October 15th - Another 7 Raptors Today

With high winds and heavy clouds we thought there might have been a few more birds but it just didn't happen. Rain moved in and put a halt to the day around 1:30 PM.

Today:
Northern Harrier - 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1
American Kestrel - 2
Merlin - 1
Peregrine Falcon - 2
Total - 7

To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 1388
Osprey - 117
Bald Eagle - 55
Northern Harrier - 155
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1461
Cooper's Hawk - 61
Northern Goshawk - 12
Red-shouldered Hawk - 4
Broad-winged Hawk - 757
Red-tailed Hawk - 102
American Kestrel - 601
Merlin - 80
Peregrine Falcon - 33
Total - 4826

Here's an excellent shot of one of our young up-and-coming birder's.

Today's group included: Betty, Lorne, Carol, Ron, Norm, Berle, Pat & Nancy, Pat 2, Ann, and Phil.

Walter

October 14th - Another Lousy Day!

Lot's of off and on again rain today.

Today:
Turkey Vulture - 7
Total - 7

To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 1388
Osprey - 117
Bald Eagle - 55
Northern Harrier - 154
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1460
Cooper's Hawk - 61
Northern Goshawk - 12
Red-shouldered Hawk - 4
Broad-winged Hawk - 757
Red-tailed Hawk - 102
American Kestrel - 599
Merlin - 79
Peregrine Falcon - 31
Total - 4819

At the park today were: Pat & Nancy, Terry 2, and Ann.

Walter

October 13th - An Afternoon Flurry

I'd like to thank Terry 2 for manning the post this morning for a couple of hours before the rest of us decided to show after lunch. We had a small flurry of birds in the early afternoon and then the rest came slowly after that. We counted 2 Red-tails that appeared to be migrating up high but they returned later in the afternoon, both being local birds.

Today:
Osprey - 1
Northern Harrier - 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 5
Cooper's Hawk - 3
Northern Goshawk - 1
Total - 11

To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 1381
Osprey - 117
Bald Eagle - 55
Northern Harrier - 154
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1460
Cooper's Hawk - 61
Northern Goshawk - 12
Red-shouldered Hawk - 4
Broad-winged Hawk - 757
Red-tailed Hawk - 102
American Kestrel - 599
Merlin - 79
Peregrine Falcon - 31
Total - 4812

Today we counted roughly 50 migrating Monarchs.

Hawk watchers today included: Terry 2, Berle, Allison, Carol, Bob, and Phil.

Walter

October 12th - Not Much Today!

Very slow today with rain moving in by lunchtime. Believe it or not, our count today beat Metropark in Detroit by 1 bird.

Today:
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1
Peregrine Falcon - 1
Total - 2

To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 1381
Osprey - 116
Bald Eagle - 55
Northern Harrier - 153
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1455
Cooper's Hawk - 58
Northern Goshawk - 11
Red-shouldered Hawk - 4
Broad-winged Hawk - 757
Red-tailed Hawk - 102
American Kestrel - 599
Merlin - 79
Peregrine Falcon - 31
Total - 4801

A few Monarchs still passing overhead today.

Peter, Carol, Berle, Lorne, Theresa, Cori, and Pat 2 were present this morning waiting patiently for the show to begin.

Walter

Special Post - Bald Eagle Sightings

So far this season we've observed 55 Bald Eagles fly over Rosetta. The following is a breakdown of the times that they've been seen. Although anytime is good time for Eagles, it appears that between 12 and 3 PM seems to be best this year.

07:00-07:59AM - 1
08:00-08:59AM - 0
09:00-09:59AM - 3
10:00-10:59AM - 2
11:00-11:59AM - 3
12:00-12:59PM - 11
01:00-01:59PM - 11
02:00-02:59PM - 10
03:00-03:59PM - 6
04:00-04:59PM - 5
05:00-05:59PM - 3

Walter

Special Post - A View of the Stats

Thought you might be interested in knowing who is watching. Here are the stats for the last 24 hours and the last week on this blog.

Day

Week

It's great to know that other people around the world are also interested in what we're doing. A big hello to you all!

Walter

October 11th - The End of the Heat!

Today we had a decent backdrop of cloud, good wind from the south and southeast, and a much cooler temperature for viewing the birds. Many of them flew by high and fast with the tail-wind pushing them along. Low cloud moved in to the area around noon and put an end to the Watch for the day.

Today:
Turkey Vulture - 2
Osprey - 2
Northern Harrier - 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 9
Cooper's Hawk - 1
Northern Goshawk - 1
Red-tailed Hawk - 1
American Kestrel - 6
Merlin - 1
Total - 24

To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 1381
Osprey - 116
Bald Eagle - 55
Northern Harrier - 153
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1454
Cooper's Hawk - 58
Northern Goshawk - 11
Red-shouldered Hawk - 4
Broad-winged Hawk - 757
Red-tailed Hawk - 102
American Kestrel - 599
Merlin - 79
Peregrine Falcon - 30
Total - 4799

Bird of note today were Dark-eyed Juncos. A handful were seen flying around the park. Monarch butterflies were flying overhead sideways and backwards facing in to the wind.

The gang today consisted of: Theresa, Terry 2, Betty, Phil, Peter, and Cori.

