Observation start time: 06:00:00
Observation end time: 17:00:00
Total observation time: 11 hours
Official Counter: Maili Waters
Observers: Bridget Watts, Daena Ford, Greg Sanda, Janis George,
Luke Seitz, Mike Tetlow, Mitch Barry, Pat Martin,
Randy Ford, Roger Clark, Rosemary Reilly, Sheryl Gracewski,
Tim Willis, Vid Killius
Visitors:
20
Weather:
The morning started with SSW winds at 15-20mph, temps in the upper 50s, and
partly sunny skies. At 8am it started to rain, lasting for 30 minutes,
before becoming partly sunny again. As the day progressed the temps
increased to a high of 75F. Winds also increased to 20-25mph and shifted
more westerly. Some very strong wind gusts reached 45mph. Cloud cover
decreased throughout the day. Around 5:45pm a cold front passed and shut
down the flight completely.
Raptor Observations:
Holy Turkey Vultures! Today had a spectacular flight of vultures tallying
10,759 individuals, setting a new all-time single day record. The flight
started early, with a handful of birds moving before the rain hit. After
the rain, it took the birds about an hour to get up and start moving again.
The biggest single hour for vultures was between 12pm and 1pm with a total
of 4,443 individuals passing by.
It was a great day for Sharp-shinned Hawks as well! Over the course of the
day we had a total of 746 individuals. Their flight was continuous from
sunrise to when the cold front hit just before 6pm.
In total, we saw 14 species of raptor today. Red-tailed Hawks (290),
American Kestrels (184), and Northern Harriers (115) were the other three
species that hit triple digits. All three falcon species were seen, with 4
Peregrines and 1 Merlin in addition to the kestrels. Other big highlights
of the day included 1 Golden Eagle, 2 American Goshawks, and 3 Rough-legged
Hawks!
The vulture flight was predominantly on the lake side at a low to mid
height. Some vultures and the majority of buteos were moving along the
parkway. The Sharp-shinned Hawk flight was mostly on the parkway side,
however there were a decent number passing very low over the platform.
Non-raptor Observations:
Non-raptors: as expected for this date, the morning flight consisted mainly
of American Robins and blackbirds. Thousands of birds were moving in the
first few hours of the morning, mostly heading east along the lakeshore.
There were at least a few hundred Rusty Blackbirds, plus good numbers of
Belted Kingfisher, Northern Flicker, American Crow, and Horned Lark. We
also noted an uptick in flyover Purple Finches and two Yellow-rumped
Warblers. Numbers of Bonaparte�s Gulls increased in the afternoon, with
around 180 seen flying into the bay and heading west. The hybrid drake
Redhead X Canvasback hybrid continued on the bay.
Predictions:
Tomorrow�s weather: Cloudy skies with a high of 54F. Winds will be east in
the morning at 10-20mph and potentially shifting more SE in the afternoon.
There is a chance there will be small numbers of birds moving into the east
wind in the morning, as long as the wind isn�t too strong. The number of
birds tomorrow will definitely be much lower than today!
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Report submitted by Maili Waters (<mailirwaters...>)
Braddock Bay information may be found at:
http://www.bbrr.org/
