Observation start time: 07:00:00
Observation end time: 14:00:00
Total observation time: 7 hours
Official Counter: Maili Waters
Observers: Bridget Watts, Mike Tetlow, Pat Lindsay, Shannon Sanda,
Shelly Rackovsky, Sheryl Gracewski, Vid Killius
Visitors:
20
Weather:
What a day! Today is a great example of how unpredictable the weather
forecast can be! The predicted rain that was supposed to hit in the
afternoon fizzled out completely, allowing for more migration than
anticipated. The morning started off partly sunny with temps in the high
50s and SSE winds at 15-20mph. A cold front came through around 12:30pm,
shifting the winds to WSW and increasing speed to 25-35mph. Temps reached a
high of 65F just before the front hit, then quickly dropped into the high
40s. It was partly sunny all morning, but thick cloud cover moved in with
the front.
Raptor Observations:
First 1,000 bird day of the season! Today was a great day with 1,005 birds
migrating over Braddock Bay. The vast majority were Turkey Vultures with a
total of 839 birds. Red-tailed Hawks, Cooper�s Hawks, and American Kestrels
all had day totals right around 30. The two highlight birds of the day were
Rough-legged Hawk and Golden Eagle!
Non-raptor Observations:
Other birds around today include many American Robins, Red-winged
Blackbirds, and Common Grackles. Earlier in the morning there were a decent
number of Rusty Blackbirds moving through with the other blackbirds. Duck
numbers on the bay continue to fluctuate a little day to day. Today, in
addition to the continuing numbers of Gadwall and American Wigeon there
were over 70 Canvasbacks, over a dozen Northern Shovelers, and 4
Blue-winged Teal.
Predictions:
Tomorrow�s weather: Cloudy and windy with on and off snow showers during
the morning. Winds will be west at 20-30mph with stronger gusts possible.
Temps will reach a high of 26F. With the predicted snow wind strength, and
cloudy skies, I don�t think there will be much, if anything, moving
tomorrow. Wednesday has winds from the SSW, but they will be light at only
5-10mph. I bet there will be some migrants, however the lake breeze could
overtake the southerly winds, shifting any birds that are migrating further
inland.
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Report submitted by Maili Waters (<mailirwaters...>)
Braddock Bay information may be found at:
http://www.bbrr.org/
