Beautiful Day Few Raptors..26

We enjoyed a beautiful day today,but after a steady start,by 11am not much was flying. Watchers broke away to check nearby trees for migrating Warblers. We did enjoy close passes of an Osprey and a few Redtailed Hawks. One was chased by a family of American Crows. Walter and I had a good look at a Merlin,which is the medium sized falcon. Being lakeside,we are fortunate to consistantly see all 3 falcon species in one day,American Kestrel,Merlin and Peregrine Falcon. Todays total of 26 birds of prey consisted of:
1-Osprey
1-Northern Harrier
13-Sharpshinned Hawks
1-Coopers Hawk
3-Redtailed Hawks
4-American Kestrels
3-Merlin

Right now Saturday is forecast as a good Northeast wind,which would move a good number of birds. The remainder of this week is hit and miss. There is a chance Friday's strong east wind will bring a number of Peregrine Falcons along beside the bluffs.

Day Count 109 High Birds Today

With northeast winds most of the day,we enjoyed a good day,with 109 raptors. A 2nd year Bald Eagle was fairly close up,while one of the Osprey went by bluffside. Much thanks to Leslie and Walter for their spotting. We had a good group of folks out today including Ann,Carol,Berle,Murray,Bryan,Mike,Les,Walter,Andrew and Don..my thanks to everyone for your contirbutions. Todays total consisted of::

Osprey-5

Bald Eagles-2

Northern Harriers-3

Sharpshinned Hawks-56

Coopers Hawk-1

Redtailed Hawk-1

American Kestrels-39

Merlin-1

Peregrine Falcon-1

Sept 19 and 20 More Than A Pair A Grins...Total 32 Raptors

Sept 19:

Desptie a slow day of raptor counting,the early morning (pre9am) provided the most exciting siting of the day,possibly the season. Ann,Walter,Rob and I observed,at first 3 distant Peregrine Falcons approaching,playing and calling as they did so.Eventually the 3 Peregrines were over the park,still calling,talon touching/clasping and bumping each other.It was great fun to watch.They zoomed all around the area and dove. At first I believed all 3 were juvenile but after viewing Anns photos,clearly one is adult. Ann left for work around 930am,and at 945am I got a cellphone call from her saying she saw 3 Peregrines at Victoria Park and Eglinton(reasonably nearby as the Peregrine flys),thinking that it was the same 3. I interrupted letting her know it was not,as we had 2 juvenile females flying around the park at that very moment. They put on a real show! From Anns photos,I could see they all had the black bands(white numbers/letters we couldnt see) which indicates they were banded in Ontario.In another I could see the US Fish and Wildlife band which we put on the other leg.(WE as I volunteer with the Canadian Peregrine Foundation). Thanks to Ann her many photos. I chose a few for posting.

Sept 20

Todays count was pitifully slow,totalling only 11. We did enjoy a fun day,with our many friends who dropped by the park. Today we had to remember the saying Ive modified for our watch...A bad day at Rosetta McClain Gardens Raptor Watch is better then a good day at work!

The 2 days total raptors was 32,consisting of:

2-Turkey Vultures

1-Osprey

2-Northern Harriers

15-Sharpshinned Hawks

1-Redtailed Hawk

3-American Kestrels

3-Merlin

5-Peregrine Falcons

Sunday and Monday look like they could be very good days. Dress warm if you join us. Better to take a layer off then be cold all day.

Sept 18 Rosetta Photo Day......156 Raptors

Suprisingly today brought quite a decent count. Berle,Tim,Walter,Ann and myself enjoyed some fantastic views of low and close Osprey,a Turkey Vulture and a perched Merlin. All provided terrific photo opportunities. Spotting Sharpshinned Hawks in the clear blue sky was very challanging,we'd like to think not too many got past us. Todays total was:

1-Turkey Vulture

8-Osprey

2-Northern Harriers

110-Sharpshinned Hawks

4-Coopers Hawks

1-Broadwinged Hawk

2-Redtailed Hawks

26-American Kestrels

1-Merlin(very photogenic)

