Hi folks,
Sorry this is a little late but, better late than never, right? Anyway, our good birding friend Noam Markus found and photographed a Northern Waterthrush (our 29th Warbler species) in the north-western corner of the park back on September 9th. This is just another amazing sighting and new addition for our little garden park. Bird species #212. Way to go Noam!
All 212 bird species and 2 'spuhs' can be found here
Walter
Septemer 21-2017
One measly peregrine!
This continues to be a very frustrating fall migration and I expect more of the same with this heat wave. Theresa sent along this report:
Non-raptors:
Magnolia Warbler
2 Ruby-throated Hummingbirds
and all the regulars
Again the Monarchs were migrating at at least one per minute and by the afternoon there were at least two dozen Painted Ladies in the park at the same time.
Observers: Sonja, Hugh, Beryl and Theresa
Thanks to everyone who keeps going out. On the plus side, it's always nice to get together and it's great that we have such a beautiful park full of other types of wildlife. It never gets boring!
Lee
This continues to be a very frustrating fall migration and I expect more of the same with this heat wave. Theresa sent along this report:
Non-raptors:
Magnolia Warbler
2 Ruby-throated Hummingbirds
and all the regulars
Again the Monarchs were migrating at at least one per minute and by the afternoon there were at least two dozen Painted Ladies in the park at the same time.
Observers: Sonja, Hugh, Beryl and Theresa
Thanks to everyone who keeps going out. On the plus side, it's always nice to get together and it's great that we have such a beautiful park full of other types of wildlife. It never gets boring!
Lee
September 20/2017
From Theresa:
Only two Sharp-shinned hawks migrating. Also two groups of Blue Jays, totalling about 50 birds, about 25 Robins and 25 White-throated Sparrows. One Black-throated Blue Warbler the only warbler nearby, but we didn't wander much
About one Monarch every minute from 10:45 to 1:45 pm
Present: Carol, Ann, Berryl, Betty, Terry and Theresa
Lee
Only two Sharp-shinned hawks migrating. Also two groups of Blue Jays, totalling about 50 birds, about 25 Robins and 25 White-throated Sparrows. One Black-throated Blue Warbler the only warbler nearby, but we didn't wander much
About one Monarch every minute from 10:45 to 1:45 pm
Present: Carol, Ann, Berryl, Betty, Terry and Theresa
Lee
Sep 19th - The Numbers So Far
Well folks, unfortunately the 'Global Warming' effect is not doing us any favours at Rosetta. It's not doing any Hawk Watches along the shores of the Great Lakes any favours either! The cool north-west winds have yet to blow and the low count totals so far are a clear result. Hopefully things will change soon!!!!! Enjoy the lasting heat and humidity while you can!
To Date (as of Sep 19th):
Turkey Vulture - 23
Osprey - 25
Bald Eagle - 30
Northern Harrier - 15
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 169
Cooper's Hawk - 18
Broad-winged Hawk - 13
Red-tailed Hawk - 22
American Kestrel - 45
Merlin - 12
Peregrine Falcon - 3
Total - 375
The Numbers comparison (as of Sep 19th):
2010 - 3188
2011 - 1968
2012 - 1660
2013 - 1610
2014 - 3220
2015 - 1941
2016 - 1098
2017 - 375
Thousands of raptors are heading south at this time (Sharpies, Kestrels, and Broad-wings especially) but without the north-west winds a-blowin' it's unlikely we'll be seeing many of them in the sky over Rosetta. They'll be crossing the city further to the north unfortunately. We have to continue to watch for them all the same as this is the ultimate reason why we hawk-watch in the first place (sure they're beautiful to look at!). As observers of nature, we have to know what they're doing and where they're flying whether good or bad.
Keep up the excellent job everyone!
Walter
To Date (as of Sep 19th):
Turkey Vulture - 23
Osprey - 25
Bald Eagle - 30
Northern Harrier - 15
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 169
Cooper's Hawk - 18
Broad-winged Hawk - 13
Red-tailed Hawk - 22
American Kestrel - 45
Merlin - 12
Peregrine Falcon - 3
Total - 375
The Numbers comparison (as of Sep 19th):
2010 - 3188
2011 - 1968
2012 - 1660
2013 - 1610
2014 - 3220
2015 - 1941
2016 - 1098
2017 - 375
Thousands of raptors are heading south at this time (Sharpies, Kestrels, and Broad-wings especially) but without the north-west winds a-blowin' it's unlikely we'll be seeing many of them in the sky over Rosetta. They'll be crossing the city further to the north unfortunately. We have to continue to watch for them all the same as this is the ultimate reason why we hawk-watch in the first place (sure they're beautiful to look at!). As observers of nature, we have to know what they're doing and where they're flying whether good or bad.
