Oct 26th, 27th & 28th - Our 6000th Bird of the Month!

On Sunday we counted our 6000th raptor of the month - a Sharp-shinned Hawk.  That's incredible!  That's something that normally takes us almost the entire four months to do or as in some years, just doesn't happen.  What a year we are having!  Now having said that, where were all the birds that were supposed to come on Sunday?  Good NW all day, plenty of clouds, lots of people...and only 13 birds!  Strange.

Monday brought no raptors our way and Tuesday we counted only two Sharpies.

Oct 26th:
Bald Eagle - 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 3
Northern Goshawk - 1
Red-tailed Hawk - 7
Rough-legged Hawk - 1
Total - 13

Oct 28th:
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 2
Total - 2

To Date:
Black Vulture - 1
Turkey Vulture - 3202
Osprey - 140
Bald Eagle - 101
Northern Harrier - 239
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 3686
Cooper's Hawk - 102
Northern Goshawk - 10
Red-shouldered Hawk - 58
Broad-winged Hawk - 1418
Red-tailed Hawk - 582
Rough-legged Hawk - 5
Golden Eagle - 1
American Kestrel - 697
Merlin - 125
Peregrine Falcon - 79
Total - 10446

Eagle Time (EDT):
10:50 AM - BE

Here are a few shots of some great birds that have moved through our area in the past couple of days...

a very unsettled Long-eared Owl (Walter)

a beautifully marked Red-tailed Hawk (Rosemary)

a Short-eared Owl, our fourth in 5 years (Walter)

and this very distant dark morph Rough-legged Hawk (Walter)  

Again today (Tuesday) as I was leaving the park, I had 2 Common Ravens over the north end at treetop level above the 'ruins' in a loose battle with a number of local American Crows.  There must be a good food source nearby or they're moving in to our area.

I thank everyone who has been at the Watch the past few days.  Your help and kind offerings are very much appreciated.

Walter