November 4th - Best November Day Ever!

Wow, what a spectacular afternoon! The morning started off a little slow and I wasn't 100% sure that we'd have a good day. The fact that there weren't any clouds didn't help either. The wind picked up around 11:00 AM or so and the birds started to fly. Before we knew it the birds were everywhere. The Red-tails were low at first but quickly covered the sky at all levels and all directions. What a wonderful challenge for all watchers today to try and spot birds against the blue sky and the few clouds that drifted over the park.

Today:
Turkey Vulture - 13
Bald Eagle - 4 (juvenile 12:33, 1:30, 1:55 x2)
Northern Harrier - 5
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 6
Cooper's Hawk - 2
Northern Goshawk - 1
Red-shouldered Hawk - 8
Red-tailed Hawk - 327 (Best 'Day' count ever!)
Rough-legged Hawk - 3
Merlin - 1
Peregrine Falcon - 1
Total - 371 (Best November 'Day' count ever!)

To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 1862
Osprey - 125
Bald Eagle - 67
Northern Harrier - 204
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1750
Cooper's Hawk - 86
Northern Goshawk - 18
Red-shouldered Hawk - 28
Broad-winged Hawk - 757
Red-tailed Hawk - 800
Rough-legged Hawk - 7
Golden Eagle - 2
American Kestrel - 624
Merlin - 129
Peregrine Falcon - 45
Total - 6504

Only 42 more birds for a new 'Year' record!!!

Bald Eagle

Merlin

Northern Goshawk

Red-shouldered Hawk

Red-tailed Hawks filled the sky

Lots of non-raptors flying today including: flocks of 10-20 White-winged Crossbills with some landing in the park, flocks of 20-30 Snow Buntings flying low over the park, flocks of Pine Siskins also flying low, 3 Snow Geese up high, and a Northern Shrike. Also late today was another Eastern Red Bat flying about which I had excellent views of. The hair on the back of these bats is orangy-red.

The passengers were probably waving to each other!

On hand for today's spectacle were: Mike 3, Norm, Dave, Carol, Allison, Tim, Terry 2, Yvonne, Theresa, Betty, Pat, Nancy, Ann, Berle, Lee, Hugh, and Phil. Thankyou everyone for your endless help today finding and ID'ing the birds.

Walter