Oct 30th - Pepper Specks Across the Sky!

The wind at ground level may have been blowing from the northwest today but it sure as heck wasn't very strong, higher up the clouds seemed to be moving fairly well tho.  The flight today was for the most part extremely high up making the birds appear like pepper specks.  Hawkwatchers gathered today did a great job in finding, pointing out, and identifying everything they could.  Thankyou to all.

Today:
Osprey - 1
Bald Eagle - 1
Northern Harrier - 4
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 6
Cooper's Hawk - 4
Red-shouldered Hawk - 4
Red-tailed Hawk - 64
Rough-legged Hawk - 1
Merlin - 1
Total - 86

To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 2704  (1461)
Osprey - 93  (110)
Bald Eagle - 69  (57)
Northern Harrier - 192  (244)
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 2724  (2191)
Cooper's Hawk - 48  (95)
Northern Goshawk - 5  (18)
Red-shouldered Hawk - 39  (25)
Broad-winged Hawk - 89  (216)
Red-tailed Hawk - 454  (757)
Rough-legged Hawk - 2  (10)
Golden Eagle - 6  (10)
American Kestrel - 302  (561)
Merlin - 111  (72)
Peregrine Falcon - 57  (68)
Total - 6895  (5963)

The numbers in red are our seasonal averages - 2006 thru 2014.

Eagle Time (DST):
03:17pm - BE (juvenile)

Photos are courtesy of Lee...

Oh my!!!

 Northern Harrier (left), Bald Eagle (right)

...and from me...

Osprey (our 2nd latest ever!)

Other Birds:

American Tree Sparrow - 1 along the edge of the bluffs

Common Loon - 6 heading south

Hooded Merganser - 6 out on the lake

Red-breasted Merganser - a few thousand moving low over the lake, most of them heading west

Butterflies:

none

Mammals:

Eastern Cottontail - 1

Eastern Gray Squirrel - 1 little bugger that stole my Halloween candy that I dropped on the ground for literally 2 seconds!

Hawkwatchers:

Lee, Gunnar, Ron, Kris, Rosemary, Dave S, Peter, Betty, Bruce & Ann Falls, Sheridan, Berle, Dave & Mary Beth, Jean, Lynn, Arvo, Bruce F, Vickie and Diana, and a few others who stopped by.  Thanks again everyone for a fun-filled day.

Weather Prediction:

Oct 31st - a mix of sun and clouds switching to mostly cloudy, SW 10km/h switching to S 15km/h  (theweathernetwork.com)

Walter

Oct 29th - Beautiful Day!

Today was a beautiful day to be at the park, albeit very windy!  Thought there might've been a few more birds than what we saw but perhaps the gusts were just a little too strong.  Oh well, we'll try again tomorrow!

Photos today are courtesy of me...

Today:
Northern Harrier - 2
Red-tailed Hawk - 1
Total - 3

Butterflies:
Cabbage White - 1

Hawkwatchers:
Peter, Berle, Arvo, Terry, Betty, and Lynn

Weather Prediction:
Oct 30th - a mix of sun and clouds switching to mainly sunny, NW 15km/h  (theweathernetwork.com)  Hopefully the Red-tails cometh!

See you there,
Walter

Oct 28th - Best Viewing Ever!!!

First off, I just wanted to apologize to anyone who was using the 'social media' buttons on this blog.  Seems as time moves on Blogger is falling further and further off the chart!  I could not update the widget that I was using for the page so it's been deleted.

Today:
Well on a day that according to everything that we've ever learned about hawk watching should have been a 'wash out', our friend Arvo ventured out in the rain and got this amazing shot capturing some of the best raptor viewing that we've ever had.  I mean look at that - a Bald Eagle sitting on the fence and a Golden on the ground hunting squirrels!  Oh my goodness!!!

Weather Prediction:
Oct 29th - a mix of sun and clouds, SW 40km/h and gusting to 65km/h  (theweathernetwork.com)

See you at the park,
Walter

Oct 27th - 18 Birds!

