August 19th - Dog Days!

Well, the last couple of days have been amazingly quiet in the park. There have been no raptors moving and in the early morning there have been very few songbirds flying. The high heat, high humidity, and low to no winds have really put the kibosh on things lately. If the weather forecast stays the same, Sunday might bring us our first decent day. Let's keep our finger's crossed!

Speaking of quiet, our 2 minutes of exposure on TV has produced no new hawk watchers. Maybe over the weekend someone might stop by, time will tell. This is probably a good thing as, as many of you will agree, our little piece of land that they've so kindly allowed us to use at the park really can't hold more than the 20 or so regulars that we have now anyway. It was very nice of CTV News to do a story on us all the same.

Here's a few photos from Pat's camera for your viewing enjoyment.

Sadly, Carol in all her beauty was a day late for CTV News.


Our local Cooper's Hawk on the hunt for a meal.


Walter

August 17th - Our Raptor Watch Made The 6 O'Clock News!

No bird movement to report today but we did however make the news. I was interviewed by Andrew Lawson of CTV News for a story about the Watch that was aired on the 6:00 and 11:30 news. They did an excellent job of piecing everything together and thankfully our local Red-tailed Hawk put on a show for Andrew to film. Betty made a cameo appearance. Hope you all saw it. Due to the heat and humidity today, I was snoozing late the afternoon and almost missed the clip. I guess all we can do now is sit back and wait for the crowds to show up!

Today only 23 species of birds were observed and 6 species of butterflies. Of note, the Monarchs appear to be slowly building up in numbers along the bluffs and getting ready to make the big trip south to Mexico.

I would like to thank Andrew for coming down today and doing the story on our Raptor Watch, Betty for hanging around and helping me out while I was being interviewed, and Berle for the nice long chat we had while nothing was happening.

The weather forecast for the next couple of days does not look too promising for raptor movement, if the forecast holds, next Tuesday might be a good day. I'll be at the park again early tomorrow and over the next few days just in case the birds try to prove me wrong.

Walter

August 16th - Only 2 Migrants Today

Unfortunately I had to cut today's Watch at the park off early due to prior commitments. So if anyone was there and saw any raptor movement, please let me know, thanks.

The only birds seen today at the park were the local Cooper's Hawk, Turkey Vultures, and a Northern Harrier that flew from the west.

I did however manage to see 2 birds this afternoon flying overhead from the backyard and heading straight towards Rosetta - In the past on the few occassions that I've had to do it, Frank and I had proven that the birds I saw from the yard pass by Rosetta's north end over Kingston Road within 1 to 2 minutes. I live just east of the park along Kingston Road. The highlight was an adult Bald Eagle which flew over quite high up but naked eye I could easily tell what it was, in the binoculars it really looked good! It was a new 'yard' bird for me as well.

Today:
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1
Bald Eagle - 1 (adult, 2:51 PM)
Total: 2

To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 2
Osprey - 2
Bald Eagle - 1
Northern Harrier - 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 4
Broad-winged Hawk - 3
Red-tailed Hawk - 1
American Kestrel - 2
Total - 16

31 species of birds were counted early morning at Rosetta today including an American Pipit, a 'lifer' for me. It popped up in a shrub close to the top of the bluffs right in front of me about 15 feet away. It sat for minute pumping it's tail up and down before moving on. Only 4 species of common butterflies were noted.

I thank Terry Whittam for keeping an eye on the sky during his visit to the park today.

Tomorrow's predicted southwest winds are not conducive to good bird movement, especially this early in the migration. I'll be at the park early again tomorrow. See you then!

Walter

August 15th - Finally, A Few More Birds!

As expected, the morning started off slow today but picked up after the first bird, an American Kestrel, was spotted at around 10:14 AM. That was quickly followed by a pair of streaming Turkey Vultures that were way up high. A little while later a juvenile Northern Harrier flew through over the centre of the park. Also, a few Sharpies (Sharp-shinned Hawks) circled their way along giving great views. As the heat of the day was starting to peak, the thunder clouds rolled in and brought an end to the Watch. Also observed today were the local Cooper's Hawk and Red-tailed Hawk.

Today:
Turkey Vulture - 2
Northern Harrier - 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 3
Red-tailed Hawk - 1
American Kestrel - 1
Total - 8

To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 2
Osprey - 2
Northern Harrier - 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 3
Broad-winged Hawk - 3
Red-tailed Hawk - 1
American Kestrel - 2
Total - 14

Overall bird species counted today was 35 including a beautiful Canada Warbler and a Greater Yellowlegs that flew in from the north. Thankfully it did a flight call and I was able to ID it, otherwise it would've been just another unidentified shorebird.

On hand today were Daniel, Berle, Terry 2, and Ann.

Tomorrow (Tuesday's) weather forecast is looking similar to today's so I'll be at the park early again. Hope to see at the Watch.

Walter

August 14th - A Few More Photos

Things have been quiet bird-wise the last 2 days with light to no winds so here are a few photos that Ann and I have taken at the Gardens.

2 pretty purple flowers




Monarch


Cabbage White


Walking Stick


Giant Swallowtail


Tomorrow's (Monday) weather with moderate winds from the north might bring a few birds through. I'll be at the park from about 7:00 AM onward. Hope to see you there.

Walter