Unfortunately today was another one of those days - no raptors! I did manage to find a new butterfly though - it was a Leonard's Skipper. It's new for the Fall List, the Park List, and my Life List. It's butterfly number 66 for me in the province. I had a wonderful visit with Carol today and she did show up with binoculars in-hand!
Walter
August 18th - 2 Sharpies
Today, we counted 2 Sharp-shinned Hawks flying over Rosetta. It was another fabulous day out but not good for bird migration. What is was good for was bringing many great friends to the park. Watchers and walkers included; Lorne, Mike 4, Ron, John, Mark, Pat & Nancy and Pat's brother Mike, plus Leslie & Mike and their son Daniel. Today's weather will be much of the same.
Walter
Walter
August 17th - One Sharpie!
Sorry for this late post. Just wanted to let you know that after several hours of looking in to a blue sky today, John and I saw one lone Sharp-shinned Hawk come soaring over the park. That was it though. It was quiet on all fronts. The only other highlight was a new species of butterfly for the Fall List - Peck's Skipper. Susan got shots of a male and I got shots of a female. Very cool to see.
Walter
Walter
August 16th - It Didn't Happen Today
This morning Phil and I took a quick trip out to Cranberry Marsh. We met Doug Lockery and John Stirrat on the platform and they were talking about how lousy the day was going to be for raptor migration. That made me feel a lot better about not being at Rosetta! The marsh is quite pretty now because it's partly filled with Purple Loosestrife and it's in bloom. Not a lot of bird activity there though. Fairly quiet everywhere today it seemed.
Tomorrow's another day!
Walter
Phil was actually photographing a Wild Turkey family
and not the Deer on Halls Road
Purple Loosestrife in bloom at Cranberry Marsh
Mr. Chickadee came to visit
Belted Kingfisher just about to dive
Too hot for this Garter Snake
Tomorrow's another day!
Walter
August 15th - 8 Birds, 6 Species
Turned out to be a not too bad kind-a day. Best sighting of all was seeing Carol walking around the park. She's looking fabulous and walking well! We look forward to seeing her back at Rosetta with her binoculars in-hand real soon. Today's 2 Red-tailed Hawks put on a spectacular aerial display way up high for Ron and myself. Likely a pair of siblings just havin' some fun.
Today:
Osprey - 1
Broad-winged Hawk - 1
Red-tailed Hawk - 2
American Kestrel - 2
Merlin - 1
Peregrine Falcon - 1
Total - 8
To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 6
Osprey - 4
Bald Eagle - 0
Northern Harrier - 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 7
Cooper's Hawk - 0
Northern Goshawk - 0
Red-shouldered Hawk - 0
Broad-winged Hawk - 4
Red-tailed Hawk - 10
Rough-legged Hawk - 0
Golden Eagle - 0
American Kestrel - 4
Merlin - 2
Peregrine Falcon - 1
Total - 39
Wow, 39 birds already, this has been our best 'first half of August' ever!
Phil, Ron, and Betty were there for some of the bird action today.
There are several days coming up that are not-so conducive to hawk migration. Hopefully the forecaster's have got it wrong. Stay tuned.
Walter
Today:
Osprey - 1
Broad-winged Hawk - 1
Red-tailed Hawk - 2
American Kestrel - 2
Merlin - 1
Peregrine Falcon - 1
Total - 8
To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 6
Osprey - 4
Bald Eagle - 0
Northern Harrier - 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 7
Cooper's Hawk - 0
Northern Goshawk - 0
Red-shouldered Hawk - 0
Broad-winged Hawk - 4
Red-tailed Hawk - 10
Rough-legged Hawk - 0
Golden Eagle - 0
American Kestrel - 4
Merlin - 2
Peregrine Falcon - 1
Total - 39
Wow, 39 birds already, this has been our best 'first half of August' ever!
Phil, Ron, and Betty were there for some of the bird action today.
There are several days coming up that are not-so conducive to hawk migration. Hopefully the forecaster's have got it wrong. Stay tuned.
Walter
August 14th - 5 Birds, 2 Osprey
Lots of the northwest wind again today but the birds just weren't buying in to it. Two Osprey sightings were the highlight of the day. The first one Phil picked up over the trees and it headed along the Danforth Avenue corridor. Later in the day Allison picked up the second one out over the lake. Also today we had our first Northern Harrier. One of my favourites...along with the other 14 species!!!
