Light SE winds for most of the count at 6-11kph. By noon they had picked up
to 12-19kph and that also happened to be the busiest hour of the flight.
Visibility was good for most of the count at 12km. The cloud cover came and
went throughout the count and it was quite warm when the sun peaked out.
Low temperature of 17C at 09:00 and a high of 27C at noon. A light drizzle
developed in the 13:00 hour and continued off and on until the close of the
count at 17:00.
Raptor Notes
TV 14 (245) OS 3 (13) BE 4 (65) NH 2 (24) SS 12 (65) CH 4 (24) RS 1 (36) RT
11 (183) AK 3 (21) UR 3 (16) Total 57 (843)
The first RSHA in over a week was spotted early in the count. The flight
then picked up in the 10:00 hour with a total of 13 raptors coming through.
The diversity in the days flight made for an exciting day for the
discerning raptor enthusiast. The 11:00 hour saw a good pulse of SSHA with
a total of 6 moving through. Several seemed to be flying straight down
Tussey Mountain along the ridge then banking out N of the tower. The noon
hour had several RTHA’s and the AK’s started to move through on the flight
line used by the sharpies in the prior hour. By 13:00 when the skies became
mostly cloudy, the temperature dropped and a drizzle started marked a halt
to the days flight.
The resident COHA was again out performing its flight display over Stone
Valley. It was in the vicinity of the powerline cut on the S side of the
ridge.
Non-raptor Notes
The RUGR was behind the rock wall at the old OP. Something may have taken a
swipe at it as I hear it flush first and didn’t see anything. I reconciled
it to rocks tipping over. Then I heard the “poik” call and got on it
briefly up in a tree. It then flew off the N side of the ridge. The
woodpeckers and sapsucker were quite active today. All were rocking out
cueing up for their drum solos. I also thought I saw a RTHU, but checked
eBird and see there has been none spotted this far north yet. It could have
been an insect as I noticed some big moths flying up through the cut on
these S winds. I had been looking at a distant raptor over the tree lines
and noticed something blurred out in the foreground. The flight style
seemed like a hummer taking off from a branch, but it may have been an
insect in the foreground.
Ruffed Grouse 1
Mourning Dove 6
Great Blue Heron 1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Pileated Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 1
Eastern Phoebe 1
Blue Jay 1
American Crow 3
Common Raven 6
Black-capped Chickadee 5
Tree Swallow 1
Golden-crowned Kinglet 2
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
Eastern Bluebird 2
American Robin 7
House Finch 5
Purple Finch 1
American Goldfinch 3
Field Sparrow 1
Red-winged Blackbird 1
Brown-headed Cowbird 6
Common Grackle 3
Visitors
Coty was out in the afternoon and was kind enough to bring some healthy
snacks to share. She had seen a FOSP on the walk in.
Constanza Ehrenhaus
8 hikers
Next Day Forecast
Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. Some of the storms could be severe.
High near 73. Southwest wind 6 to 11 mph, with gusts as high as 24 mph.
Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth
of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
