Nov 15th - Red-tail Record Broken!

Tonight I received an email from our fellow hawk-watching friend Dave (the guy who shows up on the bike).  He was at the park for just over 3 hours today.  Not sure if he knew it at the time or not but his 6 Red-tailed Hawks set a new 'Year' record for that species at our hawk watch.  Way to go Dave!

Today:
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 2
Red-tailed Hawk - 6
Golden Eagle - 1
Total - 9

To Date:
Black Vulture - 1
Turkey Vulture - 3306
Osprey - 140
Bald Eagle - 106
Northern Harrier - 270
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 3711
Cooper's Hawk - 114
Northern Goshawk - 18
Red-shouldered Hawk - 83
Broad-winged Hawk - 1418
Red-tailed Hawk - 1004
Rough-legged Hawk - 8
Golden Eagle - 12
American Kestrel - 697
Merlin - 128
Peregrine Falcon - 80
Total - 11096

Eagle Time (EST):
02:00 PM - GE

Also at the park today were John and Betty.  Great to know that others are there to fill-in when I can't be at the park.  Thankyou!

Walter

Nov 14th - A Cold But Beautiful Day.

With a light NW wind blowing when Gunnar and I arrived at the park this morning, it didn't take long before our first bird came along, and a good one it was - a Golden Eagle!  What a way to start the day!  With a mix of sun and cloud all day we had great views of most birds.  Later in the afternoon and with few people still braving the cold, we got our second Golden Eagle.  This one was flying much lower but was out over the lake when first spotted.  It got to a point where it was over the lake directly out from the park, did several circles, and then made it's way back to a point well beyond the top of the apple tree from our vantage point.  It then came along and flew right over top of us providing a spectacular view.  Not too long after that we were rewarded with a Rough-legged Hawk which also flew low over the center of the park.  By the end of the day we had added another 63 Red-tailed Hawks to our 2014 count leaving us only 5 short of a new 'Year' record.  As Ron had pointed out today, many of the Red-tails were juveniles suggesting that there could still be many to come including the adults.

Today:
Turkey Vulture - 3
Bald Eagle - 1
Northern Harrier - 4
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 6
Cooper's Hawk - 3
Red-shouldered Hawk - 4
Red-tailed Hawk - 63
Rough-legged Hawk - 1
Golden Eagle - 2
Total - 87

To Date:
Black Vulture - 1
Turkey Vulture - 3306
Osprey - 140
Bald Eagle - 106
Northern Harrier - 270
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 3709
Cooper's Hawk - 114
Northern Goshawk - 18
Red-shouldered Hawk - 83
Broad-winged Hawk - 1418
Red-tailed Hawk - 998
Rough-legged Hawk - 8
Golden Eagle - 11
American Kestrel - 697
Merlin - 128
Peregrine Falcon - 80
Total - 11087

Eagle Time (EST):
09:52 AM - GE
12:35 PM - BE
01:55 PM - GE

 juvenile Golden Eagle (Walter)

light morph Rough-legged Hawk (Walter)

Red-tailed Hawk (Mike D)

Red-tailed Hawk (Mike D)

Non-raptor highlights today included 2 Loons and what appeared to be a small flock of Tundra Swans.

possible Tundra Swans (Mike D)

My thanks to Gunnar, Pat & Nancy, Carol, Mike D, Peter, Berle, Ron, Lynn, Betty, Manfred, Hugh, and Manny.

Walter

Nov 12th - Nuttin'

This morning I met-up with Kris and eventually Betty at the Hawk Watch and the three of us enjoyed nothing but cold wind, overcast skies, a few flocks of finches and waxwings, a local TV and Red-tail, and each other's company.  Of course, not necessarily in that order.

Keep an eye on Friday's forecast, looking fairly good at present.

Walter