Nov 10th - 56 Raptors, 3 Goldens, 1 Goshawk!!!

Brrrr!!!  Holy crap was it cold at the park today!!!  We did it tho, we hung in there til 4:30pm...at least the crazy ones did!  I paid for it tonight tho, when I got home I had a hot bowl of soup and a Tennessee coffee and then went off to la-la land for the next 5 and half hours!  I'm ready to do it all over again now - lol!  Thank you everyone for coming out and enjoying the weather and the birds today.  As I predicted, it was a 'fantastic' day!

Frozetta McClain Gardens Raptor Watch, Toronto
10 November 2017
07:30am - 04:30pm

Raptors:
Turkey Vulture - 1
Northern Harrier - 6
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 2
Northern Goshawk - 1
Red-shouldered Hawk - 7
Red-tailed Hawk - 36
Golden Eagle - 3
Total - 56

Eagle Time (EST):
09:56am - GE (juv.)
11:40am - GE x2 (ad., juv.)

To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 2677
Osprey - 34
Bald Eagle - 73
Northern Harrier - 100
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 624
Cooper's Hawk - 38
Northern Goshawk - 1
Red-shouldered Hawk - 22
Broad-winged Hawk - 60
Red-tailed Hawk - 244
Rough-legged Hawk - 4
Golden Eagle - 7
American Kestrel - 223
Merlin - 31
Peregrine Falcon - 30
Unidentified Accipiter - 2
Unidentified Buteo - 13
Unidentified Falcon - 5
Unidentified Eagle - 0
Unidentified Raptor - 7
Total - 4195

Oh my, this is a beauty! (Mike)

Red-shouldered Hawk (Mike)

a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk (Mike)

Red-tailed Hawk (Mike)

a lightly marked Red-tailed Hawk (Mike)

The moment everyone warmed up!  Two

Golden Eagles at once! (Mike)

same pair of GEs (Matt) 

 a gorgeous adult Red-shouldered Hawk (Mike)

Another 'Grey Ghost' (adult male Northern Harrier) passing low and fast! (Mike)

Red-shouldered Hawk (Matt)

Other Birds:
Common Loon (27), Rusty Blackbird (300+), American Pipit, Eastern Bluebird, Pileated Woodpecker, Northern Shrike, Trumpeter Swan, and Great Blue Heron were some of the highlights.

just one of likely 100 American Crows that flew over today (Paul)

Mallards flying overhead (Matt)

Hawkwatchers:
Kris, Nolan, Owen, Noam, Paul, Allison, Matt, Trudy, Dave, Mike, Ron, Betty, Manny, Jean, Blaine, Lynn, Liz, Carole, Brian, and a few others who braved the cold.  Thank you everyone for your 'warm' friendship and help spotting, identifying, and photographing the birds.

Nolan brought the ultimate in winter birding accessories! (Walter)

Weather Prediction:
At the time of writing, Tuesday is looking like our next decent day.

Walter

Forecast for Friday...

Tomorrow is looking fantastic for raptor migration, hopefully the birds that are left think the same.  Excellent N and NW wind all day!  See you at the fence!

Walter

Nov 7th - 8 Raptors, 1 Eagle

Rosetta McClain Gardens Raptor Watch, Toronto
08 November 2017
07:30am - 09:10am - Allison
10:00am - 01:00pm - Peter, Hugh, Dave

Today:
Bald Eagle - 1 (11:20am, Juv)
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1
Cooper's Hawk - 1
Red-shouldered Hawk - 1
Red-tailed Hawk - 4
Total - 8

Walter

Nov 6th - 55 Raptors, 1 Eagle

Maybe not quite the day everyone was hoping for but maybe the day it was suppose to be, given the fact we're now in to November.  Having said that, I'm not sure where all the Red-tailed Hawks and Northern Goshawks are!!!  A juvenile Bald Eagle late in the day flew by real close and then did a circle right beside us over the bluffs no higher than tree-top level - it was amazing!!!

Rosetta McClain Gardens Raptor Watch, Toronto
06 November 2017
08:00am - 04:30pm

Today:
Turkey Vulture - 4
Bald Eagle - 1
Northern Harrier - 6
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 10
Red-shouldered Hawk - 5
Red-tailed Hawk - 25
Rough-legged Hawk - 1
Peregrine Falcon - 1
Unidentified Raptor - 2
Total - 55

Eagle Time (EST):
03:42pm - BE (juv.)

Well worth the wait today, a juvenile Bald Eagle passing

and circling very close to us (Matt)

The next 9 photos are all of Red-shouldered Hawks...

(Mike)

(Matt)

(Ann)

(Mike)

(Mike)

(Mike)

(Ann)

(Matt)

(Ann)

a local Cooper's Hawk (Mike)

a juvenile Turkey Vulture in molt (Mike)

Notice the new feathers growing-in on the wingtips

a 'Grey Ghost' male Northern Harrier (Mike)

a nice capture of the upper 'grey' side of the wing (Matt)

Red-tailed Hawk (Matt)

a lightly marked Red-tailed Hawk (Matt)

Red-tailed Hawk (Ann)

a juvenile Peregrine Falcon (Mike)

Other Birds:
Common Loon (6), Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, American Robin, Blue Jay, Pine Siskin, Long-tailed Duck, European Starling, Rock Pigeon, Cedar Waxwing, American Goldfinch, Eastern Bluebird (43), Canada Goose, Cackling Goose, Rusty Blackbird, Merlin (local), Cooper's Hawk (local), Red-tailed Hawk (local), Ring-billed Gull, American Crow (53), Dark-eyed Junco, Double-crested Cormorant, Black-capped Chickadee, and a possible Red-throated Loon.

Pine Siskins (Mike)

Eastern Bluebirds (Ann)

Canada Geese (Matt)

Fleecy Owl (Matt)

Insects:
Monarch - 2

Hawkwatchers:
Theresa, Nolan, Walter, Allison, Ann, Margaret, Matt, Ron, Berle, Dianne, Manny, Peter, Dave, Betty, Pat and Nancy, Mike, Lee, Hugh, Bruce Falls and Kathryn, Carole and Brian, and several others!  Sorry we missed your names.

Just some of today's watchers (Ann)

So many leaves yet to fall (Ann)

The colours were gorgeous! (Ann)

Weather Prediction:
At the time of writing the Weather Network is calling for light winds tomorrow from all points on the dial except east.  A 'pick your direction' kinda day!  I'll check again in the morning for a more promising wind forecast before deciding whether or not I'll be at the park.

Walter