Unofficial, Unsanctioned, Unqualified Hawk Watcher 8/14/2020

     A year ago yesterday Matt McConnell noticed a movement of Red-tailed Hawks passing over the city of Ludington.  The next day I drove up to vantage point at my work and saw 50 more migrate by in an hour. 

  Since then I have moved from a house in the woods to a lake house with a great expanse of sky.  I have been looking forward to the late summer raptor migration since the day we moved in. I spent a little while in the yard yesterday afternoon but only saw 1 Red-tailed, along with a Merlin and an American Kestrel (which was a new yardbird #137).  

   Today was a different story as I saw 138 migrating raptors.   I initally thought all the distant buteos were Red-tails but later when I reviewed the photos I noticed some were Broad-wingeds which were also new to the yardlist.

Redtail and Broadwing

                                               Red-tail and Immature Bald Eagle

Two Upper birds are Broadwings the lowest one is a Redtail.

   Seems whenever two Bald Eagles ride the same thermal one will have to remind the other to social distance.

   An Osprey was also an unexpected surprise. 

 

   Here are some photos from the last couple of days.

The Bluebirds are wreaking havoc on the local butterflies and moths....

They only laid two eggs in their new nestbox, after their first nesting effort was cut short when a storm blew down their previous box in June.  Only one egg has hatched.

Eagle with its lunch.

Yesterday's new yardbird.  American Kestrel

   What appears to be a monstrous Walking Stick......

......looks less formidable when placed on a more natural setting. 

Broad-winged Hawks at Lake Erie Metropark 9/16-9/19/2019

   I spent a few days at the Detroit River Hawk Watch at Lake Erie Metropark trying to catch the Broadwinged Hawk migration.  The Broadwings put on a good show on Monday (35,000) and Tuesday (23,000).  The volume tapered off substantially the rest of the week as the winds shifted from north to unfavorable south.

  Below is a video of Broadwings streaming out of one kettle and into another.  Note the lack of flapping as they conserve energy by gliding from one thermal to another.

   It was a bad week for local fish as the Bald Eagles and Ospreys patrolled the Detroit River.

Orange is the new snack

      Dave Boon tipped me off to an injured immature Yellow-crowned Night Heron at Port Sunlight Rd. near Estral Beach.

Osprey

  This afternoon I noticed an Osprey flying over my yard.  Luckily my camera was handy and I was able to get a couple of shots as it flew across the patch of sky not blocked out by trees.

    As I checked the photos I noticed it had a firm grip on a hearty meal.

Yellow Perch?

   Five minutes later it passed by again like a new kid trying to find a welcoming table in the lunchroom.

   But by this time most of the front half of the fish was gone.

  This is the second Osprey that I've seen from my deck in three years.  More noteworthy is that my yardfish list is no longer blank.

Lake Erie Metropark Hawk Watch 9/16/15

  On a quick trip back to my old neighborhood to return a borrowed trailer, I spent the afternoon at the Lake Erie Metropark hoping to catch a significant Broad-winged Hawk migration.  The annual fall Broadwing migration through southeast Michigan is a function of weather and the calendar. Previous years' data shows that 85% of the Broadwings counted at LEMP occur between September 15 and 19, so yesterday's date fell conveniently into that window.  The weather on the other hand was not ideal. The sunny skies were fine but the moderate south winds were far from ideal, as the higher counts in the past have typically occurred on day with a light wind with a northerly component that had followed a day or two of similar light north winds that push Broadwings from Canada to the northern shores of Lakes Erie and Ontario. 

  Of the 300+  raptors tallied at the countsite yesterday only a couple of dozen were Broadwings.  Despite the modest count there were still a few photo ops to be had.

Osprey working the shoreline

Sharp-shinned Hawk

American Kestrel

Immature Bald Eagle

  For anyone with an opportunity and desire to view Broadwings this season, you may want to stop by  the countsite on Sunday or Monday.  Although those two dates fall outside the aforementioned calendar window the winds will be much more favorable.

Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker Ludington State Park

   Crossed paths with the most cooperative Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker this morning at Ludington State Park.  This bird spent about a half an hour drinking the sap of a Birch tree.

   The Ruby-crowned Kinglets were equally obliging.

   Here are some birds that visited my yard today.

Yellow-rumped Warbler hitting the suet.

   This Osprey was one of 4 species that I added to the yard list today.  The others were Rock Pigeon, Bald Eagle and Double-Crested Cormorant.  Yard list is now at 47.

Over 120,000 Broad-wingeds at Lake Erie Metropark 9/16-17

    The peak of Broad-winged Hawks migration has arrived at Lake Erie Metropark. Tuesday 68,000 were counted and today another 52,000 were added.    Tomorrow's weather will be favorable for another good day with winds with a northerly component.  So if there are still broadwings that need to move through, Thursday would be a perfect day for them to do it.

   Even if another broadwing day doesn't materialize tomorrow there should be plenty of other raptors to keep the hawk watchers busy.

Flying on their backs

Merlin

Osprey

Sharp-Shinned

American Kestrel

  Songbirds are also migrating through LEMP.

Black and White Warbler

American Redstart

Magnolia Warbler

   Warblers are also migrating through my yard.

Tennessee Warbler

Blackpoll Warbler

  Other recent yardbirds of interest are shown below

Common Nighthawk

Ruby-throated Hummingbird