October 17th - 17 Merlins!

Merlins sure seem to like the southwest winds we've been experiencing the last 2 days. The photographers in the group got many truly amazing shots of these fast flying birds as they whizzed across the park just above the tree tops. We enjoyed many side-splittin' laughs as the comedy duo of Melendez & Brokelman were with us for most of the day. Ann emailed me just after dropping me off at the house and said that she had counted 43 Vultures flying above the intersection of Kingston Rd. and Midland Ave. and that they were heading for Rosetta.

To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 52
Osprey - 2
Northern Harrier - 4
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 20
Cooper's Hawk - 1
American Kestrel - 3
Merlin - 17 (new 'day' record!)
Peregrine Falcon - 1
Total - 100

To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 1468
Osprey - 120
Bald Eagle - 55
Northern Harrier - 160
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1493
Cooper's Hawk - 62
Northern Goshawk - 12
Red-shouldered Hawk - 4
Broad-winged Hawk - 757
Red-tailed Hawk - 102
American Kestrel - 607
Merlin - 106
Peregrine Falcon - 36
Total - 4982

A couple of Sharpies

Northern Harrier

Merlin

American Kestrel

Turkey Vulture

We saw our first large group of Red-breasted Mergansers arrive today, probably 300+ strong. They, and about a hundred or so gulls went at it down on the lake in several frantic feeding frenzies. Also today we saw yet another Common Buckeye butterfly. These beautiful visitors from the U.S. have been seen all over southern Ontario this fall.

"Under a blood red sky, a crowd has gathered..." - U2

Terry doing a scan of the lake for waterfowl and low flying hawks.

Some of the many Red-breasted Mergansers that arrived today.

One of our friendly Blue Jays.

Our hawk watchers included: Bob, Ann, Janice, Terry 2, Berle, Pat, Nancy, Betty, Carol, Peter, Allison, and today we welcomed Sydney and her sister Annabelle who was visiting from Florida. Thank you all for another terrific day at the park.

Walter