JOHNSON BEACH

SITE DESCRIPTION

Photos courtesy of Ryan Sanderson of a Rough-legged Hawk and Red-shouldered Hawk. These are examples of possible birds found in at this location.

The Johnson Beach Hawk Watch Site is located on a stable dune immediately adjacent to the western boundary of the Indiana Dunes State Park (note: there is no direct access to Dunes State Park from the Johnson Beach dune). Located within a quarter-mile of Lake Michigan, this tall dune provides birders with enough elevation to survey the sky in a near-perfect 360-degree radius–with only a few nearby trees obstructing small patches of sky. Hawk watching on the Johnson Beach dune involves vigilant scanning of the sky in all directions, watching for raptors as they approach on the horizon. Although some birds never come close enough for definitive identification, most do, exercising the identification skills of the birders present.

Spring hawk flights in the Dunes were first reported by Raymond Grow and Virginia Reuter-skiold, two early Dunes area birders who recorded hawk flights near Baileytown between 1952 and 1962. Although the Baileytown site has since been destroyed, migrating hawks can still be observed from virtually any location in the Dunes that offers an unobstructed view of the lakefront and adjacent southern skies. The Johnson Beach Hawk Watch Site is now the most popular site to view migrating raptors in the area, largely because of the “stability” of the dune–the vegetation that covers its surface prevents sand from blowing up and into the eyes (and optics) of hopeful hawk watchers. Mount Baldy, the most recent predecessor to Johnson Beach as the primary hawk watch dune, has been all but abandoned for hawk watching purposes, as its lack of vegetation promotes conditions for blowing sand.

The phenomenon that produces excellent spring raptor flights in the Dunes must be attributed to the presence of Lake Michigan itself. During spring migration, hawks enjoy the effortless glide northward over the Midwest, riding on thermals and warm southerly winds. In fact, these raptors will instinctively avoid flying over large bodies of water whose cool surfaces prevent the formation of thermals. As a result, upon approaching the lake, the northward movement of these birds is abruptly altered to a course that parallels the Lake Michigan shoreline. The migrant raptors are thus concentrated in a relatively narrow band adjacent to the lake, creating a flight corridor that passes directly over the Indiana Dunes.

More attention to raptor flights through the Dunes has been put forth since the early 1980s–an effort which has provided invaluable data for understanding hawk migration through the area. We now know that most hawk flights occur between March 1st and May 15th of each year, with March and April constituting the major flight months. The best days for migrant raptors are those with strong, warm, southerly winds. Although a “good” daily flight consists of 100-300 birds, more than 70% of these are likely to be a combination of Red-tailed, Sharp-shinned, and Broad-winged Hawks–the three most commonly observed species during the spring flight. The average season for the Dunes area as a whole produces about 1700 hawks, with the best year occurring in 1992 when 3774 raptors were tallied. The largest daily hawk flight in the Dunes occurred at Johnson Beach on 19 April 1992 when 769 raptors were counted in a 7.5 hour period. In addition to hawks, all kinds of other unexpected birds fly by the dune. Some of the more surprising birds include American Woodcock, Whip-poor-will, Lapland Longspur, Barred, Long-eared, and Short-eared Owls, Common Loon, and Bonaparte’s Gull.

Typical Time to Bird Site: 1-4 hours, depending on bird numbers. All day vigils are held for massive flights.