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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Migration Season in Eastern Pennsylvania (1 Viewer)

I watched from my yard again, this time for two hours in the afternoon. Broad-winged Hawk numbers are picking up, as evidenced by Hawk Mountain's daily totals for yesterday and today (577 and 367, respectively, mostly Broadwings). My totals were much more modest, but here they are anyway: Northern Harrier (1), Accipiter sp (2), Bald Eagle (1), Broad-winged Hawk (26, including one adult dove down to roost across the street!), Red-tailed Hawk (1), American Kestrel (1), falcon sp (1), and raptor sp (5). Many birds were very high up.

Also noted were Ruby-throated Hummingbird (2), Monarch butterfly (1), and decent numbers of dragonflies.
 
Yesterday, mostly during small chunks of time in the morning and afternoon, I observed the following migrants: Northern Harrier (1), accipiter sp (1), Broad-winged Hawk (2), American Kestrel (1), Cedar Waxwing (50+), warbler sp (2+), Indigo Bunting (1), and Bobolink (1).

Tomorrow is forecast to have rain, likely associated with hurricane Irma. If I have time, I might check my local reservoir for goodies during the rain, but I rather doubt there will be any.
 
A Brief Summary Of Recent Days

Hello all,

I have been much busier than desired, but couldn't resist going to see the wonderful migration of Broad-winged Hawks. As a result, a good chunk of four of the past five days has been spent on a hawkwatch. I will give brief summaries for those, as well as some non-raptor notes.

A day at Hawk Mountain last Friday brought a decent number of migrating Broad-winged Hawks (300+), with a few other species in smaller numbers. That day was good for passerines, too, as I saw my lifer Red-headed Woodpecker (!) and some Swainson's Thrushes and warblers.

Next, I went to Waggoner's Gap hawkwatch last Sunday while on a small trip to the middle of Pennsylvania (as a side note, I saw my second ever confirmed Mourning Warbler and my second ever Lincoln's Sparrow). It was fairly productive, with 70+ Sharp-shinned Hawks, a few Osprey, a Bald Eagle, a Red-tailed Hawk, and a few hundred Broad-winged Hawks. When I got back that night, I found out that I had missed over 4,000 Broad-winged Hawks at Hawk Mountain that day!

Yesterday, I went to Hawk Mountain for the day. The lookout was socked in with fog until about 11 AM, but I heard a Swainson's Thrush through the fog and saw a few passerines, including Red-eyed Vireo (2+), Ruby-crowned Kinglet (2), Magnolia Warbler (1), Cape May Warbler (2+), Chestnut-sided Warbler (1), Black-throated Green Warbler (2+), and Northern Parula (1). The raptor flight was impressive. As soon as the fog lifted, a few Sharp-shinned and Broad-winged Hawks appeared. Then, a kettle of about 30 Broad-wings was spotted. Then, two nearby kettles produced about 450 birds between both kettles! Things quieted down until about 4:30 PM. Distant kettles of 50-100+ Broad-wings were spotted, culminating in small groups sailing past the lookout just above eye level! The final raptor count for the day was about 1,300, I think.

Finally, I got to Hawk Mountain again today. Since I got there after noon, passerines were few and far between. I found out that I had missed about 700 Broad-winged Hawks that morning. However, several nice kettles and small groups were seen as the day progressed, adding at least 800-900 Broad-wings over the course of the day. There were also Sharp-shinned Hawks (31, not all of which I saw), Cooper's Hawks (5+), Osprey (2-3+), American Kestrels (3+), and a Red-tailed Hawk or two. I suspect the majority of the Broad-wing migration is over. Hawk Mountain did well, though, as they now have over 10,000 for the season so far!

The forecast looks very good for nocturnal migration, so I might get up very early tomorrow and listen for flight calls.
 
Not much to report. Yesterday's migrant highlights included one American Kestrel over the yard and a flock of several hundred blackbird sp.

A flight call listening session was fairly quiet a few days ago, with a few warbler sp and 1 probable Gray-cheeked Thrush (would be first of fall for me).

