HSR: Ashland Nature Center (06 Nov 2009) 130 Raptors

[reports-4]

Ashland Nature Center
Hockessin, Delaware, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 06, 2009
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Species            Day's Count    Month Total   Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture               16            141            473
Turkey Vulture              47            241            571
Osprey                       0              4            223
Bald Eagle                   0             11            215
Northern Harrier             1              5             69
Sharp-shinned Hawk          16            136           1315
Cooper's Hawk                0             35            408
Northern Goshawk             0              3              3
Red-shouldered Hawk         10             80            166
Broad-winged Hawk            0              0           7403
Red-tailed Hawk             38            317            580
Rough-legged Hawk            0              0              0
Golden Eagle                 1              1              7
American Kestrel             0              4            422
Merlin                       0              8             53
Peregrine Falcon             0              0             21
Unknown Accipiter            0              2             28
Unknown Buteo                1              7             22
Unknown Falcon               0              0              4
Unknown Eagle                0              0              0
Unknown Raptor               0              2             20
Swallow-tailed Kite          0              0              1

Total:                     130            997          12004
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Observation start time: 08:00:00
Observation end   time: 16:00:00
Total observation time: 7.75 hours

Official Counter:        Cyrus Moqtaderi

Observers:        Derek Stoner, Joe Sebastiani, Jonathan Stein

Visitors:
6 visitors total. Can't blame anyone for skipping a visit this morning. The
wind was brutal on top! Alicia braved the cold twice, as well as Eric R.
Larry G. who stopped in for short visits. Jon Stein, Joe Sebastiani and
Derek Stoner all helped keep watch throughout the afternoon.


Weather:
Clear. Cold morning (4C) with strong winds of 20mph blowing consistently
until noon (when temps stabilized around 7C). Winds slowed some, but were
still strong and from the NW. Few clouds today. In short, it was cold up
there.

Raptor Observations:
A strong buteo movement today. Every binocular sweep seemed to turn up at
least one Red-taileds (36 total) or Red-shouldered (10 total)! Turkey
Vultures moved regularly, ending with 47 total. Certainly the most exciting
landmark was the recording of bird 12,000 for the season. At 3:22pm, high
in the sky, with wings spread sharply into the wind, sailed one spectacular
Golden Eagle, marking 12,000 birds for the 2009 Ashland Hawk Watch season.
The bird's immature plumage caught the low afternoon sun perfectly and we
were afforded a long and luxurious view. A fitting bird for our new
record-breaking  benchmark!

Non-raptor Observations:
A bright male Eastern Bluebird landed on my head this morning. He perched
for about 3 seconds before I turned my head and scared him off. I was
standing up and not keeping particularly still when he showed. Certainly a
first for me.

Predictions:
High of 57F and mostly sunny. Winds will be from the SW, but we'll still
see some good birds I reckon.
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Report submitted by Cyrus Moqtaderi (hawkwatch@...)
 information may be found at:
www.delawarenaturesociety.org


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