HSR: Ripley Hawk Watch (26 Apr 2012) 1570 Raptors

Ripley Hawk Watch
Ripley, New York, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 26, 2012
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Species            Day's Count    Month Total   Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture                0              2              2
Turkey Vulture              32           3603           9645
Osprey                       7             66             66
Bald Eagle                  12             55             66
Northern Harrier             0             53             75
Sharp-shinned Hawk          41            541            684
Cooper's Hawk                0             38             66
Northern Goshawk             0              2              2
Red-shouldered Hawk          0              4            141
Broad-winged Hawk         1474           6067           6067
Red-tailed Hawk              2            241            492
Rough-legged Hawk            0             11             17
Golden Eagle                 0              1              1
American Kestrel             1            123            153
Merlin                       1              6              7
Peregrine Falcon             0              2              3
Unknown Accipiter            0              0              0
Unknown Buteo                0              0              0
Unknown Falcon               0              0              0
Unknown Eagle                0              0              0
Unknown Raptor               0             13             19

Total:                    1570          10828          17506
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Observation start time: 09:00:00
Observation end   time: 14:00:00
Total observation time: 5 hours

Official Counter:        Gil Randell

Observers:        

Visitors:
Barbara Mannix timed her visit with skill and precision!


Weather:
South and southwest winds the first three hours.  Spatters of rain in the
fourth hour with a wind shift to the northwest and a drop in temperature of
three degrees (C).  Persistent light rain by the start of the fifth hour.


Cloud cover was variable with large holes of blue in extensive bright,
white clouds when most of the broadwings came through.  

Raptor Observations:
The morning started with a trickle of broadwings coming through singly and
in small groups with a nice flight of sharpies.  Then the broadwing flight
exploded with over 1,000 broadwings counted in the half hour between 1030
and 1100.  The broadwing seam settled between 500 and 700 meters from the
Lake Erie shore, so the count was taken all day at Site 1, our site near
the lake.  As big broadwing flights go, many of the birds were reasonably
low, with several of the kettles and streams visible to the naked eye.
There was a minimum of kettling with the broadwings for the most part
streaming through at good speed.

Sharpies, some ospreys and bald eagles mixed in with the broadwings.  The
flight pretty much stopped in the 1200 hour with the wind shift to west and
the drop in temperature.

Four non-migrating bald eagles enjoyed the spectacle with us.  Two of the
migrating eagles flirted with talon grappling but never carried through
with the stunt.

Non-raptor Observations:
A lone sandhill crane flew by, to the south of the site, just after the big
broadwing push concluded.

Mel Freeborough, Jann Randell and Mike Ceci made sure no kettles were
missed.

Predictions:
Northwesterly winds, colder.  Not usually many birds following the passage
of a front.  Tomorrow will be slow.
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Report submitted by Gilbert Randell (janngil@...)


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