Rosetta McClain Gardens Raptor Watch

Aug 13th - Wow, Was It Cool Today!

With strong wind gustng from the WNW and at times the NW, the park had a totally different feel to it today...FALL! Please not so fast! Those gathered at the park were hoping to see a surge of raptors scrambling to the south but unfortunately that never materialized. A few things that did occur were of interest though. One somewhat odd sighting today was of an Osprey way up high over Kingston Road carrying a huge fish (a carp, I believe). We have seen this a couple of times before at Rosetta but usually the birds were flying more out over the lake. Another sighting was of a group of 3 Broad-winged Hawks moving eastward over the park, that was quickly followed by another group of 4 a few minutes later. One eventually worked his way back westward. Hopefully the others will sort themselves out and turn around. Another Bald Eagle was added to the count today. It too was way up high. With 100% cloud cover, lighting conditions were terrible throughout the afternoon.

Today:
Osprey - 1
Bald Eagle - 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1
Broad-winged Hawk - 1
Merlin - 1
Total - 5

To Date:
Osprey - 9
Bald Eagle - 4
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 2
Copper's Hawk - 1
Broad-winged Hawk - 8
American Kestrel - 3
Merlin - 3
Total - 30

Eagle Time (EDT):
12:57 PM - BE (unknown age)

Here are a couple of cropped photos that I got of the high flyers today.

Osprey

Bald Eagle

This is one Kris took.

Broad-winged Hawk

My thanks to everyone for a great job spotting and identifying the birds under such lousy lighting conditions. One of the local Turkey Vultures and the local Cooper's Hawk made brief appearances as well today. Butterflies were few and far between but we did see an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail and Black Swallowtail together on the same Butterfly Bush.

Watchers today included, Leon, Ron, John, Don, Kris, Theresa, Phil, Berle, Peter, Betty, Carol, Terry, and Bruce.

We'll try again tomorrow.

Walter

Aug 11th - 3 Osprey Flying Over Together

Just after 10:00AM this morning Lee, who was at Bluffer's Park, sent me a text message asking if I had seen 3 Osprey flying over Rosetta. Sadly, I had to reply with a big 'no' as I was in my basement at home waiting for a furnace maintenance guy to come. It wasn't until I arrived at the park sometime around lunch that I was happily informed that John and a few others were present to see them fly directly overhead. Thankyou everyone! Unfortunately though that was it for raptor sightings for the day. (The last time that three Osprey were observed flying together at Rosetta was in September of 2010 when we saw it happen 2 or 3 times in one day.....the day we counted 53 Osprey!)

To Date:
Osprey - 8
Bald Eagle - 3
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1
Copper's Hawk - 1
Broad-winged Hawk - 7
American Kestrel - 3
Merlin - 2
Total - 25

The mink was seen again this afternoon running along and through the fence by the big Maple tree. We'll have to monitor the squirrel and bunny populations for a while.

Our 'butterflying' friend Leon S. was at the park today in search of the female Fiery Skipper that I photographed and reported online two days ago. He didn't find the skipper but he told me that he had seen an Eastern Comma and a Giant Swallowtail in the search. That was great news to me as they were both new species for our fall park survey. We are currently sitting at 17 butterfly species in just the first 11 days of the survey. While chatting with Leon in the main garden area I spotted a Giant Swallowtail flying and landing in a bed of Petunias and other flowers. We quickly went over and Leon informed me that it was a different one then the one he'd seen earlier. He said that this one was in much better shape. A third 'Giant' was seen later in the day while Cori was searching the gardens.

Here are two photos that I took.

Giant Swallowtail (upperside)

Giant Swallowtail (underside)

The forecast for the next day or two sees rain in the area so we'll likely have to wait it out. Thursday is still looking good for an early movement of birds.

Walter

PS: To my friend Robin, Thankyou for all the laughs.

Aug 9th & 10th - Weekend Update

Just a quick note to update everyone on what was seen over the weekend...one Sharp-shinned Hawk! Hopefully things will pick-up later this week after the rain. Thursday is looking good at present.