Today:
Osprey - 2
Northern Harrier - 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 2
Total - 5
Along with the Northern Harrier, we added House Finch and Canada Goose to our Fall Season Park List. We're now at 52 species. We have logged 14 species of Butterflies and 3 Mammal species to date.
I'm sure many of you will have mixed feelings about this, as I do - today the park workers cut down and removed the Pear tree. It will soon be replaced with a Flowering Cherry tree. It took less than 15 minutes to complete the operation. I didn't want to see the ol' tree go but it has definitely improved our view to the north.
.JPG)
Today's watchers included: Terry, Leon, Gunnar, Phil, Betty, Allison, Lee, John Stirrat, and Cori.
West wind at 20 km/h tomorrow.
Walter
Today:
Osprey - 2
Northern Harrier - 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 2
Total - 5
Along with the Northern Harrier, we added House Finch and Canada Goose to our Fall Season Park List. We're now at 52 species. We have logged 14 species of Butterflies and 3 Mammal species to date.
I'm sure many of you will have mixed feelings about this, as I do - today the park workers cut down and removed the Pear tree. It will soon be replaced with a Flowering Cherry tree. It took less than 15 minutes to complete the operation. I didn't want to see the ol' tree go but it has definitely improved our view to the north.
.JPG)
Pearished!!!
Today's watchers included: Terry, Leon, Gunnar, Phil, Betty, Allison, Lee, John Stirrat, and Cori.
West wind at 20 km/h tomorrow.
Walter
August 13th - 3 Broad-winged Hawks!
Today we had strong northwest wind all day but the parade of birds didn't happen as it's still alittle too early yet. What did happen was that we saw 3 Broad-winged Hawks fly over fairly low. We had fantastic views of each one of them.
Today:
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1
Broad-winged Hawk - 3
American Kestrel - 1
Total - 5
Swallows and Swifts were moving west most of the day. Cormorants were grouped together out on the lake in the thousands feeding.
Here's a couple of my shots from today:
Dave, Howie, Betty, Peter, Phil, Terry, Ron, and Cori were down today enjoying the park.
Tomorrow's forecast is saying NW 30 km/h with gusts up to 47 km/h. First Eagle of the season?
Walter
Today:
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1
Broad-winged Hawk - 3
American Kestrel - 1
Total - 5
Swallows and Swifts were moving west most of the day. Cormorants were grouped together out on the lake in the thousands feeding.
Here's a couple of my shots from today:
Baltimore Oriole (female)
Hummingbird Clearwing Moth
Dave, Howie, Betty, Peter, Phil, Terry, Ron, and Cori were down today enjoying the park.
Tomorrow's forecast is saying NW 30 km/h with gusts up to 47 km/h. First Eagle of the season?
Walter
August 12th - Quiet Again!
Great cloud cover this AM but after only 2 hours we felt that there just wasn't going to be anything migrating today. Winds were very light and few birds were flying. The threat of rain from the west said it was time to leave. Phil and Berle were on hand today to share in all the excitement. Terry was at Rosetta from 12 till 1 and he too saw nothing.
Tomorrow's wind is looking pretty good right now and will likely bring a few raptors down to the Lake and over our heads.
Walter
Tomorrow's wind is looking pretty good right now and will likely bring a few raptors down to the Lake and over our heads.
Walter
August 11th - Quiet Day!
It was just another beautiful day to be at the park but unfortunately no birds were observed. Actually very few birds at all were seen. It happens.
On a happier note, Lee, Betty, Richard and Mark stopped by to help search as well as a new friend John Barker. John has been an avid hawk watcher for many years and in 1993, through his efforts, The Greater Toronto Raptor Watch was organized. He initiated the co-ordination of the Cranberry Marsh hawk watch and the previously informal hawk watch in High Park. John has also visited many watch sites across the province, the country and the United States. He has birded with the likes of William S. Clark and Brian K. Wheeler. Much of their work you've probably either read or looked at in books or on the internet. John will be visiting us on weekends and will be helping out as much as possible while there. He is very interesting in gathering our data from over the last 10 years and entering it in to the HMANA (Hawk Migration Association of North America) website's database. This in-turn will put our 'little' hawk watch on the map! It was a real pleasure to meet and talk with John today and we'll look forward to his friendship and expertise this fall season.
