While it seems like we’re knee deep in April’s transition to neo-tropical madness, it’s worth taking a look at the last month, which is always a wild weather ride. Spring came in waves at the Indiana Dunes State Park Longshore Tower this March. Over 14 count days, observers tallied...
A Tale of Two Fish Crows
A nearly four day north wind finally flipped this week, and allowed for a few days of south winds before shutting the door again for the weekend. However, this set the stage this week at the tower for a couple of interesting days at the Longshore Tower. Fish Crows...
March at Longshore: Big Numbers and Big Birds
March is rarely subtle at Indiana Dunes, and 2026 was no exception. It seems each year March is a month of boom or bust. Amazing, great conditions one day, only to flip to snow and north winds the next day. Despite the whiplash, we did run 15 offical counts,...
A 100-Species March: Cranes, Grackles, and a Longshore Win
Yesterday morning at the Indiana Dunes observation tower the migration show leaned hard into spectacle. Flocks of Common Grackles poured past the tower in a steady, surging tide, many groups topping a thousand birds. By the end of the watch we recorded 59 species and 26,429 individuals, including a...
Longshore Weekend Report: March 20-22
This past weekend was a great example of the story of the wind. Three days on the same tower. Completely different skies, and it all came down to the wind. Wind direction is everything along the southern tip of Lake Michigan. Southerly winds help push migrants north overnight, and...
A Super Gusty Friday the 13th
Friday morning at the Indiana Dunes Longshore Flight Watch felt more like standing in front of a giant hair dryer than watching spring migration. While we had early promise that the strong southerly component would push a fair number of birds. It just didn’t play out. Strong southwest winds...
VISIT OUR ONLINE STORE