1-Peregrine Falcon

Todays total put us over 1100 raptors for the season. Upon analysis,though this total is significantly lower then the same time last season(owing to a hot spell and rain after the hurricanes),only Sharpshinned Hawks and Northern Harriers(which may have had breeding sucess issues due to all of the rain in the spring),are down...groan..sharply. Several other specie counts are up very slightly and any deficits in other specie counts could easily be made up. Last year on the 19th I didnt count at all,so tomorrows total will all be catch up.(not to be confused with Ketsup).Sundays north-east winds look promising for a good count,while Saturdays south-west winds may bring alot of Sharpies. (Todays Osprey is my photo)

Sept 17..96 Raptors YTD..963

Today was a beautiful day,marked by a very slow mid-day. Sharpshinned Hawks moved through steadily all day,with a spike at the end of the day. Most of the day it was Walter and myself manning the watch,later joined by Peter and Ann. We all got to witness an Osprey attacked by the local Coopers Hawk. Though it was but a short moment in time,it seemed longer and will live in our memories. Susan joined us briefly and saw a few Sharpshins,with hopes of joining us soon for better days. Todays final total was 96

4-Osprey

71-Sharpshinned Hawks

1-Coopers Hawk

17-American Kestrels

2-Merlins

1-Peregrine Falcon

Thursday looks like a potentially good day,with north winds early in the day and north-east winds later. This will definetly push us over 1000 on our year count with hopes of a significant boost to that total. (Osprey photo from Sept 15)

Today was about as expected,I thought we would see between 30-50 raptors and we saw 75. A kettle of 6 Northern Harriers was nice to see,4 more Osprey and 2 Merlin,one which zoomed by me at such a speed that I heard the beat of its wings,were the highlights,until noon. At noon while Walter was amusing himself looking for butterflys,he looked up and hollered Bald Eagle. Immediately all gathered scrambled to view an adult Bald Eagle,circling over the park. We had several interested passersby,who will likely return to join us soon. I met Peter Wood,who writes a birding column in a local newspaper called,The Bluffs Monitor,about birding in the bluffs. He said he would like to do an article on me/the watch,which suits me fine. This will introduce the watch to about 25000 people(the papers circulation). It is a good opportunity to inform many folks about the incredible birds we love so much. Peter runs a birding course,and the participants,will join us soon on a weekend sometime. Im sure as a result some new folks will come to the watch,but I dont believe it will cause a problem so far as huge volumes of people joining in.
Todays final total was 75,consisting of:
2-Turkey Vultures
4-Osprey
1-Bald Eagle (adult)
7-Northern Harriers
32-Sharpshinned Hawks
2-Coopers Hawks
5-Broadwinged Hawks
1-Redtailed Hawk
19-American Kestrels
2-Merlin
867-Year To Date
The next few days should bring some decent movements,with colder nights and winds that while not optimal,still good enough to help many raptors along. Thanks to Walter,Carol,Murry and Tim for their help and enthusiasm. Thanks to Peter for his interest..a pleasure to meet you. Special visitors included Clive and Libby from Devon in England,who saw a few raptors and enjoyed a lively conversation. Sharing the birds with all of you adds to the watch greatly.

All Day NW Winds = All Day Hawks Day Count 407

Today,after a few days of US storm remenants,we had all day northwest winds all over southern Ontario. This meant all of the raptor watches had great days. Prime time for Broadwinged Hawks meant bigger days for some then others. Today we enjoyed great views of all 11 species that are regularily seen at this time during migration. Towards the end of the day many birds were very high. 2 good sized kettles(for Rosetta) of Broadwings,passed after 3pm. The largest containing 64. The BIG thrill of the day came at 3:45pm,when Walter and I saw 4 Bald Eagles go through together. The total of 6 seen today was a park record. Also a park record were the 15 Osprey seen today. Todays total of 407 raptors was:

6-Turkey Vultures

15-Osprey(park record)

6-Bald Eagles(park record)

7-Northern Harriers

194-Sharpshinned Hawks

6-Coopers Hawks

129-Broadwinged Hawks

3-Redtailed Hawks

36-American Kestrels

3-Merlins

2-Peregrine Falcons

Much thanks to Walter,Ann,Carol,Peter,Mary,Berle,Vern,Rob and Vinnie for their help and interest today. It was great viewing and a great time.

