SouthWind=Slow 28 Raptors YTD 2031

Today was slow again,with winds south and south east. Sharpshins made most of todays birds,with excitement coming when a migrating Merlin took a run at a Blue Jay. Thousands of Blue Jays were migrating all morning,through 1pm when I left for the day. Staff alerted me to a perched hawk up near the rose garden. A quick gator ride and I snapped off several photos,of a co-operative Coopers Hawk.

The next few days could be terribly slow with poor wind conditions and high humidity. That said I will likely be at the park from 8am-1pm and see what happens. The weekend now looks like the next best hope of some good count days. Sunday NE winds are predicted,which will move some birds.

Sept 16 Wind Shift..Slower Day 76 Raptors YTD-1977

Todays early west wind brought a small upflight,followed by a shift in winds,to the south which meant a real slow down in birds. That said the day was exactly as I had believed it would be,someplace between 50 to 80 raptors. Karen and Matt,Bruce,Fred,Les,Mike,Lorne,Keith,Rob and his "Muffin" all shared some of the birds today. At 1:20pm and adult Bald Eagle went past,abit high but,it was right overhead. One of the local family of Crows attacked a passing Sharpshinned Hawk on two different occassions,sorta waking us from our lethargy. Our final total was 76 birds,consisting of

1-Osprey

1-Bald Eagle

7-Northern Harrier

53 Sharpshinned Hawk

3-Coopers Hawk

4-Broadwinged Hawk

2-Redtailed Hawk

5-American Kestrel

The coming week's warm up is likely to mean several slow days,with some Sharpshinned Hawks moving and not alot else. While currently Thursday has a good north wind predicted,it also has a rather warm temperature and some humidity predicted which may work against the good wind. Right now it is the most promising day though. Saturday and Sunday at this stage look reasonable. Sunday's predicted Northeast wind is promising,but you should be aware that birds tend to be higher on NE winds as opposed to N or NW. That said its a crap shoot,and if you want to enjoy a day out,then come join in!

Record Day!! 755 Raptors..YTD-1901

First,sorry for the late post...computer difficulties. Now then,near perfect weather conditions,along with the able assistance of so many who joined in the watch today,resulted in the best one day count ever at Rosetta McClain Gardens Raptor Watch. Over the course of a very busy day,many thanks to Rob,Bob,Andrew,Carol,Susan,Bruce and Lorne(sorry to those I was so busy I didnt get to pay special attention too and get names..thanks to others who did though),for helping with spotting,identification and informing passersby of what we were doing. Some photos Rob took will be added later today(Sunday). Together we all really enjoyed many close views of multitutes of Sharpshinned Hawks,which sometimes passed as rapid fire as Blue Jays. I might also mention that early in the morning Bruce Rob and I saw somewhere between 5000-10000 Blue Jays migrating in wave after wave. 2 very close juvenile Peregrine Falcons interacting gave Rob and Bruce a real thrill(Id vacated for coffee...thanks Georgia for the hot coffeeRob Bruce and I enjoyed). Id promised Rob a low Bald Eagle and we vigilantly kept our eyes low along the lakeshore. Around 940am,Rob hollered that something big was flying low along the bluffs.It was so low and close,we lost sight of it in tight to the bluffs. It emerged giving us an amazing view of a juvenile(nest year) Bald Eagle. Rob,Bruce and myself shall not forget that one for awhile. Later another juvenile Bald Eagle passed by very close again as more of us were gathered to watch,providing more thrills. Some very low Broadwinged Hawks provided excellent views and Sharpshinned Hawks were appearing everywhere.By the end of the day,last seasons record one day count of 559 was shattered,with 755 raptors being recorded. This great total consisted of

6-Turkey Vultures

5-Osprey

5-Bald Eagles

54-Northern Harriers

569-Sharpshinned Hawks

4-Coopers Hawks

61-Broadwinged Hawks

9-Redtailed Hawks

39-American Kestrels

1-Merlin

2-Peregrines

Todays fantastic total puts my Year To Date count 724 raptors ahead of last season at the same date. Hopefully this trend continues. Thanks again to everyone for their contributions today.(please ignore the conflict in my running year to date counts if U read previous postings,with Sept 15 totals,a review and correction of all totals was done and as at today,all totals are correct and current that are stated in this post.