Today:
Turkey Vulture - 1
Northern Harrier - 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 2
Cooper's Hawk - 2
Northern Goshawk - 1
Red-tailed Hawk - 11
Total - 17

To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 2704  (1461)
Osprey - 92  (110)
Bald Eagle - 68  (57)
Northern Harrier - 186  (244)
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 2718  (2191)
Cooper's Hawk - 44  (95)
Northern Goshawk - 5  (18)
Red-shouldered Hawk - 35  (25)
Broad-winged Hawk - 89  (216)
Red-tailed Hawk - 389  (757)
Rough-legged Hawk - 1  (10)
Golden Eagle - 6  (10)
American Kestrel - 302  (561)
Merlin - 110  (72)
Peregrine Falcon - 57  (68)
Total - 6806  (5963)

The numbers in red are our seasonal averages - 2006 thru 2014.

Other Birds, Butterflies, and Mammals:
Nothing of note

Hawkwatchers:
Ron, Sheridan, Rosemary, Peter, Betty, Hugh, Allison, Mark (from the High Park Hawk Watch), and Lee.  Thankyou everyone!

Weather Prediction:
Oct 28th - rain!!!

Walter

Oct 25th - 4 Golden Eagles and 2 Bald Eagles!

Just a spectacular day of hawk watching with good wind, a great mix of sun and cloud, and a group of wonderful friends to enjoy the day with!  The flight path today was extremely scattered with birds flying everywhere from far north over Kingston Road to way out over the lake and also at every height in the sky imaginable.  Early in the day we had 4 Golden Eagles fly over within the span of 10 minutes and that really whipped the crowd into a frenzy!  Screams of excitement were heard throughout the park!

Today:
Turkey Vulture - 33
Bald Eagle - 2
Northern Harrier - 4
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 47
Cooper's Hawk - 2
Red-shouldered Hawk - 14
Red-tailed Hawk - 114
Golden Eagle - 4
American Kestrel - 1
Merlin - 1
Total - 222

To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 2703  (1461)
Osprey - 92  (110)
Bald Eagle - 68  (57)
Northern Harrier - 185  (244)
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 2716  (2191)
Cooper's Hawk - 42  (95)
Northern Goshawk - 4  (18)
Red-shouldered Hawk - 35  (25)
Broad-winged Hawk - 89  (216)
Red-tailed Hawk - 378  (757)
Rough-legged Hawk - 1  (10)
Golden Eagle - 6  (10)
American Kestrel - 302  (561)
Merlin - 110  (72)
Peregrine Falcon - 57  (68)
Total - 6788  (5963)

The numbers in red are our seasonal averages.

Calculating the Averages - Seasons 2004 and 2005 were not 'full' seasons so they were not included in the equations.  Before averaging out seasons 2006 to 2014 the two lowest counts and the two highest counts were removed.  This method of calculating averages helps to reduce the effects of outliers (the extreme low and high counts) on the 'calculated' average.  (One area throughout the world where this type of averaging is used most often is in sports scoring and judging)

Eagle Time (DST):
10:40am - GE
10:46am - GE x2
10:50am - GE
11:32am - BE
02:00pm - BE

Might be a new record, 7 people contributed photos today!  Thankyou!

Golden Eagle (Ann)

another great angle of this beauty (Mike)

Red-shouldered Hawk (Charlie)

a great angle showing the 'windows' (Arvo)

 yet another passing Red-shouldered Hawk! (Lee)

an adult Sharp-shinned Hawk (Ann)

 a young Cooper's Hawk (Mike)

a young Sharp-shinned Hawk (Lee)

Red-tailed Hawk (Paul)

 a high-flying Red-tail (Ann)

another low-flying Red-tail (Mike)

this young Red-tail is very heavily marked (Lee)

Other Birds:
Chimney Swift - 1 flying over the center of the park!
Common Loon - 9 flying south high over the park
Crossbill sp. - 1 small flock heard and seen flying east overhead
Eastern Towhee - male and female feeding and moving around the west side of the park
Great Black-backed Gull - 1 juvenile bird flying west over the shoreline
Long-tailed Duck - at least one small flock out on the water

a Common Loon heading south (Mike)

Butterflies:
Cabbage White - 4
Monarch - 2

Mammals:
Eastern Cottontail - 1

Hawkwatchers:
Phil, Bruce M, Ron, Mike, Lee, Charlie, Betty, Peter, Allison, Carol, Dave, Norm, Ann, Berle, Pat & Nancy, Hugh, Paul, Manfred, Eleanor, Mike & Leslie, Trudy, John, Susan, Bruce F, Arvo, Gunnar, and many others.  Thankyou everyone for all your help today!

just a fraction of the group today! (Pat)

Weather Prediction:
Oct 26th - mainly sunny switching to a mix of sun and clouds, E 10km/h switching to SE 10km/h  (theweathernetwork.com)  I wouldn't rush to the park!

