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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Kibet" data-source="post: 3495284" data-attributes="member: 126488">Day 4 Monday 21st NovemberHawk HillEvery year, from mid-August through to mid-December, Volunteers give up a day a fortnight to count raptor migration in the bay area. With 14 groups, a lot of committed people give a little and gain a lot of information of the movements of raptors. So what better place for me to see some raptors than joining a Hawk Watch for the day. I knew it was going to be low counts as it was getting to the end of the mass movements. After a late night at the event, getting back and in bed by midnight, and not wanting to hike 3 miles at the start of the day, I used an Uber instead to get me at the base of Hawk Hill by 0800 (20 dollars).  I knew the watchers would not be around for 90 minutes, as counting did not start until 1000. So I wandered around at the top, getting shots of Spotted Towhee, Yellow Rumped, Black Phobe, Ravens playing (doing upside down displays) and my first Bewick’s Wren. As the watchers started to arrive, I introduced myself and they quite happily explained behaviour and identifying Turkey Vulture as a distance (wobbly flight) and the landscape markers so that when they called out something, I could get on it. Many Red-Tails were around, and Juv Tails were soon added to the lingo (Juvenile Red-Tailed Hawks). As the sun warmed everything up, I noticed things started to get a little “Hazy”. Not my memory, my lens. Water had got in with the constant rain over the past couple of days and with the temperature difference today, it had started to dry and fog up the glass.  Curses, as my autofocus struggled to cope with the condensation as Red Tails and TVs flew overhead. And it was only 10:00, I was going to be up here for another 6 hours. I managed to manually focus on some Western Bluebirds, and other than a few test shots, I found myself satisfied just watching with my bins and listening to how the observers were working out what they were seeing. One exception was when a Bald Eagle flew across, and knowing that it would be terrible, I set out trying to get the shots. It was a bad shot, but it did make me feel good, seeing the distinctive white head. Then at 1200, everything became clear again. Not a pure moment of revelation, just my lens again, drying out and suddenly the shots of the Red Tails and TVs started to come out and the AF kicked in. Northern Harrier (our Hen Harrier) flew by distantly, with Peregrine Falcons high over Alcatraz, and white tailed Deer and Bobcats trying to keep up on the mammal side. A Merlin flew overhead and distant views of Osprey, Sharp-shinned and Red-Shouldered Hawks. With four quadrants for me to run between, I missed a fair few. Visit GGRO Daily hawk count for full list and to work out the best time if raptors are of interest.The kindness of birders set in, with one putting me in contact with someone else from Scotland, who (spoiler alert) I meet later on in the trip and suggested a another trip to add to my itinerary. The next act of kindness was one of the volunteers willing to drop me off at the other side of the GG Bridge at the Presidio. This was not the last act of kindness shown to me during the trip, as you shall see.Photographed Species 42/56</blockquote>

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