Red-tailed Hawk (local)

Walter

Aug 8th - A Quiet Day

No surprises today with wind switching to the east by mid-day. The only raptor that we saw was a Merlin fairly high up and flapping the whole way across our viewing area.

Today we added Common Loon, Least Flycatcher, Great Egret and Trumpeter Swan to our Species Survey.

Walter

Aug 7th - The North Wind

Today's north wind brought a few nice surprises our way in the form of seven Broad-winged Hawks! This is without a doubt the most BWs we've ever had in the first week of August. Let's hope it only gets better from here. Another Bald Eagle and Osprey were seen today. A few of the local raptors made appearances as well including, a Turkey Vulture, two Red-tailed Hawks and the Merlin. Two Buteos flew by way up high but sadly weren't unidentified due to poor lighting and a slightly hazy sky.

Today:
Osprey - 1
Bald Eagle - 1
Cooper's Hawk - 1
Broad-winged Hawk - 7
American Kestrel - 2
Total - 12

To Date:
Osprey - 5
Bald Eagle - 3
Copper's Hawk - 1
Broad-winged Hawk - 7
American Kestrel - 3
Merlin - 1
Total - 20

Eagle Time (EDT):
12:58 PM - BE (unknown age)

Here are a couple of shots courtesy of Ann:

Osprey

Broad-winged Hawk

Ann also got this quick pic of the Mink heading through the fence.

Fellow observers today included Pat & Nancy, Theresa, Hugh, Berle, Betty, Terry, Ron, Ann, and new guy Don. Thankyou everyone.

Walter

Aug 6th - 4 Birds Today

Well, today was a little better. First off, what a gorgeous day to be at the park, wow! When I arrived this morning, Theresa informed me that she had already seen an Osprey fly by. A few hours of conversation went by before the next birds were seen - 2 Bald Eagles, one after the other way up high. Thank God for clouds or they likely would never have been spotted. Both were 1st year birds. Another couple of hours past before a Merlin was seen flying along the edge of the bluffs.

Today:
Osprey - 1
Bald Eagle - 2
Merlin - 1
Total - 4

To Date:
Osprey - 4
Bald Eagle - 2
American Kestrel - 1
Merlin - 1
Total - 8

Eagle Time (EDT):
12:35 PM - BE (first year)
12:39 PM - BE (first year)

Surprisingly not a lot of butterfly species today despite the sunshine. Monarch numbers were encouraging. An American Mink which climbed the bluffs and eventually made it's way in to the park was another highlight.

On hand today were Theresa, Peter, Betty, Hugh, Terry, Ron, Berle, Lee and Carol.

See you tomorrow,
Walter

Aug 5th - Two Osprey

Today was not all that great for raptor migration with lots of haze/fog and no wind but we did manage to see 2 Osprey fly by. Off and on rain did not make the morning any better. One beautiful highlight was seeing the majestic Lancaster Bomber fly overhead on it's way from it's home in Hamilton to Goose Bay, Labrador. This is first leg of a three to four leg flight to England. It's heading there to join up with the only other airworthy Lancaster in the world. They will both be touring the UK in a series of airshows and other events to commemorate 50 years since the last time two Lancansters ever flew together.

This is a 'slightly' edited photo of the big bird that I took today at Rosetta. It must have been flying near it's full speed of 275 mph when it flew over. Charlene and 'Crown Vic' Ron were also there to enjoy the flyby.

Walter

Aug 4th - Oops, Minus Bird One...Or

It appears that an Osprey might be hanging around along the bluffs as I received a text message from Lee saying that one just flew by the Watch site heading east. It could be the same bird as yesterday...or it could be a new one from today that might have flown down from the north further west of the Watch site and flew eastward once it reached the lake. It happens. I will hold off counting anything that goes by for now until we get a better understanding of the situation. This is why we normally start the Hawk Watch on August 1st instead of the 15th, to learn!

As for today, not much happened although the two local Red-tailed Hawks put on an entertaining show for everyone as they hunted along the bluffs and in the park. At one point an American Kestrel flew up and followed one of the Red-tails briefly before moving along to the west. I won't count him just yet either as he may be a 'local' as well.

Paul Reeves managed these great shots.

