Sept.22 Wind Shift Day Count:67 YTD 2355

Today the weather changed,which meant a slower day. It was still a wonderful morning,with quality sightings. An Osprey went by with a fish in its tallons,the first time I had ever seen that. Of the 5 Merlins,Ron and I watched at least 2 catch dragonflys on the fly,and gulp them down,followed by dropping the wings. 3 migrating Peregrines which passed us about eyelevel were great sightings. Todays 67 birds included:
Osprey.........................6
Northern Harrier..........5
Sharpshinned Hawk....31
Coopers Hawk............3
American Kestrel........14
Merlin...........................5
Peregrine Falcon............3

Thanks to Ron,JeanMichael and Ziggy for joining me today and for their contributions to the count and enjoyment of the day.
Also seen today were Ruby-crowned Kinglets,Black-throated Green,Black-throated Blue and Nashville Warblers,Ovenbird,Gay-cheecked Thrush,Yellow-bellied Sapsucker,Winter Wren and Brown Creeper(mostly seen by Jean searching,while things were slow).

Sept 21 Another Great Day 252 Raptors..YTD 2278

Today the winds were somewhat unexpectedly from the Northwest again,so myself,Al,Carol,Terry and another Al got to see some great birds. The early morning saw a decent upflight,with 77 birds by 10am and a flurry quickly put me over 100. Harriers were giving fantastic views,and at one point I had 8 in a kettle(yes I made doubley sure they werent Broadwings). Later 7 Broadwings passed through the park low,before kettlling near us. Terry's timing was good,as he arrived as the kettle formed. Final totals included:
Osprey.......................2
Bald Eagle..................2
Northern Harrier........45
Sharpshinned Hawk..127
Coopers Hawk...........7
Nothern Goshawk.......1
Broadwinged Hawk....21
Redtailed Hawk...........7
American Kestrel........40

Sept 20 Record Day Count.. 559 Raptors YTD..2026

An awesome day of raptor watching today,with Northwest winds all day,and a brief rain. Many thanks to Brian,who helped spot and ID for the last 2- 3hours,the extra set of eyes certainly helped. A decent upflight of 46 was seen between 7am and 9am. Things just got better from there. After 10 hours of counting,I averaged almost 56 raptors an hour,or nearly one per minute!
The final tally of 559 Raptors included:
Turkey Vulture...................4
Osprey..............................4
Bald Eagle.........................1(juvenile)
Northern Harrier................48
Sharpshinned Hawk..........282
Coopers Hawk....................7
Broadwinged Hawk............64
Redtailed Hawk...................4
American Kestrel..............142
Merlin.................................2
Peregrine Falcon..................1
This brings my season total to 2026,a total I didnt attain last fall until October 9th.

Sept19 Golden Day... Day Count 239 ...YTD..1467

Today was another fantastic day of raptor watching at Rosetta McClain Gardens. At 11:45am,Carol and I saw a juvenile Golden Eagle. It was very low and very close to us. It barely cleared a ridge of trees along the side of the bluffs,and just above eyelevel no more then 50ft away we spotted it. I hollered EAGLE! and immediately as it flared up,GOLDEN EAGLE. We clearly saw the tail and "armpit" markings. It circled infront of us,and we had spectacular views of it. Eventually it came back gaining a great deal of height. Ron Pittaway was first to spot a juvenile Northern Goshawk,which came low and was definetly on a hunting run into the park. Our final total of 239raptors included:
Opsrey.....................5
Bald Eagle................1
Northern Harrier.....26
Sharpshinned Hawk..126
Coopers Hawk............2
Northern Goshawk......1
Broadwinged Hawk.....1
Redtailed Hawk..........1
Golden Eagle..............1
American Kestrel........69
Merlin.........................5
Peregrine Falcon.........1
This brings my season total to 1467.(112 of which were in August) Tomorrow is shaping up to be another excellent day. Also of interest we saw a waterspout out over Lake Ontario.

Sept 16-18 Count 51 Year To Date 1228

The last few days migration conditions have been poor,and the birds knew it. I was happy to meet Leslie and Mike Kinrys,see old friends Terry and Elizabeth Sheils,meet Art Slack and Len and Mary(?). With varying degrees of success all saw at least a few raptors. Today I managed decent shots of a local(uncounted) American Kestrel and an Osprey which I did my best to follow in focus as it co-operatively circled above the park. The periods sightings included:
Osprey.........................2
Northern Harrier...........2
Sharpshinned Hawk....32
Coopers Hawk.............2
American Kestrel.........13

Hopefully after the rains clear out more great count days will come. The 2 Osprey I saw today put me over 50 for the seasons count.