136 Raptors...YTD...6020 We Broke 6000!

Today we cracked the 6000 raptor mark, with a count of 136 raptors. Many birds were painfully high, thanks to some great spotting help from Phil we got many more birds than we otherwise would have. Ron, Carol, Berle, Ann, Phil, Betty, Paul, Richard,Cori and Norm joined Walter and I for a challanging day of raptor watching.  It was great to see Pat and Nancy for awhile today too!!  A few new folks dropped by who we hope to see back on the next potentially big day(north element wind).  By 1pm things had stopped moving, with only 12 birds after 1pm. If they were still flying, they were north of us, due to the wind shift.
  Of note 2 more Peregrine Falcons went by, bringing our record season total to 93. A Northern Goshawk went by low and close and we passed the 2000 mark for sightings of Sharpshinned Hawks.

 Todays final total was:
5-Turkey Vultures
6-Northern Harriers
73-Sharpshinned Hawks
4-Coopers Hawks
1-Northern Goshawk
39-Redtailed Hawks
5-American Kestrels
1-Merlin
2-Peregrine Falcons
136-Total Raptors

Conditions do not look very good for the coming days. I will be present sporadically, please watch the winds for the next best day. So far as the current report goes there will be very little moving through the weekend. I will try to give a heads up for the next big day. Redtails and still many vultures are to come, Red-shoulders too plus Golden Eagles and Roughlegs.
  We saw our first Eastern Bluebirds migrate through today, some Pine Siskins, thousands of Red-winged Blackbirds and thousands of American Robins. Down on the lake we saw 4 Long-tailed Ducks, several Red-breasted Mergansers and a few small rafts of Common Loons.
  A special Happy Birthday to Phil.