Date: 1/22/25 4:07 pm From: Thomas Kuehl <tjk.kuehl...> Subject: Westmoreland County WRS - Kuehl Slickville Route - 41 Raptors
Greg and All,
This is the 14th year of running our Slickville Route, which is all north of Rt. 22 and almost entirely east of Rt. 66. Route results on this mostly sunny day were not impacted by frigid temperatures and snow cover as the 41 Raptors tallied today is above the average of 35. Diversity was also spot-on, as we saw all 5 raptor species that have ever been recorded on the Route. The route includes a stop at Loyalhanna Dam, which is a winter hot-spot for Bald Eagles. Of today’s 8 Bald Eagles, just one of them was seen in the area just below the dam. The other 7 Bald Eagles were seen at 3 other unexpected locations, all of which were not too distant from either Loyalhanna Creek or the Conemaugh River.
County: Westmoreland
Name of route - Slickville / PSO map number: 651
Date – January 22, 2025
Observers - Tom & Janet Kuehl
Survey time (minus breaks) : Hrs: 5 Mins: 19
Start/End: 9:50am / 3:24pm (15 minutes of break time)
Approx. Miles on route: 82.8
Avg Temp.-7F
Clear/Pt cloudy/Cloudy- Mostly clear to start then a bit hazy into the afternoon
Wind – Calm/Light/medium- Medium
Avg. Inches Snow cover- 8”
# Red-tails- 30 - Average is 27
# Kestrels- TOTAL # 1 (#M = 1 /F/ND) – Average is 2.3
# Red-shoulders – 1 Adult
# Bald Eagles- Total = 8 Ad = 3 /Imm. = 5 - The 8 is right on the average of the last 4 years of much higher counts of Bald Eagles on the Route
#Cooper’s – 1 Adult
COMMENTS?
Some nice birds added to the Winter Atlas eBird Portal included an entertaining Pileated Woodpecker, American Robins, Eastern Bluebird (just one), a Hermit Thrush (a delight to see at the Loyalhanna Dam) and Cedar Waxwings.
