Sep 8th - Finally!!!

Finally a good day of raptor movement over Rosetta!  Unfortunately most of the birds were high up and not always easy to spot naked eye.  Forecasters had predicted a NW wind day but given the flight level today, I would say that it was more likely NNW.  A higher element of N in the direction causes the higher flight.  Anyway, it was a great day with a lot of wonderful help spotting and identifying raptors.

Today:
Turkey Vulture - 6
Osprey - 9
Bald Eagle - 10
Northern Harrier - 5
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 89
Cooper's Hawk - 6
Broad-winged Hawk - 5
Red-tailed Hawk - 4
American Kestrel - 26
Merlin - 1
Total - 161

To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 16
Osprey - 23
Bald Eagle - 25
Northern Harrier - 12
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 108
Cooper's Hawk - 10
Broad-winged Hawk - 11
Red-tailed Hawk - 16
American Kestrel - 35
Merlin - 10
Peregrine Falcon - 1
Total - 267

Eagle Time (DST):
09:51am - BE
10:10am - BE
10:20am - BE
10:43am - BE
11:40am - BE
03:08pm - BEx2
04:12pm - BEx2
04:16pm - BE

 Osprey (Lee)

 a late day pair of eagles (Lee)

 a rare 'Swallowtail' Broad-winged Hawk (Lee)

(actually it's a normal Broad-wing that's lost a few tail feathers)

our only adult Bald Eagle of the day (Lee)

Other Birds:
Common Loon, Common Nighthawk, Great Blue Heron, Merlin (local), Red-tailed Hawk (local), Turkey Vulture (local)

Common Nighthawk (Patty)

Red-tailed Hawk (Walter)

Great Blue Heron (Lee)

Turkey Vulture (Lee)

the local Merlin out catching and eating lunch - dragonflies (Lee)

Hawkwatchers:
Mark, Lee, Sheldon, Rosemary, Phil, Allison, Hugh, Chris, Patty, Ron, Bruce, plus many others.  A big thankyou to everyone for such an amazing day at the Watch!

Weather Prediction:
Saturday's forecast calls for much the same conditions as today only the wind direction appears to be straight down from the north.  Watch for birds flying up high!

See you again soon,
Walter