Wind turbines and migrants - Kenn Kaufmann

Here is a nice article about the issue with wind turbines and birds in NW Ohio along Lake Erie:

http://nimsoh.blogspot.com/2010/11/long-nights-journey-into-death.html

a successful season

Although the birds are still moving through the migration corridor, we have successfully completed our surveys along the N. Shore. We ended with a fantastic day of Purple finches, Snow Buntings, Red Crossbills, Rough-legged hawks, Bald and Golden Eagles. After data is entered I will post our totals.

Purple Finches and Crows

After several days of easterly winds, the birds are now again moving in numbers near the Shore. At Silver Bay today, impressive Purple Finch and American Crow flights were observed. We are still waiting for some of our northern species to make a showing (Rough-legged hawks, Redpolls, Snow Buntings, Golden Eagles). Maybe tomorrow?

Tomorrow we will be at Pincushion Mountain up the Gunflint Trail, Grand Marais. Sunrise is at 7:15am. See you there!

The Migration is back on.

After a few slow days along the North Shore, the short-distance migrants are on the move again... in the thousands. Robins, Rusty Blackbirds, Pipits, and Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warblers make up the bulk of the movement.

A researcher will be at the Knife River Wayside on Thursday Oct 7th, Wolf Rock near Castle Danger (off of the Superior Hiking Trail) on Friday Oct 8th, and the Lax Lake Overlook on either Saturday or Sunday depending on wind direction. If the winds are out of the east, we generally see less birds so if west winds occur on Sunday and not Saturday, we will survey Lax Lake on Sunday instead.

The arrival of the short-distance migrants...

Although some of the long distance migrants (vireos, thrushes, most warblers) are still flying by, I would say the migration is now entering the push for the short-distance migrants. We are again seeing 1000s of birds almost every morning along The Shore. This morning's count included Robins, Rusty Blackbirds, American Pipits, Grackles, Yellow-rumped Warblers, and much more. I've also seen Bluebirds and Bohemian Waxwings moving. The raptors continue to be sharp-shinned hawks, kestrels, and Bald Eagles, but now the Goshawks and Red-tailed hawks are also on the move.

Tomorrow (Friday, Oct 1st) a researcher will be on Tofte Peak in Temperance State Park. On Saturday, Oct 2nd, a researcher will be on Pincushion Mountain (up the Gunflint Trail out of Grand Marais). Please feel free to stop by and watch the migration with these folks! We start around 7am and to see the largest numbers of birds, plan to arrive no later than 7:30am.

MN Public Radio story

Bob Kelleher from MPR did a story on the migration and the possibility of wind turbines on the N. Shore. The day we chose was foggy and rainy. Needless to say, there were only a handful of birds but Bob did a nice job piecing together a story anyway. Here's the link:

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/09/29/north-shore-wind-power-birds/

"1000s of dead birds in Lake Superior"

I just found out that beginning on Sept 2nd, fishermen on Lake Superior were reporting "wind rows" of 1000s of dead birds floating in the Lake. The birds were described as being from warbler-size to woodpeckers to gulls. We had a storm come through the evening of Sept 1st that continued through the 2nd with high north winds and heavy rain.

I don't know the magnitude of this event nor do I know why the birds didn't make it. I can speculate exhaustion, inability to find or get to shore, or possibly a downdraft. I'm attempting contact with the fishermen to see if I can get any other information and piece together what may have happened and the possible magnitude of this mortality event. An interesting note is that the morning of Sept 1st, we recorded over 6000 birds flying inland from Lake Superior from a one-mile radius observation area. Assuming ~6000 birds were flying inland at every one-mile radius spot along the North Shore, I would guess that millions of birds were actively migrating during this time and quite possibly during the storm.

Lets hope the magnitude of this mortality event is not newsworthy. I'll post what I find out.

Small birds still moving ... my the thousands

We have begun our second round of surveys moving up the North Shore and still the morning flights are amazing. The birds in the forests have shifted from long distance migrants (warblers, vireos...) to the short-distance migrants (creepers, wrens, sparrows). I'm going to guess those unidentified birds in the mornings coming in off of Lake Superior have probably down the same shift. Although, Swainson's thrushes have still been observed.

Tomorrow (9/19) on of the crew will be at the Lax Lake overlook near Silver Bay. We also hope to survey from Pincushion Mountain in Grand Marais on Monday the 20th depending on weather.

