Oct 22nd - And So It Continues...

Wow!  I had some mixed feelings this morning after being at the Watch for a couple of hours and only seeing a couple of raptors.  I think it was somewhere about 10:30AM when things started to change.  Red-tailed Hawks began to stream across the sky and the Turkey Vultures weren't far behind.  As with so many other days this fall, things started to go crazy quickly with a handful of birds here and a handful there.  Red-tails and Vultures were mixing together all over the sky.  As winds were mostly N and Ne, it meant that most birds were fairly high-up again today which at times made it very challenging to find them.  My thanks to everyone who scanned the sky, found, and counted birds flying overhead and over Kingston Road.

Today:
Turkey Vulture - 257
Bald Eagle - 4
Northern Harrier - 5
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 26
Cooper's Hawk - 3
Northern Goshawk - 1
Red-shouldered Hawk - 6
Red-tailed Hawk - 223
American Kestrel - 2
Total - 527

To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 2922
Osprey - 140
Bald Eagle - 94
Northern Harrier - 231
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 3602
Cooper's Hawk - 92
Northern Goshawk - 8
Red-shouldered Hawk - 52
Broad-winged Hawk - 1417
Red-tailed Hawk - 413
Rough-legged Hawk - 1
Golden Eagle - 0
American Kestrel - 695
Merlin - 123
Peregrine Falcon - 76
Total - 9866

Eagle Time (EDT):
12:25 PM - BE
02:24 PM - BE
03:00 PM - BE x2

With today's count, here are a few numbers that we can watch for tomorrow and in the coming days - 66 more birds needed to reach 60,000 birds counted since inception in 2004, 134 more birds needed to reach 10,000 birds counted for the 2014 season, 25 more American Kestrels needed to set a new single season record and 78 more Turkey Vultures needed to reach 3,000 birds counted for the 2014 season (would be only our second species after Sharpies).

A couple of Loons and a lone Common Merganser were highlights today.  Many sparrows and finches were seen today as well as several Hermit Thrushes.

Twenty-three Monarch butterflies were a bit of a surprise today.

Again, many thanks to everyone who came down and helped with the Watch today.  Such great company!

At present tomorrow's wind prediction is N 15km/h and gusting in the morning and then N 20km/h and gusting in the afternoon.  See you at the park!

Walter