Aug. 7th A Few More Raptors

Today was another reasonable day,after almost a solid month of crazy heat and humidity. Walter and I were joined by Carol,Betty,Ann,Pat and Nancy who all enjoyed some birds and chatting. Early in the morning I saw a female Merlin. The first sign a raptor was in the area,was a flurry of Starlings and pigeons taking to the air. Immediately I began a scan of the sky and didnt take long to see the Merlin in chase. It bumped one of the pigeons,eventually breaking off its hunt,perching for long enough to make a clear ID,before carrying on in search of breakfast. Later we saw an American Kestrel hunting the bluff,which Ann caught flying past.

She had something in her talons.

Todays total was 7 including

3-Turkey Vultures

1-Redtailed Hawk

2-American Kestrels

1-Merlin

These birds were different ones from yesterday,as the Kestrels have either been different sexes or in different molts. The hunting Kestrel was local and not recorded.

There were thousands of Double Crested Cormorants seen out fishing today. A very large stream of them flowed from the Leslie Spit(Tommy Thompson Park) area to beyond the Scarborough Bluffs. Hundreds(at leasts) of Barn and Northern Roughwinged Swallows were again seen migrating past,as well as a few Hummingbirds and many Cedar Waxwings. We saw 2 more Great Blue Herons go by headed west,bringing the 2 day total to 14. Ann captured this rather unique view of the Great Blues flying past us today.

The next several days will be hit and miss,as early August so often is.

Raptor Watch 2010 Has Begun

The 2010 Rosetta McClain Gardens Raptor Watch has begun! Early August bring the first of the migrating birds of prey for us to count at Rosetta McClain Gardens.


Today Walter,Carol,Pat,Nancy and I saw the first few migrants of 2010. Early August is usually fairly slow,with things picking up in mid to late August and really firing up in week 2 of September. We had our first migrating raptor at 938am,a juvenile Broadwinged Hawk. By 2pm we had seen 8 raptors. The Broadwinged Hawk,an Osprey,a Coopers Hawk,2 American Kestrels and 3 Turkey Vultures.
Additionally we saw many Barn and Northern Roughwinged Swallows,a few Purple Martins,Chimney Swifts,many Cedar Waxwings,a few Ruby-throated Hummingbirds,many Baltimore Oriole and a BlueGray Gnatcatcher. Stay tuned.

We invite everyone to join us starting in September,when we will be present daily from 7am-2pm at at least. Look for us near the fence at the edge of the Bluffs. Bring binoculars or scopes,water and lunch! A chair may be advisable. There is a chance to see 15 species of raptors seen in southern Ontario. Anyone wishing to attend before September is welcome,but just a reminder its quite slow and if weather isnt condusive to migration we may not be present.

Year End 4515 Raptors

Another season has come to an end. Thanks to everyone who helped count,spot and contributed photos for the blog. Special thanks to Walter,without whom things would just not be the same. Thanks to Ann,Lee,Walter and Tu for photos this year. Their generous sharing of images adds a great deal to this site. Thanks to Betty for so many hot chocolates to keep Walter and I going during some frosty days in October and November. Thanks again to the staff of Rosetta McClain Gardens Don,Richard,Charlene,Ron,Billy,Frank,Ryan and Gary for their help with storage of materials,passing them out,directing park goers to us and cold drinks in hot weather and warm ones in the cold weather. All you all do,help things run much smoother and help the watch to grow. To the all of the regular irregulars,an ever expanding gang,thanks for your help,support and commraderie. Your participation adds greatly to the enjoyment for all of us and for new folks. Its great that everyone is a good ammbassador for not just our watch,but the birding community as a whole and dare I say positive representation of our city to park visitors from far and near.

A very crisp clear day,we were able to see the city of Niagara Falls and the mist from same very clearly.


November 30th marked the end of the watch,which finished up with 3 raptors. A Redtailed Hawk,a Sharpshinned Hawk and a Red Shouldered Hawk. I was quite surprised to have such a great turn out to wrap things up. Walter and I were joined by Peter,Brad,Skiff,,Ann,Carol,Betty(with a final round of hot chocolate),Pat,Nancy and Bill.


