Nov 1 No Day Can Be All Bad When U See A Golden Eagle

Another day where we remember raptors dont read weather reports. There should have been alot more seen then was. An almost pitiful 41 raptors were observed,though we did have some very nice views of what was seen. At 12:30pm,I looked out over the lake and spotted the hoped for Golden Eagle,well enjoyed by Ron,Bruce Falls,and myself.Included are photos of A Golden Eagle(gull with it gives size perspective) and a Redtailed Hawk being harrassed by 2 of 3 American Crows. Down on the lake,a large "slick" of Long-tailed Ducks and hundreds of Common Mergansers,could be seen. Our final total today of 41 raptors consisted of:
2-Northern Harriers
5-Sharpshinned Hawks
2-Coopers Hawks
27-Red-tailed Hawks
1-Golden Eagle(12:30pm)
2-American Kestrels
1-Merlin
1-Peregrine Falcon

Also seen today,several flocks of Eastern Bluebirds,Cedar Waxwings,Pine Siskins and a few Common Redpolls were seen,flying past or landing briefly in the park. Towards the end of the day,a Yellow-rumped Warbler was seen "hawking" bugs.
Right now Saturday looks like the next best chancce to see some raptors.

Todays Total 231..YTD...5508

Eventually today became most of what was expected of it. Early arrivals were almost ready to pack it in for the day,when around 10:30am,a few vultures and Redtails were spotted circling together. While hoped for Golden Eagles failed to appear,all gathered went home happy. We saw a Bald Eagle at 4:15pm,many Redtailed Hawks near and far as well as several close views of a Northern Goshawk,which made several passes of the park(it may hang around awhile). With 4 or 5 other Redtailed Hawks,was what we believe was a dark-morph Redtailed Hawk. Jean got her scope on it,and the shape and pattern indicated the same. A new passerine for the park was recorded and photographed..Common Redpoll,a small flock of which landed in a tree almost right beside us. The large number of friends and visitors gathered,observed 231 raptors today.

21-Turkey Vultures

1-Bald Eagle

2-Northern Harriers

12-Sharpshinned Hawks

3-Coopers Hawks

3-Northern Goshawks

2-Redshouldered Hawks

185-Redtailed Hawks

1-Roughlegged Hawk

1-Merlin

Thanks to everyone for their contributions today. Hundreds of Mergansers were seen feeding,down at the lake today.

Oct24 Day Count 90 YTD...5243

Today wasnt bad,but not near as good as Id hoped for. Bueteos were almost non-existant and no left over Vultures were seen. I havent heard but I dont think the strongish NW winds predicted ever materialized. Carol,Lee,Ann(on her lunch),Jaedon a newbie who joined us from the Toronto Birding Board(a message board),Margaret,Ron,Jean and myself saw a respectable 90 birds,though visitors had varying sucess. The 90 birds were made up of:

1-Bald Eagle(1:05pm Juvenile)

9-Northern Harriers

64-Sharpshinned Hawks

6-Redtailed Hawks

5-American Kestrels

5-Merlin

We had great looks at a few of the Merlin,many Sharpies a few of the Harriers and the Bald Eagle which flew close into the bluffs. Also seen were a few flocks of Eastern Bluebirds,a Carolina Wren,thousands of Red-winged Blackbirds and a beautiful ,healthy looking Red Fox.

Oct 22 And The Sharpies Keep On Comin

Today was another day of flight of the Sharpshinneds,but the excitement of the day was a local Redtailed Hawk,which has now taken to hunting the park. It perched nearby several times,and Ann got some great inflight shots too(one sample provided). Todays count of 79 Sharpies,pushed the count to a new yearly record,surpassing last years final total of 2561(current year total is 2577) with several good days yet to come.

Todays count was:

79-Sharpshinned Hawks

1-Coopers Hawk

2-Redtailed Hawks

2-American Kestrels

The Year To Date total is now 5153.

Oct 21 Adult Sharpies On The Move

The beautiful weather,that southern Ontario has been enjoying,kills migration. On the plus side,adult Sharp-shinned Hawks dont read weather reports,and seeing a good number of Sharpies is a guarentee right now. Once they decided its time to leave,they just go. Recently we have had many visitors,including my friends Rodger and Jane from Cheshire UK,Alan from New York via Grenada,Lee,Chris,Carol,Rob,Victor,Ron,Jean,Berle and others who I appologize to for not getting your names. Its been great to see so many first time visitors,that have now made return visits. New folks really make things more enjoyable,with new people to meet and get to know. All those extra eyes definetly help too. Today we added 98 raptors to the season total,breaking the 5000 raptor mark,which is 4 or 5 days ahead of last year. I will add several photos tomorrow,but wanted to get an update on. Todays total of 98 was madde up of
3-Northern Harriers
83-Sharpshinned Hawks
2-Coopers Hawks
1-Northern Goshawk
1-Redtailed Hawk
4-American Kestrels
1-Merlin
3-Peregrine Falcons(one very interesting one...stay tuned)

