Migration: Raptors / Fall

[The Peregrine Chick]

Just has a look at the migration numbers at Veracruz's "River of Raptors" site ...

On August 30th there were 32,009 Mississippi Kites counted by 3 people over a 10 hour (0900-1900h) period 
That was just over half of ALL the Mississippi Kites counted this season!!  And by the 30th, they had only been "open" for 10 days ...
By comparison, on September 2nd, there were only 2,771 counted.

Aug 20		3
Aug 21		0
Aug 22		0
Aug 23		0
Aug 24		141
Aug 25		10
Aug 26		232
Aug 27		4,156
Aug 28		11,151
Aug 29		25,259
Aug 30		32,009
Aug 31		19,717
Sep 01		1,189
Sep 02		2,771
To-date		96,641

[The Peregrine Chick]

Raptor Fall Migration 2016 has started ... first to move are always the Mississippi Kites ..

Corpus Christi Hawk Watch

• up to & including Aug 24 - 442
• Aug 25 - 2,291
• Aug 26 - 3,322
• Aug 27 - 7,570
• Aug 28 - 6,322

Total Mississippi Kites to-date at this site = 19,947
All other raptor species at this site to-date = 265 - including 3 American Kestrels, 2 Merlins, 2 Peregrines & 1 Prairie Falcon

Next through in big numbers should be the Broad-winged Hawks as I recall ....

To follow the raptor migration numbers - https://www.hawkcount.org/

[Alison]

Migration counts for over 275 sites are shown at the link below. From September 19 to 27, 2015, 1,371,966 raptors were counted from 107 sites. Wow!

https://www.hawkcount.org/

[The Peregrine Chick]

Good news is that our birds are still around - adults and chicks.  Bad news is that likely they won't be here for long.

From the folks at HawkWatch - the broad-winged hawks are starting to move pretty much everywhere and over 2600 Mississippi Kites have already gone through Corpus Christi.  This seems early to me but I'll have to do some checking to be sure of this ...

[The Peregrine Chick]

Oct 2nd @ Whytewold - fewer raptors, more peregrines

Sharp-shinned Hawk	358
Red-tailed Hawk	206
Bald Eagle	47
Broad-winged Hawk	45
Turkey Vulture	31
Coopers Hawk	21
American Kestrel	17
Peregrine Falcon	8
Northern Harrier	2
Merlin	2
Osprey	2

[The Peregrine Chick]

Yesterday (Sept 30) in Whytewold (on Lake Winnipeg) a couple of very good birders hit the raptor migration jackpot.  The hawk migration site at Windygates/Pembina Valley and St Adolphe sites are spring migration points, Whytewold is our only fall one.  Whytewold used to post to the Hawkcount website, but my understanding is that you have to be organized and consistent in your reporting to Hawkcount and I think mostly Whytewold is now a small number of local birders who count on good "push" days.

Anywho, over a 6 hour period yesterday, they (2 very good birders) counted 1800+ raptors going by within sight - including 6 peregrines who could all be non-Project birds.  Tundra birds are on the move (Island Girl from Baffin Island is in Missouri) and we know at least one of ours is about that far south as well.  The Brandon birds have been concentrating their explorations out west at last report, we know where the WW girls are, the Radisson chicks are the oldest and likely already on the move.  The HSC boys are the youngest and could be like the Brandon boys, staying closer to home with some day trips in the area.  They are old enough to hunt for themselves so they could have ventured north along the river to the Lake, no real way to know of course, but it could be possible.

Here's their reported count:

Sharp-shinned Hawk	1453
Broad-winged Hawk	76
Turkey Vulture	56
Merlin & American Kestrel	55
Red-tailed Hawk	54
Bald Eagle	13
Coopers Hawk	11
Peregrine Falcon	6
Osprey	2
Golden Eagle	1
Northern Harrier	1

[allikat]

I was on the site yesterday - and it looks like the Broad-Winged Hawk is the big mover right now.

[The Peregrine Chick]

Looks like quite a number of HawkCount sites (www.hawkcount.org) are starting to show small numbers of peregrines moving, now whether they are local birds moving about or migration is always hard to say, but the counts of sightings at this sites are starting to climb.  There are never huge numbers of peregrines (not like Turkey Vultures or Broad-winged Hawks) but consistent sightings of one or two birds is enough.  Last spring, we had many of our birds back before there was any noticeable numbers at the migration sites, so lots of peregrines don't get close enough to be seen or are travelling after the "watches" close for the day.