Walter

October 10th - The Heatwave Continues!

Pretty much a repeat of yesterday's weather. Very hard to spot birds up in the blue sky.

Today:
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 12
Cooper's Hawk - 1
Broad-winged Hawk - 1
American Kestrel - 3
Merlin - 1
Peregrine Falcon - 2
Total - 20

To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 1379
Osprey - 114
Bald Eagle - 55
Northern Harrier - 152
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1445
Cooper's Hawk - 57
Northern Goshawk - 10
Red-shouldered Hawk - 4
Broad-winged Hawk - 757
Red-tailed Hawk - 101
American Kestrel - 593
Merlin - 78
Peregrine Falcon - 30
Total - 4775

Peregrine Falcon (adult)

Sharp-shinned Hawk (adult)

Today's best non-raptor was a Belted Kingfisher which flew by heading east. The best butterfly today was a Common Buckeye.

Just some of the gang from today.

Look at this great shot that Phil's young son took of me on Sunday. Thanks Josh!

Another good crowd on hand today including: Ann, Chris, Allison, Margaret, Carol, Heather, Peter, Pat, Nancy, Norm, Freida, Phil, Mike 3, Sheldon, and Naish McHugh and his wife.

Walter

October 9th - Another 33 birds!

Another August-like day today complete with heat, haze, and almost no wind. Also again today, zero percent cloud cover. All this combined made for very poor migration viewing. I'd like to thank everyone for their help in spotting birds up in the blue!

Today:
Northern Harrier - 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 22
Cooper's Hawk - 2
Red-tailed Hawk - 1
American Kestrel - 3
Merlin - 1
Peregrine Falcon - 3
Total - 33

To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 1379
Osprey - 114
Bald Eagle - 55
Northern Harrier - 152
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1433
Cooper's Hawk - 56
Northern Goshawk - 10
Red-shouldered Hawk - 4
Broad-winged Hawk - 756
Red-tailed Hawk - 101
American Kestrel - 590
Merlin - 77
Peregrine Falcon - 28
Total - 4755

Cooper's Hawk

Peregrine Falcon

Peregrine Falcon (adult)

Very few songbirds were found in the park today. With the end of their migration near, Monarchs numbers appeared to be up slightly today. Of interest, a Wild Indigo Duskywing butterfly was observed several times along the bluff-side of the fence. This is the first time this species has been seen at Rosetta.

Our friendly Jay.

A local Red Fox was out for a stroll in the park.

A great group of folks today including: Lorne, Janet, Freida, Ann, Pat 2, Leslie & Mike, Pat & Nancy, Ron, Effi, Phil & Joshua, Hugh, Cori & Shirley, and Carol.

Walter

October 8th - 33 Birds Today!

A fairly quiet day in the park today, many folks are probably up north or just taking it easy this long weekend. Not many birders either today.

Today:
Northern Harrier - 3
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 27
Cooper's Hawk - 1
Red-tailed Hawk - 1
American Kestrel - 1
Total - 33

To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 1379
Osprey - 114
Bald Eagle - 55
Northern Harrier - 151
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1411
Cooper's Hawk - 54
Northern Goshawk - 10
Red-shouldered Hawk - 4
Broad-winged Hawk - 756
Red-tailed Hawk - 100
American Kestrel - 587
Merlin - 76
Peregrine Falcon - 25
Total - 4722

Cooper's Hawk

Sharp-shinned Hawk (adult)

Red-tailed Hawk

Lots of Kinglets around again today. Red-breasted Nuthatch, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and Downy Woodpecker also seen. In the world of butterflies not much is being observed now: Sulphurs, Whites, and still a few Monarchs moving through.

Our bird watchers today were: Berle, Mike 2, Mike 3, and Allison.

Walter

October 7th - Just 3!

Another fantastic fall day brought very very few our way. I left by lunch time.

Today:
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 3
Total - 3

To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 1379
Osprey - 114
Bald Eagle - 55
Northern Harrier - 148
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1384
Cooper's Hawk - 53
Northern Goshawk - 10
Red-shouldered Hawk - 4
Broad-winged Hawk - 756
Red-tailed Hawk - 99
American Kestrel - 586
Merlin - 76
Peregrine Falcon - 25
Total - 4689

There was another Goshawk sighting today but I'm not going to count it just yet. I'm starting to think that it's hanging around along the bluffs somewhere. Today it was carrying a small animal.

Speaking of small animals, Pat saw the local Red-tail swoop down and grab a squirrel that Nancy was trying to feed. By the time the bird flew by us seconds later he'd dropped the squirrel. He then flew to the east side of the park where he continued to hunt. He swooped down and landed on a branch just 5 feet away from Bob who was quietly photographing a Kinglet.

On hand today just incase things picked up were: Bob, Terry 2, Pat, Nancy, Phil, Peter, Betty, and Cori.

Walter

Special Post - Thankyou!

I would like to take this time to let everyone know that I've had endless positive feedback and sincere thankyous about how welcoming we all are and how quick we are to share our hobby with others joining us for the first time and also folks just passing by on walks through the park. The plethora of excellent photographs displayed on our Blog page has drawn several new people down to the Watch and to the park itself.

I would just like to say thankyou to all of you for making the Raptor Watch a huge success once again this year.

Walter