An EPIC afternoon of hawk watching on Coon today !!! It was raining Peregrines !!!! What a flight !! Up until noon we had only counted 22 raptors. And than someone turned on the faucet and the birds came pouring down ridge ! We've had larger afternoon flights in the past but what made this day epic was that the entire flight was either directly over our heads and low or tucked tightly into the ridge on the river side at or below eye level !!! Too many birds at the owl decoy to count ! Almost every Merlin we had today was at the owl ! Also Kestrels, Sharpies, Coops, and a Peregrine came to the decoy !! Many passed by us by mere feet after swooping on the owl !! The Peregrine parade started in the 2:00pm hour and lasted until near 6:00pm. We had 21 peregrines today which was 1 bird short of tying our site record of 22 in a day which happened twice. ( 10/5/2002 & 10/6/2012 ) I stayed up top until 6:15pm hoping to tie or break the record but it wasn't meant to be. Every single Peregrine gave us eye popping views in beautiful light and close to the ridge. Coon at it's finest ! Thanks to Tom Campbell for his help and company in the late pm and sorry that Phil missed the late day action. Our Bird of the Day selection goes to the 4:03 adult peregrine that came in and made a pass at the owl decoy in beautiful light. So close.. no bins required . Tom and I both agreed that it was one of the best afternoons of hawking that we've ever had on Coon !
Non-raptor Observations: TV's & BV's Bluejays WB Nuthatch Ravens Buckmoths Monarch- 5 ======================================================================== Report submitted by Jim Thomson (<hawkinflight...>)
