October 23rd - 12 of the 15 Species!

Oh my, what a day we had!  With Osprey and Broad-winged Hawks likely finished for the year, we saw and counted 12 of the 15 species that we normally see migrating over Rosetta.  That would leave just the Northern Goshawk as not being seen today.  Rain, sleet, and hail didn't really seem to matter today as the birds were in the mood to fly.  At one point this afternoon the sky was starting to fill with TVs and before we could finish counting them we had to head for cover as the bad weather moved in.  I thank Manny for doing his best to find them all as they passed just to the north.  Our first two Golden Eagles of the season were counted today as well as Bald Eagles #99 and #100!  As many of the birds today were very high up, I'd like to thank everyone for their help in finding and ID'ing them.  Not easy when the skies continued to change all day long!

Today:
Turkey Vulture - 80
Bald Eagle - 2
Northern Harrier - 11
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 80
Cooper's Hawk - 3
Red-shouldered Hawk - 2
Red-tailed Hawk - 35
Rough-legged Hawk - 6
Golden Eagle - 2
American Kestrel - 2
Merlin - 3
Peregrine Falcon - 7
Total - 233

To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 1530
Osprey - 117
Bald Eagle - 100
Northern Harrier - 109
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1461
Cooper's Hawk - 37
Northern Goshawk - 0
Red-shouldered Hawk - 8
Broad-winged Hawk - 139
Red-tailed Hawk - 162
Rough-legged Hawk - 8
Golden Eagle - 2
American Kestrel - 469
Merlin - 56
Peregrine Falcon - 49
Total - 4247

Eagle Time (EDT):
11:14 AM - BE
11:45 AM - BE
12:02 PM - GE
03:00 PM - GE

Some of the photos from today...

Red-tailed Hawk (Ann)

Sharp-shinned Hawk (Ann)

 

Red-tailed Hawk (Paul)

 

Merlin (Mike)

Golden Eagle (Mike)

Turkey Vultures (Mike)

 

Rough-legged Hawk (Walter)

Golden Eagle (Walter)

The Fox Sparrow was our new species for the fall 'List'.  Five Monarchs were counted today as well as 15 Loons flying overhead.  3000-5000 Red-breasted Mergansers were observed moving around the lake just out in front of our Watch site.

Under the cover of the big ol' Maple (Paul)

Golden-crowned Kinglet (Ann)

On-hand today were: Kris, Bill, Paul, John, Bruce, Dave, Betty, Peter, Mike 3, Ron and Jean, Arvo, Terry, Lynn, Manny, Cori, Lee, Trudy, and Ann.  My apologies if I've missed anyone.

Strong wind from the west is predicted for tomorrow (Thursday).

Walter