Ice, Snow, Fog, and Rain (yes, the drive is still closed)

April plods on, banausic and bromidic. With rain, snow, ice, and fog out numbering the raptors.

Notable flights since my last update were contained to one day, the 14th. When a nice flight of 210 raptors occurred. The majority of the flight was made up by Red-tails with 73 recorded for the day including a nice looking dark-morph, Turkey Vultures came in second with 54 for the day, while Sharp-shinned Hawks and Bald Eagles vied for second place with 30 and 31 respectively. New for the season was an adult Peregrine Falcon and ( while not a raptor) a Tree Swallow which was possibly the first one in the entire Keweenaw this spring! Three Northern Goshawks and a Golden Eagle rounded out the noteworthy species for the day. The only other recent arrival on the mountain was an Osprey on the 17th.

Off the mountain a nice passerine flight was noted on the 9th. Notables included Ruby-crowned Kinglet (tying the record early arrival recordfor the Keweenaw I set back in 2015), Western and Eastern Meadowlarks, Pied-billed Grebe, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Yellow-rumped Warbler, and Eastern Phoebe. Other recent arrivals include Trumpeter Swan, American Woodcock, Savannah Sparrow, and a Field Sparrow (one of only a handful of records for the Keweenaw in the last decade).

Bohemian Waxwings have been regular in town, while Redpoll and Siskin numbers are starting to decline.

With the mountain as slow as it is, blog-worthy material has been sparse. So for those hoping for multiple posts a week, I would suggest instead going outside and looking for some migrants in person!

Yes, the road up Brockway is still closed and will likely remain closed to auto traffic through the end of the month. But with the road free of cars this is the perfect time to take a walk or bike ride along it!