Nice variety

Today's south winds brought a nice variety of raptors to Whitefish Point, with both eagles, all three accipiters, and the first roughleg of the season. Even though the numbers remained relatively modest (28), there was hawk action going on pretty much all day, as many hawks kept coming up to the point, only to turn around in fear of all that icy water. Most of these birds were low and quite a few were right on deck at the hawk platform, such as the adult Red-shouldered Hawk pictured above.

One of the Red-tailed Hawks today was a so-called partial albino: a bird with some white flight feathers.

This is unusual, though not very rare in redtails. Here's a (distant) view of its upperside, showing those white feathers more prominently. (Click on the image for a bigger view.)

Also seen today were 2 American Black Ducks (fos) and a Great Blue Heron (fos). The Eastern Meadowlark continues around the lighthouse.

The weather forecast for tomorrow is partly cloudy, highs in the lower 40s, and southwest winds 5 to 15 mph. These are pretty much ideal conditions, folks! If you've been thinking about coming up to the hawk watch one of these days, then Thursday is definitely the day to pick. Friday it's back to north winds and more snow, and more of the same on the weekend...