Wind (current)

Oct 24th - Tomorrow

Weather Prediction:
Oct 25th - A mix of sun and clouds switching to mainly sunny, NW 25km/h and gusting to 44km/h  (theweathernetwork.com)  Hopefully the birds figure it out this time!!!

See you there,
Walter

Oct 23rd - 8 Birds!

I thank those who gathered at the park this morning to watch and count raptors.  I myself did not to go today as I woke up with a headache and decided to stay put and sleep it off.

Today:
Turkey Vulture - 2
Cooper's Hawk - 1
Red-shouldered Hawk - 1
Red-tailed Hawk - 4
Total - 8

To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 2670
Osprey - 92
Bald Eagle - 66
Northern Harrier - 181
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 2669
Cooper's Hawk - 40
Northern Goshawk - 4
Red-shouldered Hawk - 21
Broad-winged Hawk - 89
Red-tailed Hawk - 264
Rough-legged Hawk - 1
Golden Eagle - 2
American Kestrel - 301
Merlin - 109
Peregrine Falcon - 57
Total - 6566

 local Red-tailed Hawk carrying a stick (Ann)

Other Birds:
Fox Sparrow - 3

American Robin (Ann)

Butterflies:
Monarch - 1

Mammals:
Nothing of note

Hawkwatchers:
Mike, Manny, Norm, Dave, Gunnar, Ann, Berle, Betty, Arvo, Carol, and Sheridan

Weather Prediction:
Oct 24th - a mix of sun and clouds switching to light rain in the afternoon, SE 20km/h and gusting to 35km/h switching to S 25km/h and gusting to 44km/h in the afternoon  (theweathernetwork.com)

I'll see you Sunday!
Walter

Oct 22nd - Where Are The Birds?!!!

I tell you, this migration season just gets stranger and stranger as we move forward.  Today we were expecting good NW wind and lots of hawks, especially during the afternoon but for some reason the wind died-off and the birds stopped flying!  We ended-up with a much lower number than we were expecting.

Today:
Turkey Vulture - 20
Bald Eagle - 1
Northern Harrier - 8
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 135
Cooper's Hawk - 4
Red-shouldered Hawk - 4
Red-tailed Hawk - 26
American Kestrel - 3
Merlin - 9
Total - 210

To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 2668
Osprey - 92
Bald Eagle - 66
Northern Harrier - 181
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 2669
Cooper's Hawk - 39
Northern Goshawk - 4
Red-shouldered Hawk - 20
Broad-winged Hawk - 89
Red-tailed Hawk - 260
Rough-legged Hawk - 1
Golden Eagle - 2
American Kestrel - 301
Merlin - 109
Peregrine Falcon - 57
Total - 6558

Eagle Time (DST):
03:25pm - BE

a high-flying Red-tailed Hawk (Lee)

a low-flying Red-shouldered Hawk (Lee)

Other Birds:
Common Loon - 1 flying south over the park
Eastern Bluebird - several flocks flying west over the park
Pine Siskin - several flocks flying east over the park
Red-headed Woodpecker - 1 flying east low over the park
Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 1 in the garden before the garden was removed!

a happy Blue Jay (Lee)

Butterflies:
Cabbage White - 3
Monarch - 3
Mourning Cloak - 1

Mammals:
Eastern Cottontail - 1

Hawkwatchers:
Lee, Betty, Manfred, Ron, Dave, Pat & Nancy, Liz, Arvo, Manny, Allison, Berle, Kris, Peter, Bruce, Cori, Lynn, and several others who stopped by.

Weather Prediction:
Oct 23rd - sunny, N 15km/h in the morning switching to E 10km/h  (theweathernetwork.com)

Walter

Oct 21st - Tomorrow

Weather Prediction:
Oct 22nd - a mix of sun and clouds in the morning switching to mainly sunny, NW 25km/h and gusting to 44km/h  (theweathernetwork.com)  Should be good!

See you at the park, don't be late!
Walter

Oct 20th - One Sharpie!

Today's wind, like yesterday's, was not conducive to good raptor migration.  For the better part of three hours Terry and I sat and waited and watched as one Sharp-shinned Hawk flew low over the park!