This season was a funny one for weather,which affected all raptor watches in Ontario. Totals at most were down considerably beacause of very poor totals of Broadwinged Hawks. Winds at the time they migrated were not right and this resulted in few being observed relative to historic levels. Fortunately for us at Rosetta McClain Raptor watch,Broadwinged Hawks are a very small percentage of the total raptors we usually see,so our final tally of 4515 was not as negatively affected. Indeed our final total this season of 4515 was considerably more then last years total of 4172 total raptors. (see chart) We recorded a record number of Peregrine Falcon sightings this year,reaching 73. Our previous best was 72,seen in 2007. Numbers of several other species of raptors were up from last season,and ranked 2nd or 3rd of the 6 years counting at Rosetta.
We recorded 18 days with over 100 raptors. That is about average for any season. Our biggest day this year was 744 on September 30th.
The only rarity that we had this season was the sighting of Common Raven on 3 occassions.
We were priviledged to enjoy fantastic views of so many raptors this year and enjoyed sharing them with everyone. I hope everyone enjoys their winter and that we can all get out and see some great birds. Over the winter,I may post some interesting sightings,video and or photos,so drop by here once in awhile to check things out. Remember only 89 days until spring Raptor Watch starts at Beamer!


Species...........................2009...........2008...........Best
Turkey Vulture.............1209............1369...........1369
Osprey..............................82...............100............100
Bald Eagle........................33................32..............46
Northern Harrier...........122................84.............488
Sharpshinned Hawk....1718.............1208...........2691
Coopers Hawk.................94..................74............127
Northern Goshawk.........21...................13..............24
Redshouldered Hawk.....21....................9...............29
Broadwinged Hawk........57.................156.............225
Redtailed Hawk............675.................621.............828
Roughlegged Hawk...........2........................9................11
Golden Eagle....................5.......................11................12
American Kestrel..........354...................406...............679
Merlin.............................49......................43................60
Peregrine Falcon............73......................37................73
Total............................4515...................4172...........5844

Nov 28th The Fox and The Harrier

Ok we saw one Northern Harrier over Lake Ontario,which Ron spotted,aside from that we saw only a local Redtailed Hawk and 2 local Coopers Hawks. The best sighting today was a hunting Red Fox. It was looking to lessen the parks squirrel population,however was unsuccessful. Walter,Ann,Lee,Ron and I watched it make its way through the park. Thanks to Lee's keen spotting,Ann got these great pictures. I really like the motion they portray.

With the last few days worth of raptors,our count site total since inception in 2004,has surpassed 24500,coming in at 24503. Early next September we will surpass 25000.
I will be present Monday to wrap up this years watch. Fortunately the winds look like they will be favorable,so we may go out seeing a few birds,though things really do appear to be all but done for this season...so far. It will be wicked cold so if you join me dress very warm!

Nov 27 Final Days Final Raptors?

After more then a week of no counts at all,as weather was totally unco-operative, Walter,Betty,Bill and I turned up to try our luck. In the end we managed to see 5 Redtailed Hawks. The best sighting today was the local juvenile Coopers Hawk,who tried to catch a squirrel. It was very comical. The squirrel was in a pear tree and the Coop landed in it. It tried hopping branch to branch to chase the squirrel but to no avail. If the hawk went to one side of the tree the squirrel ran to the other. After 3 rounds of this,the Coopers Hawk gave up and flew to a few other trees in and just outside the park before taking off out of sight. Todays total of 5 Redtailed Hawks takes the season total to 4511. I may give it a go again tomorrow afternoon as judging by he weather forecasts that will be my last day to count. A season ending post will give final totals,many thanks and a summary.

Last Saturday Walter and I went to Humber Bay Park in the westend of Toronto. Please enjoy this lovely Peregrine Falcon which Walter and I enjoyed seeing perched there. Walter shot this video. Photos by me.

http://tinypic.com/player.php?v=2mo9sav&s=6

Finally A Few Raptors Nov 16

Today for the first time since Nov 10th we saw some migrating raptors. Conditions looked good but the big numbers hoped for didnt come. In the end Walter,Carol,Bill,Skiff,Pat,NancyBerle,Lee and I saw 16 raptors,putting us over 4500 for the season. We saw:
2-Sharpshined Hawks
3-Coopers Hawks
2-Redshouldered Hawks
9-Redtailed Hawks
16-Total Raptors

Keep an eye on the weather. Starting Friday there may be a few good days,but at this stage its really hit and miss. I say again there should be at least one more good flight of Redtailed Hawks left out there to come.

