Current Activity

April has arrived, but despite what the the calender may say winter has been remiss in exiting the Keweenaw in any sort of an expedited manner as evidenced by the fact that Common and Hoary Redpolls, and Snow Bunting still remain the dominant species on the mountain.

Poor winds have dominated the last week and thus most days have had trouble breaking the single digits. April 2 was refreshing when a season high of 61 Bald Eagles went east past the shack. The 2nd also featured a dark morph Red-tailed Hawk, Golden Eagle, and the first Northern Harrier, Merlin, Turkey Vulture, and Lapland Longspur of the spring. Since the 2nd though things have been slow, however today’s count was fun when in the last two hours a handful of Bald Eagles and three Golden Eagles went east (it made it easier to forget the first six hours when nothing was moving).

In Copper Harbor this evening I saw my first American Robin and Red-winged Blackbird of the spring, suggesting that perhaps spring might actually be arriving here in the north (just don’t look offshore where several freighters have been stuck in the ice for the past two days).

Few raptors moved up the Keweenaw in the last week, no doubt due to the poor conditions. Three days in the last week had northerly winds and three days had moderate to heavy snow, neither of which are conducive to raptors moving north. Before the snow hit today the winds were south and peaked at 51.9mph (that’s a beaufort code 9). As far as raptors go single Red-tailed and Sharp-shinned Hawks were the only new arrivals during the past week. The redpoll flock continues to feed around the count site, notable was a count of 14 Hoary Redpolls on the 24th (only three short of the Keweenaw high count).

The first week of the count is in the books and while things have been slow due to less then favorable winds the raptors have been slowly pushing through. Other birds around the shack in the first week include several different groups of Common and Hoary Redpolls, with a high count of 6 Hoary’s on the 22nd. Low numbers of Snow Buntings and Bohemian Waxwings have also been moving through.

The 2015 spring count has begun. Things were moving a little slow at first but we are now seeing more activity. So far; 72 Bald Eagle, 3 Northern Goshawk, 1 Rough-legged Hawk and 3 Golden Eagle!
Don’t forget, you can see daily activity and other info at http://hawkcount.org/month_summary.php?rsite=699

The 2015 spring raptor survey is starting this Sunday, March 15th and will go through June 15th. Our counter this season is Tim Baerwald, an experienced counter and bird aficionado. Welcome Tim!

The Brockway Mountain Hawk Watch is seeking applicants for the 2015 spring season. You can see the full ad for a counter by clicking here http://brockwayhawkwatch.org/counter-ad/ or using the Counter Ad tab.

While no counting is going on at this time, we are planning, fund-raising and growing awareness for next years project. Please browse through this site, look at the photos and read about this very important hawk watch. We operate primarily on donations and fund-raisers, so please donate if you agree this is a great project!
Thank you for your support.

Both east and west are now open and driveable with no problems!

Come on UP!