Wind (current)

Nov 1... 39 Raptors Plus Correction

After speaking with Walter he pointed out to me that I had reported Anns birds on Oct 26th,but didnt record them on my master sheets. This error has been corrected,bringing our final October total to 4075 raptors.
Today was better then I had expected,with low winds called for,I was pleasantly surprised by the volume of birds if not their altitude! Most birds were very high. A low Turkey Vulture went through early in the day and a few Sharpshinned Hawks as well. A few Redtails went low along the bluffs. A few times short streams of Redtailed Hawks went by. A Red-shouldered Hawk circled with a Redtailed Hawk. At first I believed it was a male and female Redtail,but as they went by I realized there was more then just a size difference. Poor skies at that time made it a real trick,as almost no colour could be seen on most of the birds at the time. When skies got clearer we could often see the rusty tails of the adult Redtailed Hawks. Walter,Berle and I enjoyed:
1-Turkey Vulture
5-Sharpshinned Hawks
2-Coopers Hawks
2-Northern Goshawks
1-Redshouldered Hawk
28-Redtailed Hawks
39-Total Raptors

With poor lighting most of the day,small birds were tough for Walter and I to ID. I believe we had a small flock of American Pipits and an Eastern Bluebird. We definetly saw a few flocks of Cedar Waxwings and many large flocks of Red-winged Blackbirds. As we were readying to leave I heard the unmistakable call of a Piliated Woodpecker. I alerted Walter to it and as we proceeded in the direction of the call,before we got more then a few steps the Woodpecker flew over us and beyond the limits of the park. Earlier we had also seen a Hairy Woodpecker. Tuesday looks promising.

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