Today:
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1
Total - 1

To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 2648
Osprey - 92
Bald Eagle - 65
Northern Harrier - 173
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 2534
Cooper's Hawk - 35
Northern Goshawk - 4
Red-shouldered Hawk - 16
Broad-winged Hawk - 89
Red-tailed Hawk - 234
Rough-legged Hawk - 1
Golden Eagle - 2
American Kestrel - 298
Merlin - 100
Peregrine Falcon - 57
Total - 6348

Other Birds:
American Robin - lots
Eastern Towhee - 1 seen

Butterflies:
none

Mammals:
Nothing of note

Hawkwatchers:
Terry, Liz, plus a few others

Weather Prediction:
Oct 21st - cloudy with showers, E 25km/h and gusting to 42km/h  (theweathernetwork.com)  Looks like a good day to do something else!  Thursday is looking great!

Walter

Oct 19th - One Harrier!

Well today's wind was more WSW than SW and it didn't do any favours for birds migrating over the park.  We were gone by 12:30pm.

Today:
Northern Harrier - 1
Total - 1

To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 2648
Osprey - 92
Bald Eagle - 65
Northern Harrier - 173
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 2533
Cooper's Hawk - 35
Northern Goshawk - 4
Red-shouldered Hawk - 16
Broad-winged Hawk - 89
Red-tailed Hawk - 234
Rough-legged Hawk - 1
Golden Eagle - 2
American Kestrel - 298
Merlin - 100
Peregrine Falcon - 57
Total - 6347

Other Birds:
Nothing of note

Butterflies:
Cabbage White - 1
Monarch - 1

Mammals:
Nothing of note

Hawkwatchers:
Terry, Mark, Peter, Allison, Berle, and a few others.

Weather Prediction:
Oct 20th - cloudy with showers switching to chance of a shower, SW 25km/h gusting to 40km/h  (theweathernetwork.com)

At this time I'm not sure if I'll make it to the park or not tomorrow

Walter

Oct 18th - Our First Rough-Legged Hawk

As the NW wind never did pick-up today we finished the day with a much lower count then expected.  The flight was for the most part directly over the park today but was very high up and made for some challanging ID'ing.  We did manage to see and identify a high-flying Rough-legged Hawk with the help of Ron Pittaway and Arvo Poolar's photo.

Today:
Turkey Vulture - 22
Bald Eagle - 1
Northern Harrier - 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 18
Cooper's Hawk - 4
Red-shouldered Hawk - 4
Red-tailed Hawk - 58
Rough-legged Hawk - 1
Golden Eagle - 1
Merlin - 1
Peregrine Falcon - 1
Total - 112

To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 2648
Osprey - 92
Bald Eagle - 65
Northern Harrier - 172
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 2533
Cooper's Hawk - 35
Northern Goshawk - 4
Red-shouldered Hawk - 16
Broad-winged Hawk - 89
Red-tailed Hawk - 234
Rough-legged Hawk - 1
Golden Eagle - 2
American Kestrel - 298
Merlin - 100
Peregrine Falcon - 57
Total - 6346

Eagle Time (DST):
10:58am - GE (juvenile)
01:04pm - BE (age unknown)

a high-flying Golden Eagle (Mike)

a high-flying Rough-legged Hawk (Arvo)

It's with photos like the two above that allow us to positively identify high-flying and very distant birds.  I can never thank the photographers enough for their great work in capturing these 'mystery' raptors.  Many birds would go unidentified without your help.

Other Birds:
Common Loon - 5 counted
Red-breasted Merganser - small group down on the lake

Double-crested Cormorants (Arvo)

Butterflies:
Monarch - 1

Mammals:
Eastern Cottontail

Hawkwatchers:
Richard, Phil and kids, Mike, Ron, Paul, Lorne, Norm, Pat & Nancy, Berle, John, Eleanor, Dahye, Arvo, Mark, Hugh, Betty, Cori, Allison, Blaine, Ann, and several others.  Thankyou for your help again today!

Weather Prediction:
Oct 19th - mainly sunny, SW 25km/h and gusting to 48km/h in the morning switching to SW 40km/h and gusting to 60km/h in the afternoon  (theweathernetwork.com)  Don't forget that strong SW wind could bring us Eagles and Peregrines!

See you at the park,
Walter