Sep 30th - Another 500+ Raptor Day.....Actually 600+!!!

Another fantastic day at the Watch.....if you enjoy looking up at an all-blue sky and trying to find pepper specks in it - LOL!!!  Thankfully we had some of our best pairs of eyes on-hand today to make sure that the birds weren't going to sneak by overhead quietly.  We saw each and every one of the raptors that we counted today - LOL!!!  I guess there could've been even more up there somewhere...who knows.  Thankyou everybody for all the help today!!!

Rosetta McClain Gardens, Toronto
30 September 2017
08:00am - 04:00pm

Today:
Turkey Vulture - 561
Osprey - 1
Bald Eagle - 7
Northern Harrier - 11
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 35
Cooper's Hawk - 2
Broad-winged Hawk - 19
Red-tailed Hawk - 12
American Kestrel - 5
Total - 653

Eagle Time (DST):
09:50am - BE
09:57am - BE
10:18am - BE
10:32am - BE x2
12:20pm - BE
03:15pm - BE

To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 836
Osprey - 33
Bald Eagle - 51
Northern Harrier - 46
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 309
Cooper's Hawk - 24
Broad-winged Hawk - 59
Red-tailed Hawk - 47
American Kestrel - 177
Merlin - 19
Peregrine Falcon - 10
Total - 1611

These photos are courtesy of Mike...

Northern Harrier

 Sharp-shinned Hawk

Bald Eagle

another beautifully marked Bald Eagle

These photos are courtesy of Lee...

local Red-tailed Hawk watching songbirds lower down in the tree

off it goes in search of a meal!

Other Birds:
Brant - one large 'blizzard' of them heading south out over the lake to the east of the park.
Loon sp. - 2

Golden-crowned Kinglet (Lee)

Palm Warbler (Lee)

 Orange-crowned Warbler (Mike)

Insects:
Monarch - still appears to be a decent number flying along the north shore of the lake.

Hawkwatchers:
Walter, Phil, Mike, Bruce M, Ron, Mark, Sonja, Bruce & Copper, Theresa, Gunnar, Betty, Joyce, Berle, Sheldon, Naish, Patti, Sue, Lee, Paul, Beth, Trudy, Eleanor, and many others!  Again, thankyou all for your help and camaraderie today.

See you all again soon,
Walter

Sep 29th - Adult Bald Eagle!

I received the following report from Ron via Lee...


Hi Lee,

I watched from 8 - 9:30 a.m. at the fence. Saw a fine adult Bald Eagle going west. Also saw an adult Red-tailed Hawk heading west and returning east a few minutes later. Afterwards I checked the northwest corner - loads of White-throated Sparrows, a male Eastern Towhee, and both a Gray-cheeked and a Hermit Thrush. Didn't see any other birders or photographers. Left about 11:15.

Ron


The wind for tomorrow (Saturday) is from the north.  It'll be gusting up to roughly 40 kmph in the morning so it should be good for migrating raptors.  Bring your most powerful binoculars, spotting scopes, and camera lenses as the birds will likely be way up there once again.

See you at the park,
Walter

Sep 28th - A 500+ Raptor Day! (more photos added!)

What a fabulous Fall day at the Watch, lots of great birds and lots of wonderful people...

Rosetta McClain Gardens Raptor Watch, Toronto
28 September 2017
8:00am - 5:30pm

Today:
Turkey Vulture - 229
Osprey - 3
Bald Eagle - 13
Northern Harrier - 11
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 92
Cooper's Hawk - 3
Broad-winged Hawk - 26
Red-tailed Hawk - 9
American Kestrel - 119
Merlin - 6
Peregrine Falcon  5
Total - 516

Eagle Time (DST):
10:15am - BE
12:50pm - BE
01:34pm - BE
02:34pm - BE x3
02:36pm - BE
02:50pm - BE
02:53pm - BE
03:09pm - BE
03:48pm - BE
03:51pm - BE
05:26pm - BE

To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 275
Osprey - 32
Bald Eagle - 43
Northern Harrier - 35
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 274
Cooper's Hawk - 22
Broad-winged Hawk - 40
Red-tailed Hawk - 35
American Kestrel - 172
Merlin - 19
Peregrine Falcon - 10
Total - 957

These photos are courtesy of Ann...

Bald Eagle

Broad-winged Hawk

Broad-winged Hawk

American Kestrel

Turkey Vultures

Merlin

Red-tailed Hawk

 Sharp-shinned Hawk

These photos are courtesy of Joe...

