Less Than Perfect Conditions..Good Friends..Some Good Sightings

When conditions looked good!

Frank And Walter search the skies.

While Pat and Carol enjoy a discussion.

Today was not the day we hoped for. A few sprinkles of rain and very heavy winds just wasnt condusive to a large raptor movement. That said we certainly had some quality views of some interesting birds. A very low Northern Harrier came towards Walter and I,it was only about 15ft over our heads. Quite a view as it came closer and closer in the binoculars. Later a Sharpshinned Hawk had Ann in its sights.

Later an Osprey went through very low and close. Ann got a fantastic shot of it.

Still another great sighting was a black banded(white numbers letters) Peregrine Falcon(banded in Ontario) being chased by an American Kestrel. Quite a sighting which Ann got a shot of too. We are trying to figure out who this Peregrine is.

Hopefully tomorrow will bring better weather with less rain,and a few more birds.

Our total today was

Osprey..........................1

Northern Harrier........1

Sharpshinned Hawk...4

Coopers Hawk.............1

American Kestrel.......7

Merlin.........................2

Peregrine Falcon.......1

Total..........................17

Not Many Raptors But Lotsa Laughs

The things you can do with photoshop!!

Today was overcast and there were several bouts of rain. We persevered hoping for some raptors. Early in the morning we were rewarded with the sighting of a Peregrine Falcon speeding through the park. It went into an impressive dive. We also saw a few Sharpshinned Hawks.

A local Turkey Vulture came quite close along the bluffs. They are always fun to watch.

Never one to claim he is sane,as Ann threw some peanuts to the squirrels,I asked her what about me. To hardy laughs of delight Nancy,Pat,Walter,Carol and Ann watched me do "circus tricks" Ann stood 12-15ft away and lofted salted peanuts in the air to me as I sat on a bench. I did well at first catching about half of them in my mouth,until Ann lost the range after requesting I speak. After a loud woooof,her hysterical laughter threw off her aim. Oh well we had fun at least!

We are hopeful of a few decent counts over the weekend.

We also saw a few of the Canadian International Airshow planes go by. Ann captured this shot of the Harvards going past.

Todays count was

3..Sharpshinned Hawks

1...Peregrine Falcon

16 Raptors...YTD Total...219

Today,Pat,Nancy,Cory,Shirley and Ann(on her lunch) spotted a few migrating raptors. Nancy gets credit for spotting an Osprey. It wasnt very high at first,but circled and circled until it went ozone(really high),before passing over us. Sharpshinned Hawks were all reasonably low and close to us. Ann returned after work and got some nice shots of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. While our perfect winds are no longer in the weekends forecast,they could still make a sudden reappearance in same given the weathermans penchant for changing his mind. Strong west winds should still bring more raptors then we have been seeing the past few days.

Todays Total was:

Osprey............................1

Sharpshinned Hawk....13

American Kestrel..........2

Sept.1 New Month Brings Sharpshinned Hawks

From past experience I thought there could be a small movement of birds today,irreguardless of the weather conditions. Between 9am and 1pm I saw 22 raptors. Sharpshinned Hawks popped up in a popular spot,just over the big Poplar tree on the side of the bluffs. Year to year they seem to appear there most often. There were 21 Sharpshinned Hawks which all appeared there today. There were several sets of 3 or 4 together. Often this time of year juvenile Sharpshins migrate with their siblings,adults fly later independant of the young. Ive always seen this as quite amazing,that first year birds migrate without guidance from adults,arriving at their wintering areas,having never been there before. This is not unique to Sharpshinned Hawks. Adults "chase" the young from natal areas,forcing them to be on their own. I also suspect in the cases of some species that adults stay later into the migration season and indeed overwinter,as they are more proficient hunters and can find food despite fewer food sources being available(some prey migrates,other prey "hibernates"). The only non-Sharpshin was an American Kestrel,being harassed by a Sharpie.
Watch for Sharpshinned Hawks to be "attacking" each other as they migrate,this isnt uncommon. Another thing to watch for with Sharpies is when there is a large movement of Blue Jays,Sharpshins sort of sneak in among them. Another visual clue to watch for that alerts watchers to the prescence of a bird of prey on the way,is when smaller birds like Goldfinch or Waxwings,even Jays make a sudden dive into a tree or an abrupt turn and land in a tree. Most people know to listen for and watch Crows,they often act as an raptor early warning system. One further hint is to watch for pigeons to scatter. Definetly in the city,there are pigeons around. They take flight at the mere hint of a raptor in the area,even ones that are of no real danger to them. Today for example a dozen pigeons took flight and I watched the sky closely. Sure enough,4 Sharpshinned Hawks came into view in short order. Watching for visual clues can help spot raptors and add to your enjoyment.
Todays totals were
21-Sharpshinned Hawks
1-American Kestrel
This brings our season total to 203.