Nov 11-13th No Raptors Flying

Just to keep everyone up to date. There have been no raptors counted since Nov 10th. Friday there was no count. I will not be present Saturday. Sunday is now iffy also,as predicted Northwest winds have changed to a light west wind.
I did have the pleasure of meeting Robert Shillabeer this past week,on his first visit to Rosetta McClain Gardens. Robert was the original Cranberry Marsh raptor watcher,figuring out that raptors might be seen along the shoreline there. We look forward to many return visits in the future. Another experienced,able watcher will be of great help in the future.
Right now we sit at 4490 raptors counted this season. There is at least one last big push of Redtailed Hawks yet to come. We sit 169 Redtailed Hawks short of a new countsite record,so lets hope for a few good days...or one great one! Sunday may yet surprise us. Watch the weather for Monday,it looks like the most promising day right now for a good movement of raptors. Again the large raptors that are left to come dont get moving too early,so if able drop down no earlier then 10am.

Nov 10th Streaming Redtails And Count Record 73rd Peregrine Falcon Of The Season

Today the weather was right for a decent raptor migration,though winds were light from the north,birds came. Most were quite high,but not in the "ozone"(ridiculously high). With keen spotting help from Walter,Tim and Bill,Betty,Berle,Peter,Skiff,Pat,Nancy and I saw a decent variety of raptors including :
8-Sharpshinned Hawks
8-Coopers Hawks
1-Northern Goshawk(plus the local)
4-Redshouldered Hawks
80-Redtailed Hawks
1-American Kestrel
2-Peregrine Falcons
104 Total Raptors

We saw several short streams of Redtailed Hawks. On a few occassions we saw a Redtail and then spotted a Redshoulder and a Coopers in the same vicinity. Spotting was definetly a challange sometimes,but we enjoy a challange. Betty spotted the 100th bird of the day,which is always a benchmark.
Todays 2 Peregrine Falcon sightings brings the seasons total to a new record of 73 for our count site. 72 Peregrines were seen in 2007. This is always very exciting news to me as I volunteer with the Canadian Peregrine Foundation(www.peregrine-foundation.ca). Here is the link to a video clip which is our 73rd Peregrine of this season flying by.
http://tinypic.com/player.php?v=21e3p6o&s=4

Keep your eyes on the weather. Remember we really do need a NORTH element in the wind to see much of anything this time of year. At this time in the season very few raptors fly before 10am or 11am. If your cold tolerance is low,wait to come down until around those times. Another reminder,BATHROOMS ARE CLOSED.

Ann's Redtails and Some Recognition

This past spring and summer,one of our regular watchers Ann Brokelman observed a Redtailed Hawks nest. She regularily photographed and faithfully reported her experiences. With some of her photos and a few video clips I took on a visit to the nestsite,I put together this little video clip that summarizes the year. For a full report with a ton of great photos please view Ann's blog at http://www.redtailnest.blogspot.com/ here is a link to the video
http://tinypic.com/player.php?v=2dt9ys6&s=4 Enjoy.

I was just sent a copy of the September Toronto Birds,the Toronto Ornithological Club's e-journal. In addition to records of sightings,this issue highlighted the raptor watches of Metro Toronto,including High Park,Cranberry Marsh,Iriquois Shoreline and Rosetta McClain Gardens. I was very pleased when I was asked by Glenn Coady to submit my results and some notes of explanation about how things got started and abit of history. To quote Glenn "The efforts of various sites will provide an exceptional record for students of raptors for countless years to come."