Temperatures are unseasonably high at the moment, with highs above 80 degrees F (27+ C). However, a cold front is forecast to move through on Thursday, bringing temperatures in the 60s (16+ C) and excellent conditions for migrants!
 
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Another Day At Hawk Mountain

Hello all,

I spent the day on Hawk Mountain again. Although the conditions were not good for migrating raptors (and it was hot!), we still saw a few. The songbird flight was a bit of a pleasant surprise.

Here is the official raptor count for the day, almost all of which I saw: Osprey (8), Bald Eagle (2), Sharp-shinned Hawk (12), Cooper's Hawk (2), Red-shouldered Hawk (2), Broad-winged Hawk (4), Red-tailed Hawk (1), American kestrel (1), and Peregrine Falcon (1).

Non-raptor migrants and/or highlights at North Lookout included Chimney Swift (130+), Cedar Waxwing (160+), swallow sp (40+), Tree Swallow (10+, I think), Red-headed Woodpecker (1, my second ever!), Northern Flicker (5+), Northern Mockingbird (1), American Robin (20+), Swainson's/Gray-cheeked Thrush (1), Rose-breasted Grosbeak (1-2), Scarlet Tanager (3+), Bobolink (1, heard only), Indigo Bunting (3), Ruby-crowned Kinglet (11, I think), Tennessee Warbler (1), Northern Parula (2-3), Cape May Warbler (31), Black-throated Blue Warbler (1), Yellow-rumped Warbler (1-2+, first of fall for me), Black-throated Green Warbler (1-2), Blackburnian Warbler (2), Blackpoll Warbler (1), and warbler sp (25+).

I might have missed something... :)

Tomorrow's forecast looks very good for migration, with NNW winds at about 15 mph (24 km/h).
 
I watched from my house for a little over 30 minutes this morning.

Definitely a change in species migrating!

Highlights/migrants included Canada Goose (79), Blue Jay (12), and Yellow-rumped Warbler (1-2). Also 2 probable warbler sp heard only, as well as a possible Ruby-crowned Kinglet heard only.

An Indigo Bunting was seen a bit later on.
 
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Migrants/highlights seen at various points throughout the day (mostly afternoon) include Canada Goose (70+), Red-shouldered Hawk (1), Osprey (1), Cooper's Hawk (1), and Peregrine Falcon (fewer than five records from the yard, an immature circling right overhead, by far my best view from the yard!).

Monarch butterflies (18+) were also migrating.
 
The radar is looking decent tonight.

Because of that, I decided to take my spotting scope out and see if I could see any birds fly by the Moon (only just larger than a half Moon right now). I also listened for any nocturnal migrants. My approximate totals are below.

SEEN: 3 possible Blue Jays (have to research and see if they are nocturnal migrants!), 1 possible Indigo Bunting, 1 probable Bobolink, and a couple mystery birds/bats.

HEARD (number of calls, not necessarily number of birds): Swainson's Thrush (4-6), sparrow sp (possible, 1-2), and warbler sp (10+, more clear calls than buzzy calls).
 
I stopped at my local reservoir yesterday to see if there were finally some mudflats. There were, but now it's too late for high numbers of shorebirds! Oh well...

It was fairly quiet, with a few highlights/migrants: Gadwall (2), American Black Duck (7+), Great Egret (1), Killdeer (8), Lesser Yellowlegs (7), and Barn Swallow (2, flagged on eBird as late).

I've included a few rather poor pictures of the yellowlegs. The pictures were digiscoped through my phone. I think they would have been better had I brought my usual digiscoping camera.

The weather forecast does not look good, at least for the near future. Winds are forecast to have a southerly component for at least the next few days, with a few days of rain after that.
 

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This morning's flight was better than I expected. I thought there would be hardly anything, but it turns out that some birds were moving on W/SW winds.

Migrants/highlights observed from the house include Red-shouldered Hawk (1 probable), Blue Jay (21), American Robin (probably 5+, hard to tell how many actually migrating), warbler sp (9), Eastern Bluebird (4), Yellow-rumped Warbler (2), Swamp/Lincoln's Sparrow (1), and White-throated Sparrow (2, first of fall for me!).
 
