Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 18:00:00 Total observation time: 10 hours
Official Counter: David Brown
Observers: Bridget Watts, Cliff Dekdebrun, Daena Ford, Greg Sanda, Kim Steininger, Neil Reilly, Peter Burns, Rosemary Reilly, Shannon Sanda
Visitors: 45, including a raptor education class field trip
Weather: Mostly cloudy to start the day then clearing. Moderate northwesterly winds that felt chilly until it warmed up in the afternoon.
Raptor Observations: Highest single day so far this season. Turkey Vultures were the species of the day. After all the recent poor weather they took the opportunity to move! There was a moderate vulture flow throughout the morning with a few hundred each hour, but the flight picked up in the afternoon with a peak hour of nearly 900. Ended up staying two hours later than usual. After the usual end time we had 678 and 732 Turkey Vultures for those hours, with the last groups passing around 6pm EST (7pm clock time!). The flight path varied from lake-side to overhead to parkway-side throughout the day, seemingly without much reason for the shifts. Overall it was an extremely satisfying flight to count with great looks at several large groups.
One BLACK VULTURE migrated through with the Turkey Vultures around 9:30am EST. Then other highlight of the day was an immature GOLDEN EAGLE just after 2pm EST.
Otherwise light to moderate migration of expected species including 11 harriers, 12 Cooper's Hawks, 2 red-shoulders and 51 red-tails. For falcons we had five kestrels and a Merlin.
Hawk Watch: 7 Sandhill Cranes, Killdeer, Common Loon, 50 Double-crested Cormorants, 5 Great Blue Herons, Eastern Phoebe, 4 Common Ravens, Swamp Sparrow. https://ebird.org/checklist/S167353247
New species for season: Trumpeter Swan
Predictions: TOMORROW: Mostly sunny. High 53F. Winds NNE at 5-10mph. An unfavorable wind direction but fairly light. Turkey Vultures should still be on the move and hopefully that light wind doesn't push them too far inland. Expect moderate migration.
MONDAY: Cloudy. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 54F. Winds E at 10-15mph. Flight will depend on how much sun we get and when the winds shift. Sometimes the easterly winds keep the raptors lower and we get better looks. Expect light to moderate migration.
TUESDAY: Intervals of clouds and sun. Very Warm. High 59F. Winds E at 5-10mph. Expect light to moderate migration. ======================================================================== Report submitted by David Brown (<davidebrownpa...>) Braddock Bay information may be found at: http://www.bbrr.org/
