With a moderate N-NE wind throughout the morning and in to the early afternoon, it turned out to be a fairly good late August day. A few of us were still at the park at 6:00pm but mostly just to talk. At day's end we had added the following to the count...
Today:
Osprey - 4
Bald Eagle - 10
Broad-winged Hawk - 1
Red-tailed Hawk - 1
American Kestrel - 13
Peregrine Falcon - 1
Total - 30
To Date:
Osprey - 8
Bald Eagle - 12
Northern Harrier - 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 2
Broad-winged Hawk - 2
Red-tailed Hawk - 1
American Kestrel - 14
Peregrine Falcon - 1
Unidentified Raptor - 1
Total - 42
Eagle Time (EDT):
10:06am - BE - 1
11:12am - BE - 1
11:33am - BE - 1
11:39am - BE - 2
11:49am - BE - 1
12:38pm - BE - 1
01:44pm - BE - 1
02:25pm - BE - 2
An interesting 'hawk watching' moment came late in the afternoon as we watched the local Cooper's Hawk and local Merlin go at it over the east end of the park and eventually out over the lake. As they returned back over the bluffs the Coop's interest switched to an incoming Osprey. They went at one another all the way across the park and out the west side. This battle produced two firsts for me - I've never seen an Osprey get so pissed at another raptor and, I've never seen an Osprey do the 'talons up' flip - not once but several times! Very cool!!!
Other Birds:
Turkey Vulture (local), Cooper's Hawk (local), Merlin (local), Eastern Bluebird (6), Common Nighthawk (7), and a couple of Great Blue Herons.
Insects:
Monarch migration was amazing today with a very likely under-estimated count of 15,000! Many many times I could see 10-15 monarchs at once in my binoculars without scanning. They filled the sky at all heights. Dragonfly migration picked up as the day progressed.
Hawkwatchers:
Bruce F, Jean, Berle, Sheldon, Ron, Glen, Trudy, Cori, Lee and myself. Thankyou everyone!
See you again soon,
Walter
Aug 27th - Updated Raptor Count
To Date:
Osprey - 4
Bald Eagle - 2
Northern Harrier - 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 2
Broad-winged Hawk - 1
American Kestrel - 1
Unidentified Raptor - 1
Total - 12
See you soon,
Walter
Osprey - 4
Bald Eagle - 2
Northern Harrier - 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 2
Broad-winged Hawk - 1
American Kestrel - 1
Unidentified Raptor - 1
Total - 12
This beautiful Merlin appears to be staying in the area (Julie)
See you soon,
Walter
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)