distant view of Red-necked Grebes from Whitefish Point. |
So, how many grebes did I count? 1482 Red-necks during the 8 hour count on the 27th. Another 1410 in 2.5 hours on the evening of the 27th. And, 2200 in the eight hours of the waterbird count today. I thought I had seen lots of Red-necked Grebes before I started this count, I definitely hadn't.
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One of the Broad-winged Hawks that have been around the point. |
Most of the Red-necked Grebes are single species flocks but a handful are more interesting. Most commonly Blue-winged and Green-winged Teal join the grebe flocks. Less commonly the grebes join the teal flocks. And, even less commonly, scoters join in the flocks as well. A couple times, a Horned Grebe has also joined in with the Red-necks.
Sometimes when you are counting these thousands of birds you wish there were a little more diversity. Don't worry, Whitefish Point will usually try to satisfy this craving. Today, a beautiful, adult, Parasitic Jaeger passed closely by the point in the afternoon. There isn't a better way to top the day than with a jaeger!
-Eric
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