Sept.11 Day Count 25 YTD 386

Today was about what I expected,with winds that went southeast early in the day. We had some wonderfully low birds,including Turkey Vultures,one of 2 Merlins,both Osprey and a Redtail that landed in the park. The Redtail also put on a display of kiting into the wind. Todays total was 25,consisting of :

5-Turkey Vultures
2-Osprey
1-Northern Harrier
9-Sharpshinned Hawks
1-Redtailed Hawks
5-American Kestrels
2-Merlins

The weekend looks terrible,counts are unlikely. Both Monday and Tuesday currently look excellent for large movements of raptors and small birds too for that matter.

Osprey and Bald Eagles Day Count 32

Today winds in the early morning were decent,by noon things had died down. We saw 2 very close juvenile Bald Eagles,one I showed a jogger. He was quite excited,checking it out with my binoculars,declaring it was the first he had ever seen. We also had several close Osprey among 8 we saw today. The final total was 32 raptors:
8-Osprey
2-Bald Eagles
15-Sharpshinned Hawks
2-Coopers Hawks
4-American Kestrels
1-Merlin
We had a local Kestrel land on a tree briefly offering great views. Things wrapped up around 2pm. This coming Monday and Tuesday look like they could be big days. Tomorrow there is a decent chance there will be a good flight of Sharpies.

Best Day Of Season So Far

Today's day long northwest winds,brought the best count thus far this fall. Many watchers,new and regulars enjoyed views of 136 birds. While some were painfully high,many were nice and low. Several of the Broadwinged Hawks circled at a low level allowing for great viewing and a chance to mention field marks differentiating them from Redtailed Hawks. We had a 2nd year Bald Eagle which started out over the lake and circled over us for about 10-15minutes,before eventually moving back more out over the lake and away. Many Sharpshinned Hawks provided close views,as did passing Kestrels. It was great to finally have a good day,after sitting through some less than stellar days.The final total of 136 raptors consisted of:

5-Osprey
2-Bald Eagles(2nd year and an adult)
4-Northern Harriers
94-Sharpshinned Hawks
4-Coopers Hawks
13-Broadwinged Hawks
14-American Kestrels

Despite what appeared to be a slow start to the season,todays total brings us to within 62 of last seasons total. Tomorrow's weather isnt optimal,but once Sharpshinned Hawks decide they are going winds dont seem to matter at Rosetta.(northwest is best,but not the only wind birds are seen on). Thanks to everyone who came out today for your help spotting and for your interest. I hope to see you all out again soon.

Slow Start

With unusually hot and humid weather the first week of September has been slow. Sharpshinned Hawks and Kestrels are moving the most,and with a good wind expected Sept 8,many more should be seen. If we can get clear of the ends of the hurricanes things should pick up. Interesting sightings included an American Kestrel alarm calling as it flew along the bluff being attacked repeatedly by a Ruby-throated Hummingbird. Walter and I also saw the local Coopers Hawk have a prolonged fight with the local American Kestrel. (pictured are a Northern Harrier and an Osprey)

Current totals are:

10-Turkey Vulture

15-Osprey

2-Bald Eagle

7-Northern Harrier

59-Sharpshinned Hawk

9-Coopers Hawk

7-Broadwinged Hawk

15-Redtailed Hawk

34-American Kestrel

3-Merlin

4-Peregrine Falcon

165-Season Total

Also seen nicely were 2 Common Nighthawks,Wilson's Warbler,Great Egret and a local Redtailed Hawk fly by with food in its tallons. Walter saw a Fox in the park. Colin and Walter saw an Otter along the lakeshore.

Sept 2 A Few Raptors Despite The Heat

Despite high heat and humidity,a decent early September count of 23 raptors was observed. Sharpshinned Hawks were the bird of the day,with 15 being seen. They came in their usual spot,over the big Poplar tree along the side of the bluffs. The days only Osprey came right along the bluffs below eye level,offering a great view. With a humidex of 36c tomorrow,its unlikel I will attend. Todays total of 23 raptors consisted of

1-Osprey
15-Sharpshinned Hawks
1-Coopers Hawk
6-American Kestrels

Year to date 121.