Todays weather held true,with good northwest winds all day. I arrived at 830am and by 10am,Id seen 70 raptors,a terrific upflight. Today was filled with highlights,both birds and numbers. Gunner,Carol,Lyn and myself enjoyed an amazing day of raptors,with great views of many birds. We saw 13 of the 15 species seen in southern Ontario,the missing 2 somewhat difficult to see this time of year Osprey and Broadwinged Hawk. Several of the Red-shouldered Hawks again provided fantastic views,Redtails were everywhere,a low Merlin blasted through,several Goshawks gave fantastic views and a dark morph Roughlegged Hawk were all very special sightings. The oddest/rarest sighting of the day was in a stream of Redtailed Hawks,which were hugging the bluffs,moving along aside the lake. We all saw what was either an albino Redtailed Hawk or a Kriders Redtailed Hawk? Its head and body were all white,the feathers on top of the wings seemed to be all white to one observer. Either is a first for me. (need to confer more with all to make a better determination..my impression is albino) This was at 1:15pm. Our final tally for the day was 432 Raptors consisting of:
Turkey Vulture....................34
Bald Eagle.............................1(juvenile)
Northern Harrier....................2
Sharpshinned Hawk.............157(ytd record 2505)
Coopers Hawk......................13
Northern Goshawk..................4
Redshouldered Hawk.............11
Redtailed Hawk....................204(one day record..ytd record 410)
Roughlegged Hawk..................1
Golden Ealge............................1(ytd record 6)
American Kestrel......................1
Merlin.......................................1
Peregrine Falcon.......................1
Just an incredible day,thanks to everyone for their help and enthusiasm. This takes the year to date total to 5013. Never dreamt Id count that many at a little park 10minutes from my home!
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