I thank everyone involved in helping the watch be the success that it is. By no means is the watch a one man show. Thanks especially to Walter,who is such a great help and subs for me when called upon to do so. Dedicated watchers old and new make it all very enjoyable.(more praise will come in the seasons end summary in December)

Surprise Big Day..126 Raptors

Redshouldered Hawk

After conditions yesterday that should have meant a big count,yesterdays disappointment was replaced by a nice surprise. While light northwest winds were called for in the morning,afternoon was supposed to be south winds. We didnt get south winds until 3pm. Things really slowed down after 1pm,but we saw some great birds before that. We had a juvenile Bald Eagle go past at the end of a short stream of Redtailed Hawks at 12:45pm. Redtailed Hawks were streaming today,at one stage we had 21 within a period of 5minutes. Streaming is when several hawks in a row appear from about the same spot and fly along the same line,as if on a clothes line,one after the other. The stream kept changing routes,but as one ended another would start. Although most birds were high,many were directly over us so that makes things easier. We enjoyed a lowish Red-shouldered Hawk which circled right above us for several minutes,giving a great view in wonderful light. Later a light-morph Roughlegged Hawk did much the same. Redtails not only streamed for several hours but often they would kettle briefly too,coming together and circling together going higher and higher. Thanks to everyone for their contributions today.

Redshouldered Hawk

Terry,Berle,Betty,Bill,Peter,Skiff,Don,Lee,Pat,Nancy,Cliff,Walter and I enjoyed:

1-Bald Eagle

3-Coopers Hawks

1-Northern Goshawk

1-Redshouldered Hawk

119-Redtailed Hawks

1-Roughlegged Hawk

126-Total Raptors

Watch the weather for your best chances at a big day. With a south wind tomorrow I will not be present. Keep an eye on Sunday. A reminder bathrooms are closed for the season.

More Was Expected...Only 6 Raptors

Today,more was expected. Faithful watchers braved some cold weather with few birds. One great sighting was the "local" Northern Goshawk,which flew by quite closely and later perched in a bluff-side tree. It tried to catch a squirrel which dared to come to close to the Goshawk,almost taunting it. Later the Goshawk made another pass of the park. A local Redtail was harrassed by the local Crows. They were really diving and screaming at the perched Redtail. Berle,Walter,Brad(Skiff),Terry,Bill,Carol,Betty(thanks for the hot chocolate run!)Bev,Lee and I did see a few countable birds including:

2-Sharpshinned Hawks

1-Redtailed Hawk

3-Peregrine Falcons(included is one Ann saw yesterday)

Anns great Peregrine Falcon photos

We are hoping for a decent day tomorrow,but with only light northwest winds we may not see much.

A Good November Day..140raptors

It was beautiful to start the day,became overcast and very gray with an angry looking lake and back to being a beautiful evening. The day started well with Sharpshinned Hawks moving by 8am. Before 9am we had seen 11 raptors,which for this time of year is pretty good. While many Redtailed Hawks were abit high and distant,we also had many that were nice and close,offering great views. A juvenile Redtail below the bluff,circling gave us a very unique view. 7 low Turkey Vultures gave us a thrill,particularily the first one which popped up in a spot we sometimes see a Golden Eagle. One Turkey Vulture landed in a tree near the parkinglot briefly.We had a Bald Eagle pass,lighting was too poor to age it right. There were a few male Northern Harriers today,its nice to see them moving now. Local Crows were a good vanguard today,alerting us to pay special attention for raptors. At one point as shown in the photos and the video,a Redtail was harrassed by the Crows.

A Redtail landed in the park for only an instant.

The perfect conditions brought out the gang. Walter,Carol,Bill,Brad-Ottawa,Sue and Bruce,Bruce Falls,Peter,Lee,Murray(glad you are doing OK buddy),Ann,Betty ,Bev(welcome Bev) and I saw:
8-Turkey Vultures
1-Bald Eagle(950am)
5-Northern Harriers
21-Sharpshinned Hawks
5-Coopers Hawks
98-Redtailed Hawks
1-American Kestrel
1-Merlin
140-Total Raptors

Here is a video of some of the birds we saw. I did this for children who watch a website I frequent.
http://tinypic.com/player.php?v=2qmn6zq&s=4

A Great Blue Heron gave us a momentary thrill as we caught the large wingspan...but it was "just a Great Blue"

This takes us over last years final tally of 4172, we now have 4254 raptors. There should still be a few good days left as the final big push of Redtails wont happen until at least Nov 15-20th. November birds are very weather specific,watch for north element winds or if desparate give west winds a go. If there is a south element in the wind it will be very very slow. Dress very warm if you join us,the best days now have some bitter winds. Thanks to everyone for a great day.