Oct 8th - Turkey (Vulture) Time!

The day started with a bit of rain in the morning but once the sky cleared the birds started to fly.  Today's flight was scattered from one side of our viewing area to the other and from just above the trees to just below the clouds.  What a challenging day!

Today:
Turkey Vulture - 74
Osprey - 1
Bald Eagle - 1
Northern Harrier - 7
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 123
Cooper's Hawk - 2
Broad-winged Hawk - 2
Red-tailed Hawk - 24
American Kestrel - 26
Merlin - 7
Peregrine Falcon - 2
Total - 269

To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 265
Osprey - 56

Bald Eagle - 79

Northern Harrier - 85

Sharp-shinned Hawk - 866

Cooper's Hawk - 26

Northern Goshawk - 0

Red-shouldered Hawk - 0

Broad-winged Hawk - 235

Red-tailed Hawk - 50

Rough-legged Hawk - 0

Golden Eagle - 0

American Kestrel - 234

Merlin - 73

Peregrine Falcon - 25

Total - 1994

Eagle Time (DST):

12:55pm - BE

a migrating Red-tailed Hawk (Paul)

a couple of Sharpies (Paul)

Turkey Vulture (Paul)

Other Birds:

Blue Jay - another good stream today

Loon sp - 24

Purple Finch - small groups flying overhead

Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1 flyover

Red-headed Woodpecker - 1 flyover

Mammals:

 Red Fox having breakfast, a Gray Squirrel (Phil)

Butterflies:

Clouded Sulphur - 5

Fiery Skipper - 1

Monarch - 76 (4 tagged)

Mourning Cloak - 1

Orange Sulphur - 3

People:

Phil, Allison, Peter, Bruce, Kris, Ron, Norm, Sheldon, Trudy, Eleanor, Jean, Carol, Berle, Sarah B, Blane, Mark, Paul, Salman, Charles, Betty, and a couple of other nice folks.  Thankyou everyone for all your help.  It wasn't easy with birds everywhere in the sky!

Weather Prediction:

N and NW wind tomorrow!!!  Should be perfect for a large movement of birds!

See you at the fence,

Walter

PS - Happy Thanksgiving!

An Update on the Swallowtail Butterflies Seen Oct 4th

I posted our sightings of both the Eastern Tiger and the Giant Swallowtail butterflies, which were seen on October 4th to the Google forum called Ontario Butterflies.  I recieved an informative reply from butterfly expert Bob Yukich and thought I'd share it with you...

"Both swallowtails are significant sightings and both are, to my knowledge, the latest ever reported for the City of Toronto. The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail sighting is pretty amazing in that there is only one other record later than yours for the province of Ontario according to the online Ontario Butterfly Atlas, one seen at Point Pelee on October 11, 1982 by Alan Wormington. The individual you saw was either from a third brood, or possibly a delayed emergence due to the recent drought in southern Ontario. Great sightings! I spent 3 days at Point Pelee this past week and didn't see a single swallowtail!"

Thankyou everyone for not only calling out the Monarchs as you see them but all the other butterflies as well!  It never hurts to say 'hey, this one looks different!'

Walter

Oct 7th - 21 Raptors!

Today's hawk-watching was cut short due the Blue Jays baseball game.  My apologies to anyone who showed-up in the afternoon.

Today:
Osprey - 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 8
Cooper's Hawk - 2
American Kestrel - 3
Merlin - 4
Peregrine Falcon - 3
Total - 21

To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 191
Osprey - 55
Bald Eagle - 78

Northern Harrier - 78

Sharp-shinned Hawk - 743

Cooper's Hawk - 24

Northern Goshawk - 0

Red-shouldered Hawk - 0

Broad-winged Hawk - 233

Red-tailed Hawk - 26

Rough-legged Hawk - 0

Golden Eagle - 0

American Kestrel - 208

Merlin - 66

Peregrine Falcon - 23

Total - 1725

We are just 27 birds short of 70000 raptors counted since BIGFRANK started the Watch back in 2004!

Other Birds:

Blue Jay - lots

Eastern Towhee - 1 heard calling

Red-headed Woodpecker - 1 juvenile flying with a group of Jays

Butterflies:

Fiery Skipper- 1

Monarch - 160 (11 tagged)

Orange Sulphur - 3

People:

Allison, Terry, Jason Weir and his ornithology students from the U of T, Bruce and Ann Falls, and a few other visitors.  Thankyou everyone for a wonderful morning at the park!

Weather Prediction:

The weather folks keep changing the wind from W to NW for tomorrow!  My personal feeling is that when they change it to W it's likely WNW.....but I've been known to be wrong in the past.  Anyway, it's likely that there'll be birds tomorrow.  If not, come back on Sunday.

See you over the weekend,

Walter

Oct 6th - Too Hot Today For Migration : (

Today:
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 3
Cooper's Hawk - 1
Peregrine Falcon - 1
Total - 5

To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 191
Osprey - 54
Bald Eagle - 78
Northern Harrier - 78

Sharp-shinned Hawk - 735

Cooper's Hawk - 22

Northern Goshawk - 0

Red-shouldered Hawk - 0

Broad-winged Hawk - 233

Red-tailed Hawk - 26

Rough-legged Hawk - 0

Golden Eagle - 0

American Kestrel - 205

Merlin - 62

Peregrine Falcon - 20

Total - 1704

 

Peregrine Falcon (Walter)

Butterflies:

Fiery Skipper - 3

Monarch - 125 (21 tagged)

Orange Sulphur - 4

Red Admiral - 1

People:

Lee, Terry, Betty, Trudy, and Ann

Weather Prediction:

South wind all day long.  Keep an eye on the weekend, it's looking good!