Merlin

Red-tailed Hawk

 Broad-winged Hawk

Sharp-shinned Hawk

American Kestrel

Red-tailed Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

Other Birds:

Lots of songbirds throughout the park today and hundreds of Blue Jays flying overhead.
Loon sp. - 20
Swan sp. - 3

American Goldfinch

American Redstart

Insects:
Monarch butterflies and various species of Dragonflies filled the sky once again.

Mammals:
An American Mink was seen early morning in the grass along the top edge of the bluffs.

Hawkwatchers:
Walter, Noam, Manny, Ron, Bruce, Betty, Allison, Sheldon, Kris, Jean, Norm, Frieda, Ann, Berle, Terry, Pat & Nancy, John & Zeny, Justin, Joe, Naish, Blane, Joyce, Gillian, Arvo, Ed, Vicki, Diana, and many, many others!!!  Thankyou so much everyone for such a great day of hawkwatching!

Weather Prediction:
Rain, rain, and more rain!!!

See you again at the fence,
Walter

Sep 27th - The Heat and Humidity is Finally Leaving! (updated)

The north winds have arrived, raptors have arrived, and so have the biting Stable Flies!  If you're planning on being at the park tomorrow, wear long pants!  Thank you both Theresa and Terry for today's reports.

Rosetta McClain Gardens, Toronto
27 September 2017
08:15am - 01:30pm (Theresa)
01:45pm - 03:30pm (Terry)

Today:
Turkey Vulture - 23
Osprey - 2
Northern Harrier - 9
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 11
Cooper's Hawk - 1
Broad-winged Hawk - 1
American Kestrel - 7
Merlin - 1
Peregrine Falcon - 1
Total - 56

To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 46
Osprey - 27
Bald Eagle - 30
Northern Harrier - 24
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 182
Cooper's Hawk - 19
Broad-winged Hawk - 19
Red-tailed Hawk - 22
American Kestrel - 52
Merlin - 13
Peregrine Falcon - 5
Total - 434

Other Birds:
Canada Goose - 7
Loon sp. - 1
Red-tailed Hawk - 2 (locals)
Ring-billed Gull - 15
Downy Woodpecker - 1
Woodpecker sp. - 1
Merlin - 1 (local, chasing the Peregrine Falcon)
Northern Flicker - 1
Blue Jay - 280
American Crow - 1
Black-capped Chickadee - 5
Red-breasted Nuthatch - 2
American Robin - 10
Cedar Waxwing - 5
Palm Warbler - 1
Warbler sp. - 1
White-throated Sparrow - 15
Northern Cardinal - 2
Red-winged Blackbird - 2
Common Grackle - 2
American Goldfinch - 2
House Sparrow - 5

Insects:
Monarch - 2200

Dragonfly sp. - lots

Hawkwatchers:
Theresa, Ron, Berle, Chris, Terry, Betty, and Ed

Weather Prediction:
Northwest wind all day long!  Should be a great day!




Special added bonus hawk-watching coverage...

With me feeling a little under the weather this morning I only made it as far as the backyard to do a bit of raptor watching.  It turned out to be fairly good.  With texting back and forth to Theresa I know many of my birds weren't seen at Rosetta.  Almost all of the birds seen from the yard were flying due west and would've passed to the north of the park and likely out of sight.

Butchered Gardens Hawk Watch, Toronto
27 September 2017
11:00am - 02:00pm

Today:
Turkey Vulture - 15
Osprey - 2
Northern Harrier - 2
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 5
Cooper's Hawk - 1
Broad-winged Hawk - 1
Red-tailed Hawk - 3
American Kestrel - 5
Total - 34

Other Birds:
Canada Goose - 11
Loon sp. - 3
Turkey Vulture - 4
Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 1
Chimney Swift - 2

Insects:
Cabbage White - 4
Monarch - 172 (22 landed in the garden)
Painted Lady - 3

Dragonfly sp. - lots!

Hawkwatcher:
Walter

See you at Rosetta early tomorrow,
Walter

Sep 23rd - A Nice Surprise

This afternoon while watching butterfly and dragonfly migration over the backyard I got a nice surprise when this beautiful Bald Eagle flew through.

Also seen flying over was an American Kestrel and 2 local Turkey Vultures.

As for butterflies - between 12:30 - 4:00pm I counted 254 Monarchs flying overhead heading due west, 4 Cabbage Whites, and 5 Painted Ladies.  41 Monarchs landed in the back garden to nectar on various flowers.  Dragonflies filled the sky all afternoon.

Keep lookin' up!
Walter