Heavy rain fell over Tussey Mountain until a little after 13:00 when the
clouds rapidly began lifting over Stone Valley. Up at the op at 14:30 WSW
winds at 28kph were blowing bands of fog through the cut. Visibility was
superb, in fact the best I have seen since the count was initiated in
February. The heavy rains cleared out much of the haze and I could make out
the tree cover 32km distant on the east. Mostly cloudy skies for the brief
count period. Temperature was 10C.
Raptor Notes
GE 2 (65) Total 2 (240)
GE A 14:37, A 15:05
A brief flight occurred with a GE spotted within five minutes of arriving
at the OP. It was gliding out over Leading Ridge and made its way NE
parallel to the ridge on the S. Approximately a half hour later another GE
took the exact same line as the first eagle. Unfortunately, 1.5 hours of
prime observation time were missed and there likely were GE moving prior to
my arrival. Fortunately, since my hosts live about 15 minutes’ drive from
the site, that won’t be happening again.
Our local resident RTHA kited over the powerline cut right near the OP at
14:35. At 15:34 likely this same buteo was spotted in a prominent snag
along leading ridge. It had its feathers fluffed out and was carefully
reorganizing its tailfeathers. I am becoming aware of some prominent
perches that are favorites of the local corvids and raptors. I like
checking down there when the flight lulls just to watch what the locals are
up to.
Non-raptor Notes
Thousands of migrating waterbirds out over Stone Valley late this
afternoon. I frequently picked up distant migrating passerines as well.
Canada Goose 2666
American Crow 2
Common Raven 20
Black-capped Chickadee 2
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
Common Grackle 60
Visitors
None
Next Day Forecast
Tomorrow likely will not be a busy flight. I will be up alone for the day,
so if any all-star local spotters want to come help for a few hours from
11:00 – 14:00 I could certainly use the help scanning.
Mostly cloudy, with a high near 37. West wind 9 to 18 mph, with gusts as
high as 39 mph.
The trail is virtually ice free now. There are two patches of ice still
lingering along the trail near the OP. The trail also has two trees down on
it, but this hasn’t proven to be an issue yet for anyone visiting. Our
parking area was almost full yesterday, but most of the snow has melted out
so we have ample parking.
