October 5th - Mysterious End To The Day.

Everyone who came today expected a good day again watching the birds of prey pass over but for some mysterious reason that just didn't happen. I'll be curious to see what other Watch's saw today. I would imagine either the birds were further north or perhaps we simply ran out of birds and we'll have to wait for the next wave of them to come through, it does happen. Today, very few birds were seen after about 10:00 AM. Oh well, to get over 100 birds on a slow day is still fabulous!

Today:
Turkey Vulture - 88
Osprey - 2
Northern Harrier - 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 11
Cooper's Hawk - 4
Northern Goshawk - 1
Red-tailed Hawk - 2
American Kestrel - 3
Merlin - 2
Total - 114

To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 1377 (new 'year' record!)
Osprey - 113
Bald Eagle - 55
Northern Harrier - 148
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1376
Cooper's Hawk - 52
Northern Goshawk - 9
Red-shouldered Hawk - 4
Broad-winged Hawk - 756
Red-tailed Hawk - 98
American Kestrel - 585
Merlin - 74
Peregrine Falcon - 23
Total - 4670

2 wonderful photos of the big female Northern Goshawk that came to visit.

Lots of little warblers, kinglets, and others throughout the park today. Also a Northern Mockingbird flew over heading east. In the morning the Blue Jay migration continued in grand fashion with several layers of birds passing over us at the same time.

Many watchers today including: BIGFRANK, Ann, Lee, Felicity, Terry 2, Bob, Berle, Bill, Hugh, Theresa, Dave, Norm, Freida, Betty, Carol, Peter, Cori, and Bruce.

A note from BIGFRANK:
I thought Id let everyone know what a great time I had at the watch the past several days. It was great to reconnect with my old friends and make some new ones. Walter is doing a terrific job of running things in my abscence and its great to see so many people contributing their photos and expertise to the blog. It was as always a pleasure sharing the many hundreds of birds with all of you! BIGFRANK

Thanks Frank, I think I can speak for the gang and say it's been a real joy for us having you back (albeit short) sharing your vast knowledge, great stories, and good humour. And for me personally, it's been an absolute thrill knowing that you were on hand to observe the biggest day ever at Rosetta and to see so many of the old count records fall once again. Take care and see you back again soon.

Walter