Our butterflying friend Susan was also at the park today but reported no new species for the day. We are eagerly anticipating the arrival of maybe one or two Giant Swallowtail butterflies this month, please watch for them. They are huge black and yellow butterflies with 6 inch wingspans. Speaking of insects, John will be conducting a Dragonfly Watch as well when he's at the park. This is something new that is being done at many hawk watch sites now. I will be monitoring the Monarch butterfly migration this fall as their numbers have dropped off by as much as 90% recently.
As it stands right now, tomorrow afternoon will see rain but both Tuesday and Wednesday have predicted northwest wind.
Walter
On a happier note, Lee, Betty, Richard and Mark stopped by to help search as well as a new friend John Barker. John has been an avid hawk watcher for many years and in 1993, through his efforts, The Greater Toronto Raptor Watch was organized. He initiated the co-ordination of the Cranberry Marsh hawk watch and the previously informal hawk watch in High Park. John has also visited many watch sites across the province, the country and the United States. He has birded with the likes of William S. Clark and Brian K. Wheeler. Much of their work you've probably either read or looked at in books or on the internet. John will be visiting us on weekends and will be helping out as much as possible while there. He is very interesting in gathering our data from over the last 10 years and entering it in to the HMANA (Hawk Migration Association of North America) website's database. This in-turn will put our 'little' hawk watch on the map! It was a real pleasure to meet and talk with John today and we'll look forward to his friendship and expertise this fall season.
Our butterflying friend Susan was also at the park today but reported no new species for the day. We are eagerly anticipating the arrival of maybe one or two Giant Swallowtail butterflies this month, please watch for them. They are huge black and yellow butterflies with 6 inch wingspans. Speaking of insects, John will be conducting a Dragonfly Watch as well when he's at the park. This is something new that is being done at many hawk watch sites now. I will be monitoring the Monarch butterfly migration this fall as their numbers have dropped off by as much as 90% recently.
As it stands right now, tomorrow afternoon will see rain but both Tuesday and Wednesday have predicted northwest wind.
Walter
August 10th - 6 more!
Today's wind didn't quite have the gusts that were predicted but with a bit of work we managed to pull a few more of the high-fliers out of the sky. Actually one of the Red-tails was so high up if I wasn't looking right where it flew I never would have seen it at all. This one was a true pepper speck!
Time:
7:30AM - 2:00PM
Today:
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 2
Red-tailed Hawk - 4
Total - 6
To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 6
Osprey - 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 4
Red-tailed Hawk - 8
American Kestrel - 1
Merlin - 1
Total - 21
Diane (visiting from Calgary) was in the park again this morning and was lucky in getting a photo of our little Carolina Wren as it sang away along the fence line. Also, Lee was kind enough to show Diane a Baltimore Oriole which was feeding up in the apple tree. She got a few nice shots of it as well before it flew. In other birding news, we watched another handful of Great Blues that appeared to be on their way south...or at least elsewhere.
As it was another gorgeous day, it was no surprise to see so many wonderful folks out. On hand today were; Allison, Lorne, Pat & Nancy, Phil, Mike 4, Gunnar, Betty, and the above mentioned Diane and Lee. My apologies to Peter and Terry as I forgot to add them in yesterday's post.
Here are a couple of photos from today courtesy of Pat & Nancy:
And here are a couple of mine:
It looks like tomorrow morning's weather will be similar with wind being from the northwest at 10 kms.
Walter
Time:
7:30AM - 2:00PM
Today:
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 2
Red-tailed Hawk - 4
Total - 6
To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 6
Osprey - 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 4
Red-tailed Hawk - 8
American Kestrel - 1
Merlin - 1
Total - 21
Diane (visiting from Calgary) was in the park again this morning and was lucky in getting a photo of our little Carolina Wren as it sang away along the fence line. Also, Lee was kind enough to show Diane a Baltimore Oriole which was feeding up in the apple tree. She got a few nice shots of it as well before it flew. In other birding news, we watched another handful of Great Blues that appeared to be on their way south...or at least elsewhere.
As it was another gorgeous day, it was no surprise to see so many wonderful folks out. On hand today were; Allison, Lorne, Pat & Nancy, Phil, Mike 4, Gunnar, Betty, and the above mentioned Diane and Lee. My apologies to Peter and Terry as I forgot to add them in yesterday's post.