I watched again from my house this morning and had quite a decent list.

Highlights/migrants included Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (1, first of season), Blue Jay (at least 4 migrating), Ruby-crowned Kinglet (1), Eastern Bluebird (4+, maybe same group as yesterday?), American Robin (increase in numbers, many heading north though), warbler sp (4+), White-throated Sparrow (1), sparrow sp (3), Red-winged Blackbird (3), and blackbird sp (70 or so).

By far the highlight was a single Vesper Sparrow, certainly unexpected in such a small habitat patch and only my third ever!
 
A few more birds noted during late morning.

Highlights/migrants included falcon sp (1, likely Am. Kestrel), Blue Jay (5+), and Turkey Vulture (17 likely migrating).
 
I did not expect much at all today, with strong winds with a S component and rain showers. However, while out and about, I saw 3 warbler sp and pished in singles of Black-throated Green Warbler and American Redstart. Views of both within 15 ft!
 
Today the remnants of storm Nate came through from mid-morning through a good part of the afternoon, with a strong wind out of the SW.

I went to my local reservoir briefly to see if I could find any hurricane birds, but no luck there. Highlights were two Cape May/Yellow-rumped Warblers.

It was understandably very quiet until just before dinner, when I spotted a Swainson's Thrush across the street. This was my first sight record of Swainson's Thrush seen from the yard in my 10 or so years living and birding here! I usually hear them overhead at night.

The winds (and therefore migration activity on radar) are still not very good, but the SW winds are supposed to die down tonight giving way to light NW winds tomorrow. As a result, I'm not sure if it will be good late tonight, but tomorrow night should be good.

We'll see what happens.
 
This morning's migration watch from the yard was productive enough, with a fair number of migrants.

Highlights/migrants included Blue Jay (21, over half of which were migrating), Ruby-crowned Kinglet (1), Eastern Bluebird (2), American Robin (10+, probably a lot more), Cedar Waxwing (18), Yellow-rumped Warbler (1), warbler sp (1), Red-winged Blackbird (4), and blackbird sp (estimated 90).

Before sunrise I heard 10+ Swainson's Thrush calls.
 
I was able to stop at my local reservoir this afternoon, mainly to look for shorebirds. While I saw zero shorebirds (mudflats got covered again by recent rains!), I was happy to see that the ducks are back!

Highlights/migrants included Northern Shoveler (12), Gadwall (10), Green-winged Teal (5), Ruddy Duck (1), and Common Yellowthroat (1, possibly local?).

Pictures to follow, digiscoped with my phone.
 

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The radar is excellent tonight! I am posting a picture as of 8:48 PM EST of the Eastern half of the country.

Then I will go out and listen!


NOTE: In the picture, the green area with significant yellow in Ohio and West Virginia is rain, not birds. The same goes for the small red areas in the Southeast. The rest is pretty much birds!
 

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The night listening session was fairly good (though disrupted by an enthusiastic Fall Field Cricket!).

Here are my numbers (number of calls, not necessarily number of birds): Canada Goose (1 flock heard), Swainson's Thrush (3+), and passerine sp (11+, I suspect a mix of warblers and sparrows).

My morning watch was surprisingly cloudy and even had a few sprinkles, but birds were still flying.

Migrants/highlights included Canada Goose (43, only 26 heading S), Northern Harrier (1), American Robin (67, hard to count), Cedar Waxwing (1), warbler sp (22), Brown-headed Cowbird (16, close count), and blackbird sp (65, estimate).
 
Usually, the early morning's bird action far eclipses the rest of the day. Today, that was not so!

I watched for a little over an hour during mid-morning, and major migration was underway. Highlights/migrants included Canada Goose (estimated 440), American Robin (47, stopped counting when many came back), warbler sp (I suspect 10+, moving in different directions), duck sp (1), raptor sp (1), Northern Harrier (1), Cooper's Hawk (1), Sharp-shinned/Cooper's Hawk (2), falcon sp (2), American Kestrel (1), and American Goldfinch (30+).

Also very impressive were 63+ Monarch butterflies, passing at the rate of about 1 per minute!

Hopefully I will have another update before day's end.
 
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