A BIG WELCOME BACK TO PAT AND NANCY!! All gathered were very happy to see Pat and Nancy come walking along the path to our raptor watch position. Everyone rushed over to greet them. Pat was looking good and walked from the parkinglot to our spot, with aid of a cane only...and a steady arm from Nancy. They both were very happy to get back to Rosetta. Pat even commented that the park and the raptor watch gang, his friends kept him going. That is one heck of a compliment. We look forward to future visits. On what had turned into abit of a slow day by the time of their arrival, a few birds showed up for them!
Earlier in the morning, we had seen a little flurry of raptors around 930am. A few Sharpshinned Hawks and a Kestrel went by, along with a lone Harrier and 3 that were right together interacting. None of us had ever seen interaction like this from Harriers. Always something new and exciting to see. I was thrilled to catch all 3 in one frame.
A Merlin hunted the park, driving a flock of Blue Jays into the trees for cover. A Northern Flicker in a different tree, screamed for its life. One of the Peregrine Falcons we saw went straight across the lake out of our view. They can make the short trip across Lake Ontario of about 20-30 miles in no time. Merlin courtesy Mike 3.
By the end of the afternoon, our final tally was:
Osprey - 1
Northern Harrier - 4
Sharpshinned Hawk - 19
Coopers Hawk - 1
Redtailed Hawk - 2
American Kestrel - 4
Merlin - 2
Peregrine Falcon - 2
Total Raptors - 35
Other birds seen were, Blue Jays, White-throated Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos.
In attendance today were Pat and Nancy, Lorne, Berle, Mike 2, Mark, Cori, Carol, Norm, Jack, Betty, Kris and her son Alex, and Yvonne. Thanks to everyone for a good day. Thanks to Walter for the final tally and to Mike 2 for keeping score today. Its all in the expectations. We hoped for a ton yesterday and had less. Today we figured not much would come but more showed up than expected, despite a lower count. Wednesday looks like a possibility for some birds, until then rain and south winds will keep numbers down. Walter and I will be present so long as rains arent all day long.
2 comments:
Hi, great pics. I'm a visitor from BC; stopped at the gardens briefly today around 3pm and just thought I would add a couple of items to your list - at least 6 red-breasted nuthatches in the pine trees, along with a downy woodpecker. Also a bird that I thought was a pine warbler but I am not familiar with the species.
Best of luck with the rest of your hawk watching season.
I came looking for hummers at about 3:30pm and was not disappointed. At least 4 hummers provided lots of entertainment and some great photo-ops until starvation (and lack of light) drove us to leave just before 6pm! Hope to see you Wednesday morning, weather permitting.
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