Our current total is 5069. Recently Pine Siskens and Surf Scoters were added to the ever increasing list of birds seen in,over and around Rosetta McClain Gardens,which stands at about 175(I will determine exact number soon). On Oct 20 2 small flocks of Eastern Bluebirds were seen flying past.

Oct 16th 68 Raptors...YTD..4895

Today,Rodger,Jane,Margaret,Murray and myself had a reasonable day,given the conditions. On the plus side,almost everything seen was very close and first time visitor Murray saw his first Rosetta raptor(the Bald Eagle). I enjoyed seeing the local Coopers Hawk harrass a Red-shouldered Hawk,which landed briefly in a tree along the bluffs for refuge. I took 2 steps in the direction of the tree to take a photo(it was at least 1/3 of the park away from me) and it took off. A few Redtailed Hawks streamed along the edge of the bluffs,followed by a juvenile Bald Eagle at 11:40am. All 4 Turkey Vultures also went right along the bluffs at or below eye level. It seemed there were definete lulls between short bursts of birds. The final total of 68 birds consisted of :
4-Turkey Vultures
1-Bald Eagle
9-Northern Harriers
21-Sharpshinned Hawks
5-Coopers Hawks
3-Red-shouldered Hawks
24-Redtailed Hawks
1-American Kestrel

The next week is very iffy...if it isnt raining I'll be there.

Vultures Ahoy...Day Count 499..YTD..4796

Sometime after 11am,by which time we had only 22 raptors,the squadrons of Turkey Vultures began to arrive. Within about 20minutes we saw about 150 and they just kept coming. As many of those gathered are newer raptor watchers,the volume of Turkey Vultures was very impressive,and I must say it was the biggest day for them yet at Rosetta. We saw many kettles of Vultures,with a Redtail,Sharpie or Red-shoulder thrown in. More people left,and Les,Berle and myself were treated to a Northern Goshawk,on which I was able to point out various characteristics to Leslie,an immature Bald Eagle..ID'd properly from a photo..at the time I couldnt get any colour looking at it and mistakenly recorded it as a Golden. ,and 3 immature Golden Eagles! Times 2:15,2:20(2 came) and the Bald was basically same time. One of the eagles circled with a Redtail,first just offering a great lesson in size contrast and wing shape,and then the eagle got annoyed at the hawk and turned its tallons up and grabbed at it! Quite a thrill to see. Our final total was 499 raptors,consisting of:

393-Turkey Vultures

1-Bald Eagle

3-Northern Harriers

29-Sharpshinned Hawks

7-Coopers Hawks

1-Northern Goshawk

4-Red-shouldered Hawks

54-Redtailed Hawks

3-Golden Eagles

3-American Kestrels

1-Merlin

The 393 Turkey Vultures is a new one day record for this site. Thanks to everyone for their contributions and commraderie,without all those extra eyes,I would have missed alot.

Oct 12 Golden Moments..Day Count 386..YTD..4250

Today was another day with optimal conditions. Myself,Ron,Carol,Berle,Lee,Gunner,Rodger and Jane,as well as a small class of kids enjoyed some great raptors. We saw 13 of the 15 species normally seen in southern Ontario today. The first 3 Golden Eagles of the season and first 4 Red-shouldered Hawks(one was below us) of the season were the true excitement of the day. A few small kettles of Vultures were also enjoyed. Todays final numbers:
222-Turkey Vultures
2-Osprey
1-Bald Eagle
5-Northern Harrier
73-Sharpies
6-Coopers Hawk
4-Red-shouldered Hawk(2 very well)
3-Broadwinged Hawk
59-Redtails
3-Golden Eagles(all juvie)
4-American Kestrel
3-Merlin
1-Peregrine Falcon
386-Final Total

The current year to date total is 4250 which was not acheived until Oct 20th last year.All ready this season Ive seen more Osprey(94),TVs(609) and Peregrines(65) then any other season at Rosetta. The weekends weather looks good for some good movement of raptors,with Sunday looking the better of the 2 days as they are predicted right now. Other special sightings 10 Common Loons on the lake,heard several times calling and one Shrike most likely a Northern.