Keep up the excellent job everyone!
Walter
September 16-2017
Another quiet day. Thanks to Dave for being a rock star and going out on these slow days.
Sharp-shinned hawks - 3
Notable birds include a great crested flycatcher.
Lee
September 15-2017
Thanks to Dave for the following report from the 15th:
Sharp-shinned hawks 16
Osprey 1
American Kestrel 4
Cooper's Hawks 5
Northern Harrier 1
Other notables
Red eye vireo. (Phil). American Redstart, Bay breasted, Wilson and Magnolia warblers
Local TV and RT
And the highlight was a probable Hudsonian Godwit spotted by me heading out over the lake.
Observers. Sheldon, Sue, Phil and Dave
We're still waiting for better weather! In the meantime, Mike D took some nice photos of a Merlin in a tree last Saturday:
Lee
Raptor Watch procedures for the 2017 season
Thank you for your willingness to participate in the Rosetta
McClain Gardens Raptor Watch as a Citizen Scientist. Your observations
are important.
The clipboard with the sign-in sheets for August-November and the
3 hole coiled workbook with a pen is in the Staff Office. You will need
to find a staff member to unlock the office to pick up the recording resources.
Please start a new page for each day. A day is from 10:00 am
- 3:00 pm give or take. You will notice on the sign-up sheet that the day
is divided into a morning and afternoon time period. 10:00 AM - 12:30 and
12:30 to 3:00 PM. Thank you for volunteering your time to help observe
the raptors.
Record the species and record a tick count (IIII - groups
of 5) of the number of each species of raptor that you observed during your
watch in the workbook. If you were lucky to see an eagle, please record
the time of your sighting. There are 15 that are usually seen at Rosetta.
American Kestrel (AMKE) , Bald Eagle (BAEA) , Broad-winged Hawk
(BWHA), Cooper's Hawk (COHA), Golden Eagle (GOEA), Merlin (MERL), Northern
Harrier (NOHA), Northern Goshawk (NOGO), Osprey (OSPR) , Peregrine Falcon
(PEFA), Red Shoulder Hawk (RSHA), Red tail Hawk (RTHA) , Rough-legged Hawk
(RLHA), Sharp Shinned Hawk (SSHA), & Turkey Vulture (TUVU).
Please remember to also record the number of monarchs flying by
and make note of other birds and mammals.
On a quiet day or if you have another commitment before 3:00 PM,
it is ok to leave early. If there is no one at the watch to hand over the
workbook to continue recording, take a photo of the day's recording in the
workbook and send it to rosettamcclaingardens
at gmail.com or just email the totals to rosettamcclaingardens at gmail.com if
you can’t take a photo. If you are able to get some photos, please send to rosettamcclaingardens at gmail.com and
they may be chosen for the blog. Please return the clipboard, workbook,
sign-in sheets and pen to the office. (You may have to find a staff
person again). If there is no staff
around, please take the clipboard and let us know.
The process for recording is evolving. Your comments and/or
questions are appreciated. Please either email them to rosettamcclaingardens at gmail.com or write them in the back of the workbook.
You are great! Thank you for your contribution, Citizen
Scientist.
September 14-2017
Hi everyone,
Dave reported the following:
Sharp Shinned 14
Cooper's 1
American Kestrel 1
This weather isn't helping migration at all, we need north winds and cooler temps!
Lee
Sep 12th - Mostly Sharpies...Mostly.
Hugh's report...
Today:
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 12
Merlin - 1
Total - 13
Dave, Hugh, and lots of kids.
Walter
Today:
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 12
Merlin - 1
Total - 13
Dave, Hugh, and lots of kids.
Walter
Sep 10th - 3 More Birds
Today, Hugh had the following...
Turkey Vulture - 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1
Merlin - 1
Walter
Turkey Vulture - 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1
Merlin - 1
Walter
It's Broad-winged Hawk Time!
Just a heads-up to anyone heading to Rosetta over the next week or so. When you can, watch in the distance over the trees on the north side (over Kingston Road) of the park for kettling Broad-wings. It's one of the most beautiful scenes that you'll ever see during migration time. Of course, NW winds are your best chance to see them. Good strong gusting NW winds will put them right over the park! Good luck!
Walter
Walter
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