I have served as a Crisp Point Lighthouse keeper for many years during the Fall Bird Migration. Most folks knows of the major North American Bird Migration Highways: The Atlantic or Eastern Flyway, The Mississippi Flyway, The Central Flyway, and The Pacific or Western Flyway. However, each of these major flyways is made up of many smaller “bird highways”. Although Crisp Point is only 10 miles “as the crow flies” from Whitefish Point, very few birds are ever seen near Crisp Point. Take a look at this map, and you’ll understand why. Birds don’t want to fly west from Whitefish Point along the shores of Lake Superior when much better options exist to fly directly south along Lake Michigan or Lake Huron (another post of mine about migration highways). In five days of lighthouse keeping at Crisp Point I saw very few birds. However over the past week the official migration counters employed at Whitefish Point saw thousands and thousands of birds (only 10 miles distant). Moral of the story … look at a map of your local and regional area. Pay attention to “migration highways” … rivers or large lakes. Chances are these spots will optimize birding during the twice yearly migrations.

Here are a few shorebirds I did see on one “keepers” walk … Sanderlings and a Semi Semipalmated Plover.

And a couple of final photographs of the lighthouse …