Sept 13 South Winds..Slow Day 54...YTD 1128

Today was exactly what I expected. Winds shifted to the south and the skies were painfully blue. Spotting in a purely blue sky,it is tough to see the raptors and rough on the eyes. The morning was abit busier then the afternoon,as after a big day like yesterday,a decent "upflight"(birds that stopped overnite nearby)can be expected. Again Sharpshinned Hawks were the most commonly seen raptor followed closely by American Kestrels. A few Osprey were seen very well in the morning also. A Merlin attacked a Sharp-shinned Hawk again today. Terry,Jaques,myself and later Tim saw :

1 Turkey Vulture
3 Osprey(ytd over 50)
1 Northern Harrier
26 Sharpshinned Hawk
20 American Kestrel
3 Merlin

Friday should be a better day for counting,with Saturdays forecast still looking great for a big movement of raptors again. Get to your favorite raptor watching site on Saturday if the predicted northwest winds hold true.

Sept 12 Raptorous Day 445...YTD 1075

Today,almost perfect conditions existed most of the day for a large movement of raptors. All southern Ontario raptor watches reported fantastic results. While Rosetta doesnt get the huge counts of other sites,we are blessed with some fantastic views that are as good as any U will get anywhere. The days count was predominantly Sharp-shinned Hawks. 63 Broadwinged Hawks(at least 50 were very close or reasonably close views) offered some terrific views,allowing me to point out various field marks to a few attending birders who are newish. The resident Coopers Hawk is very territorial and took runs at several Sharp-shinned Hawks. Low Sharpies blasted through the park through the trees,while others were along the lakeshore. By days end myself,carol,2 Eleanors,Ron,Susan and Leon enjoyed 445 raptors consisting of:

8 Osprey

1 Turkey Vulture

6 Northern Harrier

345 Sharp-shinned Hawk

3 Coopers Hawk

63 Broadwinged Hawk

7 Redtailed Hawk

11 American Kestrel

1 Merlin

Saturday still looks great for another big day.

Sept 11 TFN Visit Day Count 156..YTD 630

Today about a dozen members of the Toronto Field Naturalists joined Carol and I for some raptor watching. The weather was less than optimal at the beginning of the day,which unfortunatly meant things started very slow. With perseverence,an Osprey flew past very close offering a fantastic view. We did share a number of sightings of Sharp-shinned Hawks and Markus saw an American Crow attack a Broadwinged Hawk. A Merlin attacked a Sharpshinned Hawk too. As the last remaining TFN member left at 2pm,we had seen only 55 raptors. From 2pm-2:08pm (not a typo)Carol and I saw 31 Sharpshins,18 of which were in a messy kettle with one Coopers Hawk. Soon a few straggling TFN members arrived surprised to find us still on site and counting up a storm. Sharp-shinned Hawks were flying fast and furious,a few Broadwinged hawks(one attacked by the local Coopers Hawk),a few more Osprey,a few Kestrels and another Merlin attacking another Sharpie. In both cases the explosive speed of the Merlin was seen and marvelled at! At 4:30pm when things were finally packed in,156 raptors were seen.

1 Turkey Vulture

6 Osprey

1 Northern Harrier

126 Sharp-shinned Hawk

2 Coopers Hawk

4 Broadwinged Hawk

7 Redtailed hawk

5 American Kestrel

4 Merlin

Tomorrow and Saturday look very good if weather forecasts hold.

Sept 10 86 Raptors Today..YTD 474

Today,Carol and I strained alot to find many of the Sharpies. Keith dropped in for a short visit,but did see a few Sharpies. We had one group of 8 and later a group of 7 Sharp-shinned Hawks. The 86 raptors broke down this way
2 Osprey
2 Northern Harriers
78 Sharpshinned Hawks
1 Coopers Hawk
3 Redtailed Hawks

This was the best day of the season so far,with many more to come. Right now Saturday could be really good,but of course that forecast is subject to change.

