Some milder weather and a bit more diversity over the Mountain.

Hi all,

After a bit of a cold first couple of weeks to the count, some warmer weather and south winds have brought some bigger numbers and more diversity to the count the last few days. While the omnipresent Bald Eagles dominate the count each day, we have added Sharp-shinned Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Peregrine Falcon and Turkey Vulture to the watch summary this week. To date, the Bald Eagle tally stands at 332, a bit ahead of last year at the same point of the season, as is the Northern Goshawk total of 12. Golden Eagle numbers are about on pace with last year with 19 seen so far.

Not too many other migrants have been seen this spring so far and waterfowl in particularly are absent, not too surprising given the abundance of ice still on Lake Superior and in all the harbors. A single Sandhill Crane was seen on the 28th and a few Herring Gulls are moving into the area. A few small groups of Snow Buntings are around most days on the few bare patches on the ridge.

Calvin