End of August Totals

With the addition of 10 raptors on Aug 30th,the final tally for August was 181. That is the 2nd highest August total in the 8 years(6full seasons) of counting at Rosetta. I believe this is a great total given all the terribly hot(humid) weather of the past month. Having a larger base of regulars definetly has helped with spotting birds,especially with the increased growth within the park and down the side of the bluffs. Working together over the coming months Im sure we can work around "our blindspots". Next month looks like we should have a great start,with the chance of at least 2 very good NW winds over the coming weekend. This should bring a respectable number of raptors by the park,but a reminder that it is still early in the raptor migration,and things normally dont really ramp up until the 2nd week in September. Thanks to everyone who made August such a sucess. We enjoyed some fantastic views of many birds,enjoyed great commraderie and introduced the raptor watch to several new folks who have committed to returning.

Our total Raptors consisted of

Turkey Vulture....................21

Osprey.................................26

Bald Eagle.............................9

Northern Harrier.................2

Sharpshinned Hawk...........39

Coopers Hawk.......................2

Broadwinged Hawk............27

Redtailed Hawk..................10

American Kestrel................26

Merlin...................................6

Peregrine Falcon..................6

Total Raptors.....................181

Noteworthy birds observed this fall include,20+ migrating Great Blue Herons,14Common Nighthawks,Wilsons Warbler,Whimbrel,Great Blackbacked Gull and Greater Yellowlegs. We have seen several Common Loons also. A good indicator on days with north element winds that it will be a successful count day is seeing Loons migrating straight over the lake,early in the day. They come from a good distance north and are a sign to us that raptors will also be on the move. If you are joining us on the weekend there are 3 things to keep in mind. First the strong NW winds could make it surprisingly cool,throw a jacket or sweater in the car. Secondly there are little flys that bite(but dont leave welts) so long pants and socks are advisable. Lastly the Airshow may interfere with raptor migration. The noise etc do slow things down. The plus side is we may see some of the planes.

Keep your eyes on the weather reports. We welcome everyone and invite you to join us.

Hot and Humid..But A Few Raptors

Today was predictably slow,but Walter,Berle,Pat,Nancy,Cory and I saw 15 raptors. A few pairs of Sharpshinned Hawk siblings passed by together. The local Merlin zipped through and caught a large dragonfly in flight. By days end we saw:
Osprey............................1
Northern Harrier..........1
Sharpshinned Hawk...10
Coopers Hawk...............1
American Kestrel..........2
Total Raptors..............15
The local Coopers Hawk and a few local Turkey Vultures put on nice close flying displays. Also seen today were a few more Ruby-throated Hummingbirds and a few Warbler species. Many Cedar Waxwings are seen migrating every day.

3 More Osprey and Some Locals

Early Aug28th,I saw 2 Osprey fly by. Soon Ann joined me and we saw big gull after big gull fly past. Carol joined us and turned one of our gulls into the 3rd Osprey of the day.

We then saw only one more countable raptor,a Sharpshinned Hawk.
The remainder of our raptor sightings were local birds. The Coopers Hawk and a Turkey Vulture made close low passes which Ann caught on film wonderfully!

The local juvenile Redtailed Hawk was harassed by a family of American Crows. I watched this happen twice today.

The final total was 4,consisting of 3 Osprey and 1 Sharpshinned Hawk. The coming days could be much the same until the humidity breaks.