September 10th - 5 More Osprey!

Wow, another gorgeous day to be at the park. Most of today's action came this morning when the winds were from the northeast. During the afternoon very few birds were seen so most of us took advantage of the beautiful weather and just sat and chatted for a couple hours. The Sharpies (Sharp-shinned Hawks), always a crowd pleaser, continue to dominate the sky.

Today:
Osprey - 5
Bald Eagle - 1 (juvenile 10:03)
Northern Harrier - 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 30
American Kestrel - 10
Merlin - 4
Total - 51

To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 14
Osprey - 43
Bald Eagle - 20
Northern Harrier - 32
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 426
Cooper's Hawk - 10
Broad-winged Hawk - 19
Red-tailed Hawk - 4
American Kestrel - 92
Merlin - 21
Peregrine Falcon - 1
Total - 682

A distant juvenile Bald Eagle searching the lake for a fish.


A good non-raptor sighting this morning was that of a Cackling Goose which was mixed in with a small flock of 9 Canada Geese. They flew right over top of me not too high up heading westward. A Cackling Goose is a smaller version of a Canada Goose. Of the butterflies, a Black Swallowtail, Northern Crescent, and Fiery Skipper continue to be seen flying around the top edge of the bluffs and new today was an Eastern Tailed Blue.

Observers today included: Lorne, Paul, Norm, Jack, Lee, Theresa, Betty, Berle, Mike 2, Peter, Mike 3, Carol, Barb, Ken, and also today we welcomed Ama and her 2 children who were lucky enough to see one of the Osprey fly by fairly close.

Walter