September 5th - What A Difference A Day Makes!

Wow, what a difference a day makes! More seasonal temperatures and good north element winds brought us an amazing number of birds today. I got to the park at 7:00 AM this morning and within minutes our first raptors started passing by. Highlights today included 6 Bald Eagles and 8 Osprey, and overall a total of 240 birds were counted. A great find was a high flying Bald Eagle that was carrying a fish. It was noticed after the fact while Ann was reviewing her photographs of the bird.

Today:
Osprey - 8
Bald Eagle - 6 (juvenile 11:35, 12:15, 12:37, 1:45 x2, 2:28)
Northern Harrier - 11
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 161
Cooper's Hawk - 4
Broad-winged Hawk - 7
Red-tailed Hawk - 1
American Kestrel - 41
Merlin - 1
Total - 240

To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 6
Osprey - 19
Bald Eagle - 10
Northern Harrier - 27
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 252
Cooper's Hawk - 7
Broad-winged Hawk - 18
Red-tailed Hawk - 3
American Kestrel - 56
Merlin - 7
Peregrine Falcon - 1
Total - 406

Here are just some of the photos that Ann took today.

Merlin


2 Sharp-shinned Hawks playing.


Bald Eagle


Bald Eagle carrying a fish.


Sharp-shinned Hawk


Osprey


Northern Harrier


Today's added bonuses included: 3 Common Nighthawks and 2 Scarlet Tanagers. Also seen was the US Navy's V-22 Osprey 'tilt-rotor' plane from the CNE Airshow.

Scarlet Tanager


Common Nighthawk


Just some of the group from today.


Lots of people came to the Watch today knowing the winds and weather were finally right, they included: Bruce, Peter, Gunnar, Ann, Carol, Pat, Nancy, Mike 2, Anthony, Bob, Colin, Marguerite, Betty, Berle, Murray, Bruce 2, Sue, Gord, Norm, and Charles, plus we welcomed first timers: Barb, Rob, Angie, Denny, Kate, Paul, and Jack. Thank you for all the help in spotting and IDing the birds today everybody! What a great day!

Walter