 

Walter

 

Oct 5th - The TVs are Warming Up

Today:
Turkey Vulture - 31
Osprey - 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 6
American Kestrel - 4
Merlin - 1
Total - 43

To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 191
Osprey - 54

Bald Eagle - 78

Northern Harrier - 78

Sharp-shinned Hawk - 732

Cooper's Hawk - 21

Northern Goshawk - 0

Red-shouldered Hawk - 0

Broad-winged Hawk - 233

Red-tailed Hawk - 26

Rough-legged Hawk - 0

Golden Eagle - 0

American Kestrel - 205

Merlin - 62

Peregrine Falcon - 19

Total - 1699

Other Birds:

Blue Jay - Lots going over again today, mostly to the north end of the park.

Mammals:

Eastern Milksnake - 1 (photographed on Sep 28th)

Eastern Milksnake (Ed)

(This beautiful snake was found exactly where

we sit and watch for hawks!)

Butterflies:

Monarch - 87 (41 tagged)

Mourning Cloak - 1

People:

Lee, Terry, Betty, Trudy, Sophie, Carol, Arvo, Krista, plus a few others.  Thanks!

Weather Prediction:

S and SE wind.

Walter

Oct 4th - 40 More Raptors!

Today:
Turkey Vulture - 11
Osprey - 4
Bald Eagle - 1
Northern Harrier - 3
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 10
Cooper's Hawk - 1
American Kestrel - 5
Merlin - 2
Peregrine Falcon - 3
Total - 40

To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 160
Osprey - 53
Bald Eagle - 78

Northern Harrier - 78

Sharp-shinned Hawk - 726

Cooper's Hawk - 21

Northern Goshawk - 0

Red-shouldered Hawk - 0

Broad-winged Hawk - 233

Red-tailed Hawk - 26

Rough-legged Hawk - 0

Golden Eagle - 0

American Kestrel - 201

Merlin - 61

Peregrine Falcon - 19

Total - 1656

Eagle Time (DST):

05:12pm - BE (while I was on the bus heading to the Jays game!)

Other Birds:

Belted Kingfisher - 1

Common Raven - 5 flew over together heading west

Hermit Thrush

Butterflies:

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail - 1

Giant Swallowtail - 1

Monarch - 250 (39 tagged)

Red Admiral - 2

People:

Lee, Allison, Sophie, Hugh, Betty, Arvo, Berle, Carol, Manny, Nancy, and one or two others.  Thankyou everyone!

Weather Prediction:

Looks like S and SE wind.

See you at the park!

Walter

Oct 3rd - NW/NE Winds Brought 142 Raptors!

Today was mostly one of those dark overcast days with threatening clouds and a lot of high-flying birds that were nothing more than just silhouettes unfortunately.  The clouds finally gave way to a bit of sun in the afternoon but by that time the wind had shifted again and the birds were flying further to the north but still way up high.  Oh well, what can you do?

Today:
Turkey Vulture - 10
Northern Harrier - 4
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 99
Cooper's Hawk - 4
American Kestrel - 21
Merlin - 2
Peregrine Falcon - 2
Total - 142

To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 149
Osprey - 49
Bald Eagle - 77
Northern Harrier - 75

Sharp-shinned Hawk - 716

Cooper's Hawk - 20

Northern Goshawk - 0

Red-shouldered Hawk - 0

Broad-winged Hawk - 233

Red-tailed Hawk - 26

Rough-legged Hawk - 0

Golden Eagle - 0

American Kestrel - 196

Merlin - 59

Peregrine Falcon - 16

Total - 1616

Other Birds:

American Robin - many flying over in the morning

Blackbirds (Grackles, Red-wings and Cowbirds) - many flying over in the morning

Blue Jay - they're just not going to stop this year!

Carolina Wren - singing his heart out most of the day!

Common Raven - 8 kettling!

Finches - many flocks flying over in the morning

Loon sp - 12

Warblers - a good selection in the park today including Orange-Crowned

a Common Loon heading out over the lake (Kris)

Butterflies:

Monarch - 82 (11 tagged)

Orange Sulphur - 4

Red Admiral - 1

People:

Lee, Ron, Betty, Trudy, Bruce, Terry, Rosemary, Allison, Kris, Peter, Don, Arvo, Glen, and a few others who stopped by.

Weather Prediction:

The east wind returns for tomorrow.  Yuck!

Walter

Oct 2nd - We Squeezed Out 15 More!

Today:
Northern Harrier - 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 11
Merlin - 1
Peregrine Falcon - 2
Total - 15

To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 139

Osprey - 49

Bald Eagle - 77

Northern Harrier - 71

Sharp-shinned Hawk - 617

Cooper's Hawk - 16

Northern Goshawk - 0

Red-shouldered Hawk - 0

Broad-winged Hawk - 233

Red-tailed Hawk - 26

Rough-legged Hawk - 0

Golden Eagle - 0

American Kestrel - 175

Merlin - 57

Peregrine Falcon - 14

Total - 1474

Other Birds:

Blue Jay - Lots flying over again today!

Loon sp - 1

Butterflies:

Monarch - 31 (0 tagged)

People:

Thankyou to those who took a chance between the rain showers and reported their sightings to me.  It was quite pleasant while I was at the park between 1:30-4:30pm but rain moved back in again just after I arrived home.

Weather Prediction:

Light NW/NE winds to start the day tomorrow.  Fingers crossed that we see some birds over Rosetta!

Walter