Sept29th Good Views 21 Birds

Walter manned the watch today..many thanks to him for that. The following is his report.

I was at Rosetta from 8 until 5 today and although a slow day, not all was lost. With much help from Berle, Lee (2 visits), and Peter (they spotted most big birds today!), the following was seen:

Total Birds - 21

OS - 5
BE - 2 (12:45 PM - Juvenile) (4:06 PM - Juvenile)
NH - 1
SS - 10
AK - 1
PG - 2

Notes: Both Eagles flew by close to the bluffs and didn't circle until they got down around the end of Birchmount or so . Both Peregrines were out over the water but not too high up and with today's poor lighting conditions, made it good for viewing of the field markings.

Walter

Good Friends Good Winds Good Birds Day Count 172

Today we finally had all day north winds. While they didnt seem near as strong as predicted,all gathered (too numerous to mention..dont wanna slight anyone)enjoyed many good sightings. 5 Bald Eagles were a highlight,including a juvenile,which flew below us along the bluffs at 506pm. Earlier at 3:45pm,a full adult flew by offering a good view. Of the 50 American Kestrels seen,many offered nice views. 2 had a little go with each other. Ann caught that interaction nicely. By days end,the final tally was 172 consisting of:

25-Turkey Vultures

5-Osprey

5-Bald Eagles

6-Northern Harriers

68-Sharpshinned Hawks

4-Coopers Hawks

4-Redtailed Hawks

50-American Kestrels

2-Merlins

3-Peregrine Falcons

This brings the season total to 1501. The next week's weather looks very iffy,with predictions for alot of rain.Lets hope "they" are wrong. Thanks again to everyone who came out and enjoyed the day with us.

Rain Rain Go Away Day Total 9

Well...Saturdays good conditions disappeared. Happily almost everyone read the weather right and stayed home today. A flurry of 2 Coopers Hawk,a Kestrel and an Osprey arrived at 10:01am,almost clashing. Luckily the good company helped pass a poor day. Ann got a couple of silhouettes today. I thought with little to report Id show 2. A Peregrine Falcon and an American Kestrel.

They are both in the falcon family. The Peregrine is the largest falcon we see in southern Ontario on a regular basis. The American Kestrel is the smallest. One defining feature of a falcon is the "sharp" wings. They are "pointed",while hawks have rounded wings. The Kestrel has a wing span of 23inches(58cm) and a length of 10inches(26cm),while the much larger Peregrine Falcon has a wingspan of 36-44inches(91-112cm) and a length of 16-20inches(41-51cm). In both species females are larger then males. In the case of Peregrine Falcons females can be up to 2/3 larger then the male,whose name is tiercel which means one-third.

Todays count was:

2-Osprey

1-Sharpie

2-Coopers Hawks

3-American Kestrels

1-Peregrine Falcon

Conditions for Sunday remain excellent as at the time of posting 940pm Saturday.

East Winds Slow Day

There was no count the last few days,but I have included a few birds people saw while at Rosetta over the last few days. We counted today and saw only a few birds again. Total 34 Birds.
Saturday is iffy now as to whether there will be a large movement..we remain hopeful. I will be on site irreguardless of the weather tomorrow. Sunday still looks great for a big movement of raptors.

Recent count:
7-Turkey Vultures
2-Osprey
1-Northern Harrier
13-Sharpshinned Hawks
4-Coopers Hawks
5-American Kestrels
1-Merlin
1-Peregrine Falcon

This pushes this years total to over 1300 raptors. That is down significantly,owing mostly to missing a few big days of Sharpshinned Hawk counts. Because of weather conditions good and bad,fewer Sharpies have moved past the count area. Most other species aside from Harriers(as noted earlier likely a poor breeding year) are at the levels of previous seasons or even a little ahead. Large movements abit later of Redtails and Turkey Vultures will be necessary to make up the numbers.

No Birds,So You Get A Few Photos

Today no raptors were seen that could be counted at Rosetta. Peter Wood came by to show me his article on myself and the Rosetta McClain Raptor Watch. I will wait until the article is out before posting it. It is both complimentary and informative. It hits all the high points.

The photos are,my shot of 3 Peregrine Falcons in almost a perfect formation..they really put on a show. Thanks to Susan for her shot of a Turkey Vulture. Lastly a shot of a Redtailed Hawk,also mine.

The next couple of days dont look very good,thats to say the weather is too nice for much in the way of migration. Its unlikely I will attend the site on Wednesday. Friday through next Tuesday look like there are many promising days. Fridays strong east wind,Im interested to see what it brings. Depending on when predicted rains come Saturday,it could be very good. Sunday and beyond look excellent for good movements of birds.

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.