Here are a couple of photos from today courtesy of Pat & Nancy:
'Rosie' the Rabbit
Mourning Cloak
Silver-spotted Skipper
And here are a couple of mine:
Houseboat
Regatta
Niagara Falls
It looks like tomorrow morning's weather will be similar with wind being from the northwest at 10 kms.
Walter
August 9th - 11 Bird Day!
With Wednesday and Thursday being too hot and humid for bird migration I really wasn't sure what to expect today even though the wind was right - northwest. Cloud cover was good most of the morning which helped us spot a few of the high-fliers. Between 8:30AM and 1:00PM we tallied 11 birds. Here's where we're at:
Today:
Turkey Vulture - 6
Red-tailed Hawk - 4
American Kestrel - 1
Total - 11
To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 6
Osprey - 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 2
Red-tailed Hawk - 4
American Kestrel - 1
Merlin - 1
Total - 15
Frank's mom Diane, who was visiting us this morning spotted 5 Great Blue Herons as they flew over the center of the park together. Throughout our time today we saw several Great Blues flying westward, most were out over the lake. One though was way up just under the clouds! Other birds of note were Mallard and Eastern Phoebe. We're now up to 48 different species, not too bad for just 9 days. No new butterflies or mammals to report.
As well as a wonderful visit with Diane, I also enjoyed the company of Cori, Berle, Murray, Hugh, Phil, Peter and another lady named Diane who is here from Calgary. Terry popped in shortly after we had left but didn't see too much. We had a good talk early in the AM comparing info about birds and birding and I was also able to get her a few 'Lifers' including a Northern Flicker (the yellow-shafted variety!)
There is a northwest wind predicted for Saturday morning with gusts up to 30 kms so perhaps, dare I say, we may see a couple more migrants fly by. Let's hope!
Walter
Today:
Turkey Vulture - 6
Red-tailed Hawk - 4
American Kestrel - 1
Total - 11
To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 6
Osprey - 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 2
Red-tailed Hawk - 4
American Kestrel - 1
Merlin - 1
Total - 15
Frank's mom Diane, who was visiting us this morning spotted 5 Great Blue Herons as they flew over the center of the park together. Throughout our time today we saw several Great Blues flying westward, most were out over the lake. One though was way up just under the clouds! Other birds of note were Mallard and Eastern Phoebe. We're now up to 48 different species, not too bad for just 9 days. No new butterflies or mammals to report.
As well as a wonderful visit with Diane, I also enjoyed the company of Cori, Berle, Murray, Hugh, Phil, Peter and another lady named Diane who is here from Calgary. Terry popped in shortly after we had left but didn't see too much. We had a good talk early in the AM comparing info about birds and birding and I was also able to get her a few 'Lifers' including a Northern Flicker (the yellow-shafted variety!)
There is a northwest wind predicted for Saturday morning with gusts up to 30 kms so perhaps, dare I say, we may see a couple more migrants fly by. Let's hope!
Walter
August 6th - A Little Better!
Today went a little better than expected. This morning while chatting away we saw a Merlin flash across the middle of the park and heading west. Awhile later we had our first Sharp-shinned Hawk fly past just out over the edge of the bluffs. Shortly after that we saw our now local Cooper's Hawk fly up and by very close. An hour or so later we watched another 'Sharpie' fly along the same path as the first one. We now have 4 birds counted for the season!
We added 3 new birds to our ever-growing 'Park' list, the Merlin, the Sharp-shinned Hawk and a Yellow Warbler which I forgot to add the other day. That brings us up to a total of 45 different species.
There seemed to be fewer Bank Swallows flying over the park this morning so many of them might have left to go south already.
On hand for today's excitement were Phil, Gord, Lorne, Berle and Betty. Terry was at the park between 1:30 - 2:00 PM but didn't have any luck unfortunately.
Walter
We added 3 new birds to our ever-growing 'Park' list, the Merlin, the Sharp-shinned Hawk and a Yellow Warbler which I forgot to add the other day. That brings us up to a total of 45 different species.
There seemed to be fewer Bank Swallows flying over the park this morning so many of them might have left to go south already.
On hand for today's excitement were Phil, Gord, Lorne, Berle and Betty. Terry was at the park between 1:30 - 2:00 PM but didn't have any luck unfortunately.
Walter
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