Wind (current)

Dec 1st - We're Done Like Dinner

November is over and so is our raptor watching for 2018.  That doesn't mean that you should stop looking up though.  You never know what might just fly overhead.

A big thankyou to everyone who came out this season to enjoy and participate in the migration count.  Although far from our best count season, we had a helluva good time all the same!  Also, a huge thankyou to the city park staff for allowing us to conduct our count once again within the park.  Their understanding and help has always been second to none!

Raptor counts were low to very low for most species, Bald Eagles and Red-shouldered Hawks being the exceptions.  Again, as in previous years most birds likely crossed the city north of our watch site and out of our view due to all the days with a 'south' element in the wind.

Our overall bird species count was excellent, in fact our highest ever and included a few new birds for our 'Fall' and our 'Park' lists.

Our overall butterfly species count was on point and tied our record!  Butterfly numbers were low overall but the Monarch was an incredible exception.

The following is a review of what happened during our time at the Watch this fall and all stats are based on our 15 year study of migration at Rosetta...

Total Raptors (4091) - Our 13th best year ever at Rosetta McClain Gardens.  We had 10 count days with over 100 birds, of those 2 were over 500 birds.  Our highest day count occurred on October 4th when we observed 655 birds.  Unfortunately, no records were broken again this year.  Our last day of counting occurred on November 21st.

Turkey Vulture (1151) - Our 11th best year ever.  Our highest day count occurred on October 20th when we observed 397 birds.  Our last Turkey Vulture of the season was observed on November 8th.

Osprey (64) - Our 11th best year ever.  Our highest day count occurred on September 8th when we observed 11 birds.  Our last Osprey of the season was observed on October 12th.

Bald Eagle (87) - Our 4th best year ever.  Our highest day count occurred on September 8th when we observed 16 birds.  Our last Bald Eagle of the season was observed on November 14th.

Northern Harrier (165) - Our 9th best year ever.  Our highest day count occurred on October 4th when we observed 40 birds.  Our last Northern Harrier of the season was observed on November 13th.

Sharp-shinned Hawk (1524) - Our 11th best year ever.  Our highest day count occurred on October 4th when we observed 276 birds.  Our last Sharp-shinned Hawk of the season was observed on November 21st.

Cooper's Hawk (70) - Tied for 10th best year ever.  Our highest day count occurred on October 13th when we observed 10 birds.  Our last Cooper’s Hawk of the season was observed on November 20th.

Northern Goshawk (7) - Our 11th best year ever.  Our highest day counts occurred on October 20th and 21st when we observed 2 birds on each day.  Our last Northern Goshawk of the season was observed on November 20th.

Red-shouldered Hawk (63) - Our 3rd best year ever.  Our highest day count occurred on October 24th when we observed 26 birds.  Our last Red-shouldered Hawk of the season was observed on November 20th.

Broad-winged Hawk (28) - Our 11th best year ever.  Our highest day count occurred on September 6th when we observed 9 birds.  Our last Broad-winged Hawk of the season was observed on October 18th.

Red-tailed Hawk (381) - Our 12th best year ever.  Our highest day count occurred on October 24th when we observed 121 birds.  Our last Red-tailed Hawk of the season was observed on November 21st.

Rough-legged Hawk (1) - Our 14th best year ever.  Our one and only Rough-legged Hawk of the season was observed on November 8th.

Golden Eagle (3) - Our 14th best year ever.  Our first bird of the season, an adult, was observed on September 6th (very early!) and our last was observed on October 24th.

American Kestrel (374) - Our 9th best year ever.  Our highest day count occurred on October 4th when we observed 127 birds.  Our last American Kestrel of the season was observed on November 13th.

Merlin (79) - Our 7th best year ever.  Our highest day count occurred on October 4th when we observed 10 birds.  Our last Merlin of the season was observed on November 13th.

Peregrine Falcon (43) - Our 11th best year ever.  Our highest day count occurred on September 26th when we observed 7 birds.  Our last Peregrine Falcon of the season was observed on November 14th.


Rarities (0)

Unidentified Species (51) - Our best year ever - LOL!!!


Plus...

Species Survey - Birds (142) - Highlights included a new species for our 'Park List' - Barred Owl.  Our list of birds identified at Rosetta since 2001 now officially sits at 219!  Another great sighting this fall was a Northern Saw-whet Owl, only our second ever!  Every fall we always manage to find fantastic birds around the park!  Great work everyone!

Species Survey - Mammals (8) - Highlight was a couple of sightings of a fox.

Species Survey - Butterflies (28) - It was another excellent season although overall numbers were down.  We managed to tie last year's high count of 28 species.  One new butterfly species was observed and photographed, a Milbert's Tortoiseshell on September 1st (I believe).  Other great sightings included a Pipevine Swallowtail and a handful of the newly named Eastern Giant Swallowtail.  Of interest, the Painted Lady butterfly which we observed in great numbers last fall was nearly non-existant this season....we saw only 1 or 2!  On August 30th we witnessed an estimated count of 15000 Monarchs migrating along the Bluffs!  A few days later on September 6th there were roughly 12000 more!  Both counts were conservative!  Our final count of Monarchs for the fall was just under 37000 - a very promising number!  We'll wait to see what the experts say next spring after the overall count numbers come back from Mexico.


Monarch Butterfly Tagging (2169) - Terry and Betty, with the help of many others, managed to capture, collect data, tag, and release a new record 2169 Monarchs!  On September 11th the team affixed tags to 172 Monarchs!  We now wait to see how many of the tags are found in the mountains of Mexico during the spring of 2019.

Fantastic work everyone!  Thank you once again!


Walter

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