Walter

Oct 24th - Tomorrow

Weather Prediction:
Oct 25th - A mix of sun and clouds switching to mainly sunny, NW 25km/h and gusting to 44km/h  (theweathernetwork.com)  Hopefully the birds figure it out this time!!!

See you there,
Walter

Oct 23rd - 8 Birds!

I thank those who gathered at the park this morning to watch and count raptors.  I myself did not to go today as I woke up with a headache and decided to stay put and sleep it off.

Today:
Turkey Vulture - 2
Cooper's Hawk - 1
Red-shouldered Hawk - 1
Red-tailed Hawk - 4
Total - 8

To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 2670
Osprey - 92
Bald Eagle - 66
Northern Harrier - 181
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 2669
Cooper's Hawk - 40
Northern Goshawk - 4
Red-shouldered Hawk - 21
Broad-winged Hawk - 89
Red-tailed Hawk - 264
Rough-legged Hawk - 1
Golden Eagle - 2
American Kestrel - 301
Merlin - 109
Peregrine Falcon - 57
Total - 6566

 local Red-tailed Hawk carrying a stick (Ann)

Other Birds:

Fox Sparrow - 3

American Robin (Ann)

Butterflies:

Monarch - 1

Mammals:

Nothing of note

Hawkwatchers:

Mike, Manny, Norm, Dave, Gunnar, Ann, Berle, Betty, Arvo, Carol, and Sheridan

Weather Prediction:

Oct 24th - a mix of sun and clouds switching to light rain in the afternoon, SE 20km/h and gusting to 35km/h switching to S 25km/h and gusting to 44km/h in the afternoon  (theweathernetwork.com)

I'll see you Sunday!

Walter

Oct 22nd - Where Are The Birds?!!!

I tell you, this migration season just gets stranger and stranger as we move forward.  Today we were expecting good NW wind and lots of hawks, especially during the afternoon but for some reason the wind died-off and the birds stopped flying!  We ended-up with a much lower number than we were expecting.

Today:
Turkey Vulture - 20
Bald Eagle - 1
Northern Harrier - 8
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 135
Cooper's Hawk - 4
Red-shouldered Hawk - 4
Red-tailed Hawk - 26
American Kestrel - 3
Merlin - 9
Total - 210

To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 2668
Osprey - 92
Bald Eagle - 66
Northern Harrier - 181
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 2669
Cooper's Hawk - 39
Northern Goshawk - 4
Red-shouldered Hawk - 20
Broad-winged Hawk - 89
Red-tailed Hawk - 260
Rough-legged Hawk - 1
Golden Eagle - 2
American Kestrel - 301
Merlin - 109
Peregrine Falcon - 57
Total - 6558

Eagle Time (DST):
03:25pm - BE

a high-flying Red-tailed Hawk (Lee)

a low-flying Red-shouldered Hawk (Lee)

Other Birds:
Common Loon - 1 flying south over the park
Eastern Bluebird - several flocks flying west over the park
Pine Siskin - several flocks flying east over the park
Red-headed Woodpecker - 1 flying east low over the park
Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 1 in the garden before the garden was removed!

a happy Blue Jay (Lee)

Butterflies:
Cabbage White - 3
Monarch - 3
Mourning Cloak - 1

Mammals:
Eastern Cottontail - 1

Hawkwatchers:
Lee, Betty, Manfred, Ron, Dave, Pat & Nancy, Liz, Arvo, Manny, Allison, Berle, Kris, Peter, Bruce, Cori, Lynn, and several others who stopped by.

Weather Prediction:
Oct 23rd - sunny, N 15km/h in the morning switching to E 10km/h  (theweathernetwork.com)

Walter

Oct 21st - Tomorrow

Weather Prediction:
Oct 22nd - a mix of sun and clouds in the morning switching to mainly sunny, NW 25km/h and gusting to 44km/h  (theweathernetwork.com)  Should be good!

See you at the park, don't be late!
Walter

Oct 20th - One Sharpie!

Today's wind, like yesterday's, was not conducive to good raptor migration.  For the better part of three hours Terry and I sat and waited and watched as one Sharp-shinned Hawk flew low over the park!

