Rosetta McClain Gardens Raptor Watch: 05/09/2010

Better Than Expected Count...High Birds

Today I didnt expect to see much as winds were not right for a good movement of raptors in our area. Low winds were from off the lake,high winds were weak at best from the east. The count of 120 was fair,most birds were very high up. We did have a low flying Osprey and a low Broadwing. The best sighting of the day was a Merlin that flew past at mach 1,then came from behind us chasing a Northern Flicker,that was flying for its life. Something none of us had ever seen. The Merlin soon continued on without its meal. We had several first time visitors who at least got to see a few birds and enjoy the beauty of Rosetta McClain Gardens. Thanks to Sean,Marty,Brad,Pam,Lee,Carol,Bruce,Mike,Cory,Leon,Sue,Bill and Walter(who kept tally today) for joining us and lets hope for lower birds next time. Great conversation filled the slow spots.
Our total of 120 raptors was:
Osprey............................1
Bald Eagle......................1(juvenile 917am)
Northern Harrier.........3
Sharpshinned Hawk..82
Coopers Hawk.............2
Broadwinged Hawk.....1
American Kestrel.......26
Merlin...........................3
Peregrine Falcon..........1
The conditions look great now for Tuesday and Wednesday. If we are going to see any large movement of Broadwinged Hawks,it will be one or both of those days if the weather holds. Remember historically we have not seen huge movements of Broadwinged Hawks. Our best season is only 225. That said many are great sightings of low birds and who knows maybe a bunch will end up at our shoreline.

Bald Eagle Record..Great Upflight...Total Raptors Counted 318

Northern Harrier

juvenile Bald Eagle

Walter and I arrived very early,joined in short order by Meaghan and Charles. The upflight was quite amazing. Upflight means birds that have stayed overnight quite nearby. Generally they leave first thing the morning after a big day,like yesterday.The first bird was at 6:37am,barely after sunrise. By 9am we had 125 raptors. Included in that 125 were 4 juvenile Bald Eagles. Single birds passed at 8:15am,8:37am and 2 together at 8:45am. Shades of things to come. 14 more Bald Eagles passed by 2 being full adults,for a record,final total of 18 Bald Eagles. Previously we had seen 10 in one day. Most were either well out over the lake,or to the north of the park,thanks to Jean Iron for her scope confirmations of many of the birds. A few early Bald Eagles flew near and close,like in these photos,sent to us by Ann.

Unique views offered ..Bald Eagle from above.

Bald Eagle Flys By

We saw another 15 Osprey,further extending climbing total,which now stands at an incredible 144. Anticdotally we have heard from many folks that northern Ontario lakes had many Osprey. It appears to be very true.

Sharpshinned Hawks and American Kestrels continued to be on the move,with 84 and 24 respectively,by 9am. A Peregrine Falcon showed itself. It clearly had a very full crop(had just eaten). It appears to be unbanded.

Sharpshinned Hawk Close-up

We welcomed back Mary from the UK,Bruce Falls and many new folks,including Hugh, and Charles. Present and spotting/photographing birds were Ann,Niloc(Colin),Jerry,Meaghan,Murray,Lee,Berle,Carol,Cory,Betty,Pat,Don,Ron,Jean and Walter. Ive no doubt given the challanging conditions that so many observers definetly aided the count. Many thanks to everyone for their contributions.

Todays final tally of 318 raptors consisted of:

Osprey.............................15

Bald Eagle(record)........18(times at bottom of post)

Northern Harrier..........17

Sharpshinned Hawk..190

Coopers Hawk................5

Broadwinged Hawk......18

Redtailed Hawk..............5

American Kestrel.........46

Merlin.............................3

Peregrine Falcon...........1

Year to date we have a fantastic 1495 raptors observed.

Bald Eagles seen today are juvenile unless noted.

815am,837am,2 at 845am,915am,1025am,1034am,1107am,1145am,1151am,1205pm 2juvies + one adult,1220pm,1245pm adult,1247pm,130pm .

We also saw 7 Common Loons and a Common Nighthawk.

Come out and join me!

Keep your eye on Tuesday for our next big flight. That said birds surprise us all the time.

Records Fall...654 Raptors Counted Today

Sharpshinned Hawk

Redtailed Hawk

Common Nighthawk(Ann's First)

Sharpshinned Hawk

Northern Harrier

American Kestrel

SharpShinned Hawk

Migrating Monarchs

Broadwinged Hawk VS American Kestrel

Broadwinged Hawk

Raptors thought conditions were great for flying. Walter and I got an early start in anticipation of a great day. By 10am we had 52 raptors already. Things just got crazy from there. With more watchers than ever before(all names I got will appear at the end of todays report) adding to the sightings,our total was 654.
We started our day with an Osprey at 715am..we ended our day at 715pm with an Osprey. Only a few days ago we set a new site record of 23 Osprey..today we doubled that and then some,finishing with a new record total of 53. Our previous high season total had been 100 Osprey,todays amazing total gives us 129 with 2/3 of the month left to go!! Osprey were passing in pairs often and 3 times,3 passed us flying together! WOW.
Sharpshinned Hawks were moving through all day as were American Kestrels. Our previous high daily count of Kestrels was 142. When we finished,we had counted a new site record 203 today! Fantastic!
Northern Harriers flew in decent numbers,while bueteos were all but absent,with just one Broadwinged Hawk and 2 Redtailed Hawks.
Monarch Butterflys passed by in very large numbers today,a few thousand easily. A Common Nighthawk was something abit different too(not a hawk but the same family as the Whip-por-Wil.