Pincushion Mountain

After some windy cold days between Duluth and Finland, the migration crew is heading up the shore to Grand Marais. One of the best places to watch the migration is from Pincushion Mountain accessed from the ski trails up the Gunflint Trail from Grand Marais. To join us, park in the Pincushion lot and hike beyond the Pincushion loop to the tip of the ridge. If you are unable to hike out to the tip of Pincushion Mountain, the parklot also offers a good view of birds on a west wind day as they travel down the shoreline. We will be at Pincushion sometime towards the weekend. If you want to join us, email me your contact info and I will let you know the exact day we will be surveying there (apeterson@hawkridge.org).

http://www.pincushiontrails.org/trail_map.htm

WOW

The crew was surveying near Castle Danger, MN this morning and counted 6000+ passerines (mostly warblers) from 6:30am-7:30am flying inland from Lake Superior. This passerine flight continued for about 2.5 hours after sunrise then almost abruptly stopped. The total number of birds was very impressive as well as the number of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks among the warblers. Also, the birds were not in flocks but spread out across the entire sky and flying west. Their flight calls were as one of my crew members put it, "like a chorus of bells" (although none really sound like bells). The raptor flight was fairly light with a few small falcons, sharp-shinneds, and broad-wingeds passing by while the vultures cruised up and down the shore.

We plan to be at the Lax Lake Overlook in Tettegouch S.P. on Friday or Saturday. If you want to see the spectacular numbers, be there at sunrise.

The migration is well underway....

We held our "training" for migration surveys this morning in Duluth and were overwhelmed by thousands of passerines moving down the shore. A record 10,000+ Cedar Waxwings were accompanied by Grackles, Blackbirds, Swallows, Blue Jays, Robins, Kingbirds, and Warblers. It was a great start to the season and we begin our shoreline surveys tomorrow (8/30/10). One of our researchers will be counting at the Knife River Wayside just up the shore from Duluth. On Tuesday (8/31/10) a researcher will be counting from Wolf Rock on the Superior Hiking Trail access in Castle Danger (NE of Two Harbors).

Check back for count updates and observer locations.

Migration Countdown

The North Shore bird migration will soon be underway. We are gearing up to begin surveys in September. If you are planning to visit the North Shore this fall and want to experience the North Shore bird migration, please join us during our surveys! Here is a list of the best survey sites to visit (nearest town, actual location):

1.Duluth, Knife River Wayside
2.Two Harbors, Wolf Rock on the Superior Hiking Trail
3.Silver Bay, Lax Lake Overlook Tettegouche State Park
4.Tofte, Tofte Peak Temperance State Park
5.Grand Marais, Pincushion Mountain on the Superior Hiking Trail and Pincushion ski trails

We rotate through our survey locations so if you want to join us, please check back for a schedule or email me with your contact information and location of interest. All locations are public so even if we are not present, you will be able to see the migration from these areas on your own. My suggestion is to arrive at sunrise to catch both the morning passerine flight as well as the midmorning raptor flight.

See you soon!

New Duluth ordinance on towers recognizes the birds

The City of Duluth, MN has a new city ordinance addressing the development of communication towers thanks to the efforts of a group of concerned Duluthians who recognized the importance of this flyway.

This ordinance reads:
"(M) No tower constructed after [insert effective
date of ordinance] including allowing for all attachments, shall
exceed seventy-five (75’) feet in height within the Migratory Bird
Flight Path;"

and defines a flight path:

"(L) “Migratory bird flight path” means, the zone
of jurisdictional land located from the Lake Superior and Saint
Louis River shorelines to no less than two miles inland or where
Skyline Parkway runs parallel to the shoreline, an area from the
shoreline to Skyline Parkway or two miles inland, whichever is
greater;"

As far as I know, the inclusion of migratory birds in the siting and development of communication towers is unprecedented. Congratulations Duluthians and thank you!

Here is a draft of the new ordinance, the tower portion starts on page 18: http://www.duluthmn.gov/clerk/council/resord10/10-026-O.pdf

Welcome

The North Shore Migration Phenomenon is one of the largest bird migration events in the Nation. Researchers from Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory, Duluth MN and the Natural Resources Research Institute, University of MN Duluth are studying this natural phenomenon along the North Shore of Lake Superior (Duluth to Grand Portage, MN). This website is your link to the researcher's whereabouts and data collection throughout the migration season, August through mid-November. For more information about this project, please visit the Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory website (www.hawkridge.org/research/nsm.html).

This site is under construction.