Sept 8... 59 raptors YTD 388

As morning approached,wind forcasts changed continuously. What was to be a day of perfect conditions,gave way to a mid-day change in winds,moving raptors inland(more north then I could see). Still,Rob,Carol,Keith and I saw some good views of several species. While a number of Sharpies and Kestrels were high the clear blue skies made it seem worse then it was. Osprey were reasonably low,2 went through together..one was a huge female. 2 Merlin passed through,one made a dive at some small unseen by us,bird. The other zipped past,Im surprised Rob got a decent shot of it as it sped by.

The Broadwinged Hawks all circled together very high up. I caught what was eventually 8 American Kestrels together..I called them out as kestrels at first,then saw a whole stack of them and said ohhh no its just Swallows..then backtracked again when I got the colour on the tail of one of them. Getting it right in the end is what matters...isnt it? The final tally of 59 raptors consisted of:

1 Turkey Vulture

5 Osprey

1 Bald Eagle(adult at 11:50am)

2 Northern Harriers

13 Sharpshinned Hawks

1 Coopers Hawk

4 Broadwinged Hawks

30 American Kestrels

2 Merlin

Tomorrow the call is for rain..depending on if/when/for how long it comes,wind conditions are excellent. Better days to come. Provided there isnt a deluge,I will be at the park.

Sept 5 Day Count 43...YTD 306

Today was another decent early September migration day despite less then optimal conditions. The sky was 100% overcast most of the day. By 1pm things had pretty much shut down. Today I shared an Osprey(pictured) with Peter and while Georgia and I chatted a Peregrine Falcon made 2 passes of the park,on its return pass it took a run at a migrating Sharp-shinned Hawk. Todays total was 42 raptors consisting of:

2 Osprey

2 Northern Harrier

30 Sharpshinned Hawk

7 American Kestrel

1 Peregrine Falcon

Above is an Osprey. There seem to be several very humid days coming and then some very promising looking days after that. Always living in hopes.

Sept 3rd:Day Count 55...YTD 264

Today was warm and abit humid,which helped? to negate the good wind conditions. Still,we saw 55 raptors. A flurry of Sharpshinned Hawks with a few Northern Harriers passed by between 10am and 11am. We are doing much as "general" birders do in very early spring,hoping..wishing..willing migration to get busy and start in ernst. It's still early in hawk migration time to get a big day,but with the prediction of favorable winds we eagerly flock to our favorite raptor watching site,anticiapting skies lousy with raptors. Tomorrow is no different,there is a chance for a good day with a north element in the wind all day and a temperature cool down. The usual suspects were in attendance today,to see some portion of the 55 raptors:

2 Osprey
5 Northern Harriers
41 Sharpshinned Hawks
4 Broadwinged Hawk
1 Redtailed Hawk
1 American Kestrel
1 Merlin
55 Day Total

Sept. 2 Sharpies Push On:Day Count 29 YTD 209

Today was abit slow,but we persevered. Rob and I saw an early Osprey only about 30ft off the bluff as it made its way down along the lakeshore. Later Bob,Fred,Carol Mike and Les all joined us in enjoying the day and a few birds. Our 29 raptors consisted of:

1 Osprey
1 Broadwing
1 Redtail
1 American Kestrel
1 Merlin
2 Coopers Hawk (neither was the local..which was also seen)
22 Sharpshinned Hawks

Better days will soon be upon us,till then we have enjoyed ourselves seeing whatever comes our way.

Sept 1..Off To A Flying Start 43 Raptors

Today was another good early migration day. Once the winds shifted,it slowed down,but not before 43 birds were added to this seasons count. Sharp-shinned Hawks were the stars of the day,with 29 flying by. At Rosetta McClain Gardens,once Sharpies start,they dont seem to care at all what the winds are,they fly anyway. Last fall between the 6th and 10th of September a large number of the nearly 1000 birds seen were Sharpies,many of which were seen on what would be considered less than perfect conditions. Additionally,Bob,Rob,Keith,Carol and I saw :

6 Osprey

1 Turkey Vulture

1 Coopers Hawk

3 American Kestrels

1 Merlin

1 Northern Harrier

1 Broadwinged Hawk

Though some of the Sharpies were abit high,everything else offered good views. Rob managed some nice shots of a Broadwing and Coopers(that Ive seen so far),while I got passable shots of Turkey Vulture and Osprey(shame the osprey is silhouetted). The next several days could be spotty for migration,but I hope for the best.