Our Final Count was 654 raptors made up of:
Osprey...........................53(old day record 23..season record 129,old record 100)
Bald Eagles.....................4(3adults,10:14am,12:47pm,2:55pm,1 Juv 5:40pm)
Northern Harrier.........30
Sharpshinned Hawk..351
Coopers Hawk................2
Broadwinged Hawk.......1
Redtailed Hawk.............2
American Kestrel.......203(new day record..old 142)
Merlin..............................6
Peregrine Falcon............2
With thanks to Lee,Pat,Nancy,Cory(especially for coffee runs),Betty(for hot chocolates),Karsten,Murray,Phyliss,Larry,Terry,Leon,Ron,John,Niloc,Lilian,James,Berle,Carol,Ann,Jen,MaryUK and my right hand man Walter! for their contributions today. What a day!! Tomorrow looks like it could be very good too! Dress warm,bring lunch,enjoy good folks! Edit ONE...apparently I cant add when I am tired..the first posted final total was 641..correctly added it is 654..DOH! This brings our year to date total to 1177. Thanks to Ann Brokelman for all of todays great photos. Its just so hard to chose among the many,but I feel the selected photos are representative of what we saw and just some that are unique views.(lack of Osprey pics is merely because so many have been posted recently)

Great Day Count and 25,000th Raptor Counted Since Inception

Today as expected was a great day. Winds were strong west,often with a north element in it. The gang had fantastic close views of most of the birds counted today. We added 9 more Osprey and had a great total of 10 Merlin. One near the end of the day counter attacked a murder of American Crows. Ann got fantastic photos of one of the Merlins.

We had a good number of American Kestrels and Northern Harriers including one male which Ann photographed.

Everyone was thrilled with the great views.

Berle,Betty,Pat,Nancy,Cory,Shirley,Ron,Peter,Carol,Ann,Jen,James,Walter and I all had a part in surpassing 25000 raptors counted since the Rosetta McClain Raptor Watch started in 2004.

At 1:37pm a Sharpshinned Hawk became the 25000th raptor observed from Rosetta McClain Gardens. We celebrated with a group photo of those remaining at the time. Thanks to everyone involved over the years for their contributions to the count and welcoming new watchers.

Local Coopers Hawk

Todays count of 135 raptors included:

Turkey Vulture................1

Osprey..............................9

Northern Harrier...........11

Sharpshinned Hawk......71

American Kestrel...........31

Merlin.............................10

Peregrine Falcon.............2

Conditions for tomorrow look excellent,for another high count day. Year to date count is 523 raptors. Thanks to Jen Howard for the group photo.

Sept 7th.... 20 Raptors YTD 388

Today Murray,Carol and Betty were the early shift. Thanks to them for counting today in the abscence of Walter and I. They spotted the bulk of todays birds before 1pm. Walter,Peter and I arrived then and added a few more.

Murray sent along these great shots of an Osprey and a Sharpshinned Hawk.

Todays tally was:
Osprey.............................4
Northern Harrier...........1
Sharpshinned Hawk....13
Coopers Hawk...............1
American Kestrel..........1
Everyone watch Thursday and Friday,they look like excellent days for large raptor movements. Again I remind folks coming that with northwest winds it will be quite cool at the park,dress warm or at least bring the heavier clothes.

More Osprey..28 Raptors

Coopers Hawk

After such an Ospreycious day yesterday...(groan) today was another day with several Osprey. 9 of the 12 Osprey seen today were during periods of rain. We have now observed 63 Osprey so far this season,well on our way to quickly surpass the 82 of last seasons count,and threaten our best total of 100. Mike,Les,Carol,Ann,Pat,Nancy,Cory,Brad,Pam,Bruce,Sue and Walter enjoyed some good views of the birds that passed today. Thanks to Walter for taking the duties today,as I was unable to attend. Ann got a few very nice shots of the resident Coopers Hawk as it landed in the Maple Tree which the gang huddles under during short spurts of rain and for shade.

Osprey

Todays 28 raptors were:

12-Osprey

1-Northern Harrier

4-Sharpshinned Hawks

9-American Kestrels

2-Merlins

We now need to count only 126 more raptors to achieve 25000 birds of prey counted since the start of the Rosetta McClain Gardens Raptor Watch in 2004. Keep an eye on Thursday and Friday as the conditions look fantastic for a big movement of raptors.

Best Day Of Season 23 Osprey...100 Raptors Total

Today we set a countsite record with 23 Osprey. All but 2 were very close and low,offering great views and terrific photographic opportunities. Thanks to Ann Brokelman for all of today's amazing photos!