[mou] spring migrants over the open waters of Lake Superior

[Sarah Grosshuesch]

Ever wonder about migrants crossing the open waters of Lake Superior?

While aboard the U of MN Large Lakes Observatory's R/V Blue Heron May 
23-27 and in the near vicinity of NOAA weather buoy 45006 situated in 
Lake Superior 
(http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=45006), I saw the 
following migrants:  American Redstart (2), Tree Swallow, 
Chestnut-sided Warbler (2), Northern Waterthrush, Canada Warbler, 
another unidentified warbler, an unidentified falcon, and a flock of 
30+ small-ish shorebirds (flying by ? bigger than peeps, smaller than 
mid-size shorebird types).  On other trips to the same site, I've seen 
Peregrine Falcon, Northern Flicker, and Black-throated Green Warbler. 
An American Coot was seen swimming along 10+ miles off the Apostle 
Islands on the 23rd.  The ship's crew keeps a running list of species 
seen while on the Lake.  Last summer, a young-of-the-year Northern 
Sawhet Owl spent a day on board the ship 30 miles east of the Keewenaw 
Peninsula.

LOTs of migrants could be heard the evening of May 23.  That evening 
was calm and foggy.  The first call notes sounded to me like 
shorebirds, after that most of the chips were a mystery to me.  One of 
the crew members commented that the birds in the nighttime fog looked 
liked bats.  The weather turned cold, windy and rainy on the 24th.  A 
Northern Waterthrush and American Redstart were found dead on board. 
Another American Redstart joined us on the 26th and survived the trip 
back to Duluth, flying off to Park Point on the 27th.

In pleasant weather, warblers on board forage for food.  (You'd be 
surprised how many flies there are out in the middle of the lake.)  The 
birds are quite approachable and if you remain still, will eventually 
land nearby for great looks.  I once had an adult male Black-throated 
Green perch on my lap; on this cruise, an adult male Chestnut-sided 
landed on my shirt collar.  It's a thrill to be so close to the birds 
but at the same time hard to imagine that they'll survive the flight to 
land, especially when the weather turns sour.

Sarah Grosshuesch