September 24th - Monarchs Filled The Sky

Today most birds were fairly high up and difficult to find through all the Monarchs but we did also have some nice low passes as well. Another four more Osprey today, the first one almost got by us but sharp-eyed Nancy spotted it in the gap circling over the field at Birchmount Collegiate.

Today:
Osprey - 4
Northern Harrier - 5
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 58
Cooper's Hawk - 1
Red-tailed Hawk - 1
American Kestrel - 6
Merlin - 1
Peregrine Falcon - 1
Total - 77

To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 69
Osprey - 68
Bald Eagle - 27
Northern Harrier - 75
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 982
Cooper's Hawk - 20
Northern Goshawk - 2
Broad-winged Hawk - 742
Red-tailed Hawk - 12
American Kestrel - 259
Merlin - 48
Peregrine Falcon - 8
Total - 2312

Sharp-shinned Hawks

Osprey

Northern Harrier and a Sharpie.

Monarch migration was in full swing today with numbers well in to the hundreds per hour. In Whitby at the Cranberry Marsh Raptor Watch, they reported seeing 800 - 1000 per hour, I would say that those numbers were fairly accurate for our site too. In the morning we could see the butterflies flying at all heights of the sky and then later on they were down low and right in our faces.

A very still Lake Ontario.

Our crowd today included: Mike 3, Pat, Nancy, Norm, Sam, Ann, Theresa, Ron, Lee, Betty, and we welcomed newbie Leslie 2.

Walter