Northern Harrier Migrant
Can you spot the bird in this photo? Good luck! It is a migrant from the Boothe Park Hawk Watch, and it is in the upper right third of the picture. High in the sky in a suburban park is also not where you would normally imagine spotting one. It is a Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus) on the way south for the winter, heading down the Housatonic River corridor to find Long Island Sound and the Atlantic coast. Binoculars help to identify it, but even here you can see the long wings, long tail and soaring, light flight it takes at low levels over fields. Maybe it will use Stratford Point or other...
Read MoreBald Eagle
This Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) was one of 36 migrant Bald Eagles recorded at the Boothe Park Hawk Watch on September 20, 2015, breaking our previous daily record of 22 that had been set on September 14, 2014. The next two days in the record books were of 20 Bald Eagles apiece, making it an especially strong Sunday. We have been off to a difficult start considering the record-shattering heat in September, but Osprey have been abundant – in fact, we soared by our yearly record of them already! Bald Eagles have also been strong in numbers overall as both formerly endangered...
Read MoreRadar Migration September 21, 2015
Here we go again! This was the radar last night around 11:00PM EST, full of nocturnal migrant birds pouring to the south after yesterday’s cold front. Go out and find them this morning and then their friends (or maybe more accurately foes) in the sky with diurnal raptor migration going on all day. Good birding to you!
Read MoreBoothe Park Hawk Watch 2015 Season
We are now well into the fall hawk watch season as sites across the country are staffed by citizen scientists engaged in counting raptors heading south for the winter. Various hawk, falcon, vulture, eagle, and kite species plus birds like the Osprey, Northern Harrier and even some owls can be tallied on conducive flight days at migratory hotspots often situated along ridges or at the edge of a body of water. Counting these birds helps keep track of raptor populations on an international scale, gauging the health of these important predator species that have often been threatened by human...
Read MoreRadar Migration September 11, 2015
This was the eastern radar a few hours after sunset last night – wow! What did you see out there this morning? It seems like there were many thrushes in flight overnight, and I found Catbird City outside a few hours ago. Here comes the next front through the Midwest and then the Northeast today, and we need the water. It should be good early week period for all sorts of passerines and raptors. Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
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