Oct 11..Record TUrkey Vulture Day..YTD Total..3864

Today was a very clear day! I started by taking a few shots of Niagara Falls..the city and the mist rising up from the acutal Falls. I usually have a good day if I can count 20 raptors by 10am. Today I had already counted 49 by 10am. It just got better. From 11-12,I counted 188 raptors. The final total was 380. Squadrons of Turkey Vultures passed over us,and formed small kettles from 10-25 at a time. Jean and her scope were a great help at spotting and IDing several somewhat distant birds,but most were pretty close to us. In the end,Ron,Jean,Berle and a few others,saw 380 raptors,made up of:

286-Turkey Vultures

1-Osprey

1-Bald Eagle

5-Northern Harrier

56-Sharpshinned Hawks

4-Coopers Hawk

20-Redtailed Hawks

5-American Kestrel

1-Merlin

1-Peregrine Falcon

The next several days,conditions are optimal for a huge raptor movement. Im sure Golden Eagle,Red-shouldered Hawks and Goshawks will start to move. Hope to see U out!

Start of Something Big...Day Count 139 YTD..3484

The day began with another beautiful sunrise...yes I was at the park early! Shortly after sunrise,the first 2 Sharpshinned Hawks flew past. A few moments later the first of 18..yes 18 Peregrine Falcons went through. By 10am Id seen 10 Peregrines,tying the countsite record set last fall. The final tally of 18,was if anything understated,as I know there is one Peregrine thats currently local,which made several passes of the park,so in an effort not to double count,several times I allowed a Peregrine to pass without recording it. At about 130pm,Rodger and Jane,friends visiting from the UK..Cheshire,and Ron were on their way home. About 2pm,Margaret another visitor from the UK had arrived for the afternoon. All were treated to some excellent views of migrating raptors. Almost all of todays birds were very close. The final total of 139 consisted of:

47-Turkey Vulture

2-Osprey

15-Northern Harrier

40-Sharpshined Hawk

3-Coopers Hawk

3-Redtailed Hawk

8-American Kestrel

3-Merlin

18-Peregrine Falcon

The 18 Peregrine Falcons was a real thrill,particularily for myself,as I do a good deal of volunteer work with The Canadian Peregrine Foundation. An Osprey,Ann and I saw harrassed by 2 Ring-billed Gulls,was abit of excitement and also a great contrast in size. The next week looks very promising,though rain is called for several days,often the duration of the rain is very short,and will do little to discourage migration.

October 9 Good Sightings On Slow Day YTD 3345

With the humidity finally gone,I couldnt stay inside,so despite less than optimal conditions I went to the park. The total for the day was only 18,but 2 close Osprey and 8 very close Peregrine Falcons made the day worthwhile,not to mention good conversation with Ann. She was still buzzing over how great the day before was. Todays birds were:

2-Osprey

2-Northern Harrier

1-Sharpshinned Hawk

2-Redtailed Hawk

3-American Kestrel

8-Peregrine Falcon

One of the Peregrines made several passes of the park. Hopefully it will appear on a clearer day.

Thanks to Leslie for taking the time and effort to record the migrating raptors today and all who helped her,mentioned in her report.

(Bald Eagle photos from Ann Brokelman..more soon)

As reported by Leslie.

We arrived at the park at 10am with our friends Laura and Harvey and were shocked that no one was by the fence. We're glad that it was just the humidity that kept you away and that you are OK otherwise. Everyone who stopped or walked by asked where you were. We thought you were enjoying turkey time with your family.

Because no one was there, I was concerned that maybe I picked a bad day. Then, Lorne showed up and told me that he had been seeing lots of Sharpies in the last half hour. He said he'd give you his numbers from before 10am.) We were later joined by Ron Pittaway, Mary, Vern, Beryl, and Ann (with the camera).

As you've likely heard by now, it was a good day. Many of the birds (Osprey and Bald Eagles) were low and gave us great views. We were an excited bunch! Because I had the notebook, I became the official recorder. It's hard work! By the end, I was almost dizzy by everyone making calls and trying to see birds myself. I was counting from 10am to 1:30pm. The birds slowed down after 12:30pm when it got really hot and humid. Here are the numbers:
- 303 Sharpies
- 3 Cooper's Hawks
- 1 Red-Tailed Hawk
- 1 Merlin
- 7 Peregrine Falcons
- 3 Osprey
- 4 American Kestrels
- 39 Northern Harriers
- 8 Turkey Vultures
- 2 Bald Eagles
- 3 Unknown (Ron didn't get a good look at them, as they went by so quickly)
--------
374 TOTAL(Lorne's totals to be added still)

Regards,

Leslie