Weather:
Weather was all over the place today! Light SW winds in the morning allowed
a lake breeze to kick in just after 11am. NE winds at 10-15mph lasted until
around 2:30 when a strong SW wind overpowered the lake breeze. Temps
started in the low 40s and reached a high of 51F. Skies started out
completely cloudless; it then clouded over around 1:30pm, cleared partially
again, and finally a thick cloud layer rolled in around 4:30pm. There were
some scattered sprinkles after 5pm.
Raptor Observations:
Today was one of the highest flights I�ve ever seen. Some birds were only
visible with a scope pointing straight up at the sky. The flight started
out high, got knocked down a bit when the lake breeze hit, but then
regained altitude as the SW wind powered back up. The majority of the
flight were Broad-winged Hawks (659) with some Turkey Vultures (218) and
Sharp-shinned Hawks (60) mixed in. One of the few birds that was visible
with just your naked eye was a beautiful immature Golden Eagle (it was
still pretty high!).
Non-raptor Observations:
Non-raptors: two White-crowned Sparrows continue at the seed. One lonesome
Sandhill Crane flew over twice. A group of 7 Common Ravens were seen
kettling up and then broke east.
========================================================================
Report submitted by Maili Waters (<mailirwaters...>)
Braddock Bay information may be found at:
http://www.bbrr.org/
