Nov 9th - 5 Goshawks, 3 Goldens, and 1 Rough-legged!

Omg, what a day!  A record tying 5 Northern Goshawks, a very low flying Rough-legged Hawk, 3 Golden Eagles kettling together, another Bald Eagle, and a couple of flocks of Snow Geese!  Plus 125 Red-tailed Hawks and a few other goodies!  The wind was actually a little better than predicted in direction and in strength.  A lot of birds were passing overhead at a good comfortable viewing distance while others were passing by at eye-level out over the bluffs.  Cloud cover was good most of the day which helped in spotting the high-flying birds (amazing that none of our bird photos below contain any clouds).  Thanks everyone!

My apologies to those still at the watch when the Golden Eagles flew over.  After taking photos of the high-flying birds I screwed-up big time by telling and showing you that at least one bird was a juvenile Bald Eagle.....we were looking at photos of the 11:20am eagle!  Oops, my bad!

Today:
Turkey Vulture - 5
Bald Eagle - 1
Northern Harrier - 4
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 2
Cooper's Hawk - 5
Northern Goshawk - 5 (ties our 'single day' record from Nov. 2nd, 2012)
Red-tailed Hawk - 125
Rough-legged Hawk - 1
Golden Eagle - 3
Total - 151

Eagle Time (EST):
11:20am - BE
03:00pm - GE x3

To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 2457
Osprey - 59
Bald Eagle - 103
Northern Harrier - 166
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1457
Cooper's Hawk - 67
Northern Goshawk - 22
Red-shouldered Hawk - 52
Broad-winged Hawk - 236
Red-tailed Hawk - 790
Rough-legged Hawk - 6
Golden Eagle - 8
American Kestrel - 275
Merlin - 85
Peregrine Falcon - 42
Total - 5825

a young Northern Goshawk (Walter)

3 high-flying Red-tailed Hawks (Ann)

an adult Sharp-shinned Hawk (Arvo)

a beautifully dark-marked Red-tailed Hawk (Arvo)

an interestingly marked Red-tailed Hawk (Arvo)

another Northern Goshawk (Ann)

a young Bald Eagle (Walter)

one of three 3 o'clock high-flyin' Golden Eagles (Walter)

another golden (Walter)

Other Birds:
Snow Goose - 2 flocks flying over high over the park and out over the lake heading south

a fraction of the first flock of Snow Geese heading out over the lake (Walter)

Butterflies:
Cabbage White - 1
Clouded Sulphur - 1

People:
Dave, Hugh, Allison, Berle, Arvo, Manny, Ann, Trudy, plus a few others.  Thankyou for all your help once again!

Weather Prediction:
Good SW wind for tomorrow.  Maybe a few Peregrines?

Is this a sign, is this the Pearly Gates?!?! (Walter)

See you at the park!
Walter