Mount Peter Hawkwatch, 09/29/18

I’m four for four this season at Mt. Peter Hawkwatch. Today was yet another good day up on the mountain, with a good flight that consisted mostly of Sharp-shinned Hawks and Broad-winged Hawks, but also had a good variety of migrating raptors, including:  3 Osprey, 4 Bald Eagles, a couple Red-shouldered Hawks, 3 Red-tailed Hawks, 6 Cooper’s Hawks, 6 American Kestrels, and my first Northern Harrier of the season. For me, the best part of the day was when I located 2 distant Bald Eagles in my scope over the valley. The birds worked their way closer to the platform and were eventually joined by 3 more adult Bald Eagles! We were all pretty excited, thinking all or some of them would head south and be counted as a migrant, but alas, they all eventually headed north. An immature Bald Eagle saved the day, just as the last adult headed north, it streamed through and migrated south.

Once again, the day was all about teamwork; I had several visitors that helped  locate and identify many of the migrating raptors. Thanks so much to Marty Hayes, Jeanne Cimonelli, Judy Cinquina, Karen Miller, Jeff Zahn, Fred Schneider, and Bob Klink. I’ve included my Hawkcount.org report at the bottom of this post.