Today:
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1
Total - 1

To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 2648
Osprey - 92
Bald Eagle - 65
Northern Harrier - 173
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 2534
Cooper's Hawk - 35
Northern Goshawk - 4
Red-shouldered Hawk - 16
Broad-winged Hawk - 89
Red-tailed Hawk - 234
Rough-legged Hawk - 1
Golden Eagle - 2
American Kestrel - 298
Merlin - 100
Peregrine Falcon - 57
Total - 6348

Other Birds:
American Robin - lots
Eastern Towhee - 1 seen

Butterflies:
none

Mammals:
Nothing of note

Hawkwatchers:
Terry, Liz, plus a few others

Weather Prediction:
Oct 21st - cloudy with showers, E 25km/h and gusting to 42km/h  (theweathernetwork.com)  Looks like a good day to do something else!  Thursday is looking great!

Walter

Oct 19th - One Harrier!

Well today's wind was more WSW than SW and it didn't do any favours for birds migrating over the park.  We were gone by 12:30pm.

Today:
Northern Harrier - 1
Total - 1

To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 2648
Osprey - 92
Bald Eagle - 65
Northern Harrier - 173
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 2533
Cooper's Hawk - 35
Northern Goshawk - 4
Red-shouldered Hawk - 16
Broad-winged Hawk - 89
Red-tailed Hawk - 234
Rough-legged Hawk - 1
Golden Eagle - 2
American Kestrel - 298
Merlin - 100
Peregrine Falcon - 57
Total - 6347

Other Birds:
Nothing of note

Butterflies:
Cabbage White - 1
Monarch - 1

Mammals:
Nothing of note

Hawkwatchers:
Terry, Mark, Peter, Allison, Berle, and a few others.

Weather Prediction:
Oct 20th - cloudy with showers switching to chance of a shower, SW 25km/h gusting to 40km/h  (theweathernetwork.com)

At this time I'm not sure if I'll make it to the park or not tomorrow

Walter

Oct 18th - Our First Rough-Legged Hawk

As the NW wind never did pick-up today we finished the day with a much lower count then expected.  The flight was for the most part directly over the park today but was very high up and made for some challanging ID'ing.  We did manage to see and identify a high-flying Rough-legged Hawk with the help of Ron Pittaway and Arvo Poolar's photo.

Today:
Turkey Vulture - 22
Bald Eagle - 1
Northern Harrier - 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 18
Cooper's Hawk - 4
Red-shouldered Hawk - 4
Red-tailed Hawk - 58
Rough-legged Hawk - 1
Golden Eagle - 1
Merlin - 1
Peregrine Falcon - 1
Total - 112

To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 2648
Osprey - 92
Bald Eagle - 65
Northern Harrier - 172
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 2533
Cooper's Hawk - 35
Northern Goshawk - 4
Red-shouldered Hawk - 16
Broad-winged Hawk - 89
Red-tailed Hawk - 234
Rough-legged Hawk - 1
Golden Eagle - 2
American Kestrel - 298
Merlin - 100
Peregrine Falcon - 57
Total - 6346

Eagle Time (DST):
10:58am - GE (juvenile)
01:04pm - BE (age unknown)

a high-flying Golden Eagle (Mike)

a high-flying Rough-legged Hawk (Arvo)

It's with photos like the two above that allow us to positively identify high-flying and very distant birds.  I can never thank the photographers enough for their great work in capturing these 'mystery' raptors.  Many birds would go unidentified without your help.

Other Birds:

Common Loon - 5 counted

Red-breasted Merganser - small group down on the lake

Double-crested Cormorants (Arvo)

Butterflies:

Monarch - 1

Mammals:

Eastern Cottontail

Hawkwatchers:

Richard, Phil and kids, Mike, Ron, Paul, Lorne, Norm, Pat & Nancy, Berle, John, Eleanor, Dahye, Arvo, Mark, Hugh, Betty, Cori, Allison, Blaine, Ann, and several others.  Thankyou for your help again today!

Weather Prediction:

Oct 19th - mainly sunny, SW 25km/h and gusting to 48km/h in the morning switching to SW 40km/h and gusting to 60km/h in the afternoon  (theweathernetwork.com)  Don't forget that strong SW wind could bring us Eagles and Peregrines!

See you at the park,

Walter