Friday’s longshore count at Indiana Dunes State Park had a little extra juice. What started as a usual spring morning turned into a surprisingly strong raptor flight along the lakefront, with 94 species tallied over 7 hours and 20 minutes, including a Golden Eagle and a long list of moving hawks.
We finished with 94 species and 1,752 individuals over 7 hours, but the main story was the raptor show overhead. Mid-April is prime time for hawk movement at the Dunes. Sharp-shinned Hawks, Red-tailed Hawks, Ospreys, and early Broad-winged Hawks are all species you hope for when spring flight conditions line up along the lakefront, and Friday delivered with 43 Sharp-shins, 34 Red-taileds, 10 Ospreys, and 13 Broad-wings
That is what made the morning fun, and important. It was not just a good species list, it was a good reminder that the Dunes still acts as a real spring hawk corridor when sun, wind, and shoreline geography all come together. And the Golden Eagle was icing on the cake.
A few fresh arrivals helped underline where we are in the season. Friday’s count included the now arrived Eastern Whip-poor-wills in the Dunes, Chimney Swift, Gray Catbird, Yellow Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, and Indigo Bunting, all nice signs that spring migration is continuing to build, and the neotropic friends are starting to arrive.
Weather will be hit and miss the next few days, but Tuesday is when things look to ramp up again if your in the area. Check out Friday’s full eBird checklist here.
Tags: hawkwatch longshore flight survey