Today Lee, John, Pat & Nancy, Paul, Mark and Ron were at the Hawk Watch.

Walter

Aug 3rd - Bird One

I was just about to leave the house this morning when I got a text message telling me that an Osprey had just flown along the bluffs and passed the Hawk Watch...dammit!!! Sharp-eyed Mike Kinrys gets the gold star for spotting this year's first countable bird. Thankyou Mike! Others who were gathered at the time to see 'bird one' were Leslie, Theresa, Peter, Betty, and Kris. Sadly tho, that was it for raptors for the day. Where there were no raptors there were Great Blue Herons. An incredible 23 Herons passed by the Watch today including 8 that flew by together almost wingtip to wingtip. Ron Pittaway, who was with us at the time commented that he couldn't recall ever seeing so many and so close together in all his years of birding. Some other birds of interest today included a Belted Kingfisher, a Warbling Vireo and a Red-eyed Vireo, as well as a Yellow Warbler singing from down the side of the bluffs. Butterflies were a little sluggish today, some even sat still on flowers and allowed for great photo opts. Kris captured this beautiful shot of an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail on Lantana camara.

As we sat and chatted by the gardens watching butterflies, Paul, Patty and Cori joined us.

I'll be at the park much earlier tomorrow hoping for another Osprey to come my way.

Walter

Aug 2nd - The Second Day

The second day of the Watch went as expected...hazy, hot and humid! Not much was happening in today's heat. The best sighting was of a Peregrine Falcon flying in from the west just out over the lake. It flew after one of the last remaining Bank Swallows but came up empty due to it's feeble attempt. I didn't get a very good view of the excitement with my binoculars because for some unknown reason the lenses were completely covered in condensation INSIDE! Not sure why this happened but I'll check online after I'm done here. Thank God it didn't happen on a busy day! Between all the socializing that I did today I was able to add not only the Peregrine but two more butterflies to our Species Survey. The butterflies were Mourning Cloak and American Lady.

Again I'd like to thank everybody who stopped by today to say hello and wish us success. If today was any kind of indication, the park should be full with people for the remainder of the long weekend. Having so many folks moving around and enjoying the gardens makes it difficult to photograph butterflies and hummers, oh well, another day. By-the-way, there were 3 more Hummingbirds today. One landed high up in a nearby tree and returned to the gardens a couple of times.

Robin's nest

American Lady

Another Black Swallowtail

I haven't checked the weather for Sunday as yet but I'll be at the park for a while in the morning if the sun is out.

Walter

Aug 1st - 'Tis That Time Once Again!

OMG, where is the time going this year? The time has come to start brushing up on your hawk watching and identifying skills once again. Although we are still a few weeks away from any kind of real migration, I'll be at Rosetta almost daily from here forward waiting for the first couple of birds to fly by. Over the next 2-3 weeks there will likely not be very many raptors migrating passed the Watch site so please do not feel the need to rush down. Of the over 50,000 raptors that we've counted at Rosetta over the years, only 234 have gone by in the first two weeks. Not trying to scare anyone away, just making you aware of the situation. Basically what I'm trying to say is 'I'll be at the concert before it starts instead of arriving during the middle of the first song'. Having said that, please come and enjoy the park, the flowers, the people and the weather, it's such a beautiful place to be this time of the year!

Betty, Terry, Theresa, Carol, Phil, Pat and Nancy, and myself gathered this morning to officially open the 2014 edition of the Watch! We even had a ribbon cutting ceremony! Our roving field reporter Lee checked-in via text message to let us know that she was ready and in position with eyes-to-the-skies. Several other kind folks stopped by to say hello and wish us well.

Although we didn't see any 'countable' birds today, we did have spectacular views of two local Red-tailed Hawks as well as a flyby from the local Cooper's Hawk. Overall we counted 31 bird species, 10 butterfly species and 3 mammals for our Fall Season Species Survey. Of interest today, a total of 8 Ruby-throated Hummingbirds were counted. Some were seen in the main gardens around the Black & Blue Salvia and others were flying along the bluffs heading west.

Here are a few photos from the day (sorry, no birds)