Boothe Park Hawk Watch 9/12 – 182 migrant raptors
We had a decent day at the Boothe Park Hawk Watch in Stratford, Connecticut yesterday, considering the deep blue sky in control, as we tallied 182 migrant raptors filling in the 9:30-4:30 time frame. Having no clouds in the sky makes it very difficult to spot hawks, eagles, falcons, vultures and so forth flying at altitudes in the thousands of feet. Light clouds, especially cirrus, provide a helpful backdrop to view them on without obscuring any or dumping precipitation which would stop the birds from moving south. In essence many migrants likely flew by right over our heads that we could...
Read MoreFall hawk watching is on!
Labor Day and the beginning of September are often seen as the beginning of the fall season despite the fact the autumnal equinox is not until weeks later (September 23 this year). However, many of our birds agree with this assessment as well. You can find migrant passerines beginning to disperse and even some moving south in July. Shorebirds can be found on the way to wintering quarters in terrific numbers in “fall” migration in the middle of what we think of as a hot summer day. Raptors including many species of hawks, accipiters, falcons, eagles, vultures and more start to...
Read MoreBroad-winged Hawks and hawk watch season
It is nearly time for an exhilarating explosion of raptors down the eastern seaboard. Kettles like this filled with tens, hundreds and thousands of Broad-winged Hawks like these are on the way. I’m ready…and the weather will be soon. Stretch your necks now. I’ll have more to come on the raptors, flight conditions, species to look for and hawk watching in action throughout the next few months.
Read MoreLate August front and nocturnal migrants
Let’s play find the front! Here’s a radar grab from a few minutes ago that shows a front draped across Michigan, Indiana and Illinois, as seen with accompanying showers and thunderstorms, and nocturnal migrant birds launching off behind it across Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Kansas and so on. The strong southerly flow ahead of the front makes for poor flight conditions and although the winds behind it are only mostly calm that means it’s good enough to get on the move. As we enter September I’ll be watching the weather like a hawk for both these nocturnal...
Read MoreApril speaker – Luke Tiller
RTPI is thrilled to welcome our friend Luke Tiller as our April speaker on Monday, April 14 at 7:00 p.m. The Great Lakes are an incredible spot for bird migration of all kinds but perhaps particularly notably for raptors. Join hawkwatching expert Luke Tiller to hear about one of the best raptor migration sites, that happens to just be a stones throw away from Jamestown in Western New York. Luke will talk about among other things: Braddock Bay, the history of hawkwatching, how to get the best out of the hawkwatching experience and about some of the pitfalls of trying to identify a bird in...
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