Observation start time: 08:45:00 Observation end time: 18:00:00 Total observation time: 9.25 hours
Official Counter: Jim Thomson
Observers: Matt Jardel, Phil Rodriguez, Ted Lurker
Visitors: Matt Jardel - So great having you up top today Matt !!!! Crazy cool that you got to witness today's flight !
Hikers- 7
Weather: Temps- 58-67 Deg.F Wind N/NE @ 5-10mph ( stronger gusts in AM ) Fogged in until 9:45am than partly cloudy to mostly cloudy in pm back to partly cloudy later in the afternoon.
Raptor Observations: BE-7 ( 6A, 1I) PG- 1:05Unaged Just an incredible late afternoon of Broadwing action on Coon !!! Our day started slow for migration and than got a bit frustrating as we had picked up 3 or 4 huge kettles of Broadwings swirling well to the south of the watch site. These birds were just beyond the capabilities of our optics and disappeared into the clouds without being counted. As we got into the afternoon hours the flight line started to shift in our favor and we were picking up small kettles of BW's on the reservoir side of the watch. By 4pm we had tallied 1212 Broadwings... and than all hell broke loose !!!! We were spotting big
kettles directly up ridge and on the river side. The kettles combined and we had a huge "wall" of broad wings streaming down upon us !! 3-4 fields of view high and thick with birds !! We had birds stretching back for as far as we could see. I was in the bins for over an hour straight just trying to count huge wave after wave of Broadwings !! Phil and Matt yelling instructions as the birds came on. "High stream 3 glasses up !! " Low stream just below horizon ! " We were giddy at times !!! It was the most intense and enjoyable 2 hours of Broadwing migration that we have ever experienced ! I'll never forget it !! 3845 BW's passed in one hour and 45 minutes. The last group passed over us low at treetop level at 5:45pm Huge thanks to Phil Rodriguez and Matt Jardel for their awesome spotting efforts today. Ted.. we really felt bad that you missed this late day action. Our Bird of the Day selection goes to Broadwing# 5057 for bringing it all home for us today ! I'm still pumped !!!!
Non-raptor Observations: Monarch- 7 Red headed woodpecker- adult Bluejays TV's & BV's ======================================================================== Report submitted by Jim Thomson (<hawkinflight...>)