Had a little look at Island Girl's transmitter data and it looks like she is expanding her movements up on Baffin Island which generally is a precursor to her starting her southern journey.  Last year she was made a start about September 25th.  Don't know what the weather is like/will be like, but she'll likely take off about the same time.

I'm going to see if I can find out if there are any public events at the hawkcount sites in the Manitoba this fall.  If there are, will post a note on the "upcoming bird events" board in case anyone wants to attend.  They usually have great birders there who will be happy to share their expertise on identifying raptors on the wing.

[allikat]

ACK!!!!  I just got used to them being here! 
Now that summer has finally decided to show up, we have to start thinking of wishing our birds a safe farewell..........oh dear!

[The Peregrine Chick]

Some hawk migration stations began opening up on August 1st ...  
Mississippi Kites, Broad-winged Hawks and Turkey Vultures are usually the first birds to move in larger numbers

Corpus Christi, Texas
August 10th they opened their station & reported 31 birds
= 29 Mississippi Kites, 1 Broad-winged Hawk & 1 Peregrine
August 11th they reported 200 birds over the same period of the day & over the same length of time (6.5 hours from 0830 to 1500)
= 180 Mississippi Kites, 12 Swallow-tailed Kites, 1 Cooper's Hawk, 2 Broad-winged Hawk, 1 White-tailed Hawk, 1 Merlin & 1 Harris Hawk

Second Mountain, Pennsylvania
August 5th were open for 3 hours & reported 15 birds
  = 13 Turkey Vultures, 2 Broad-winged Hawks
August 10th were open for 4 hours & report 31 birds
  = 3 Black Vultures, 23 Turkey Vultures, 1 Red-shouldered Hawk, 2 Broad-winged Hawks & 2 Red-tailed Hawks
August 11th open 5 hours but experienced a wind shift midway through the day & reported 18 birds
  = 3 Black Vultures, 8 Turkey Vultures, 1 Osprey & 6 Broad-winged Hawks
August 12th
  = 3 Black Vultures, 6 Turkey Vultures, 1 Red-shouldered Hawk & 1 Red-tailed Hawk

Looks like there is some movement but we will have to see when the big numbers hit ...

Corpus Christi - Mississippi Kite peak was right at the end of August (20K), Broad-winged Hawk peaks in September (195K) and October (88K), Turkey Vultures move early but hit their peak late, in 2012 that was October (51K) as did Swainson's Hawks (20K).  Peregrines - 7 in August, 199 in September, 106 in October and 4 in November.

Second Mountain - first wave was mid to late September, then mid-October with 4x as many peregrines passing through in October than in September

Veracruz, Mexico has the numbers that are staggering though ...
 August 2012 = 97K Mississippi Kites + 23 other individual birds
 September 2012 = 18K Turkey Vultures, 90K Mississippi Kites, 364K Broad-winged Hawks
 October 2012 = 586K Turkey Vultures, 323 individual Mississippi Kites, 440K Broad-winged Hawks, 292K Swainson's Hawks, 95K unidentifiable raptors
 November 2012 = 8K Turkey Vultures, 0 Mississippi Kites, 26 individual Broad-winged Hawks, 102 individual Swainson's Hawks
+ 203 individual Peregrines = 0 in August, 83 in September, 105 in October, 15 in November (260 in 2011, 160 in 2010, 167 in 2009, 146 in 2008)
+ there were only 56 Merlins all season but 1619 American Kestrels, that's 8x times the number of Peregrines

[The Peregrine Chick]

FALL MIGRATION 2013

 

[allikat]

Hi Folks!

I've been on the Hawkcount site regularly and it always amazes me of how many raptors are counted, especially on the Broad Winged Hawk and sharp shinned hawk...my mouth dropped!

Anyway, today, I went on the site and have added the total amount of peregrines spotted withing the lasts couple of days migrating...  total of 290 peregrine falcons spotted during the observation days of Oct. 6 and 7.  Now, that number, put a smile on my face, considering there are still more that have yet to migrate. 

Go Peregrines Go!!!

[The Peregrine Chick]

On Oct 1st at the Veracruz hawk migration site (called River of Raptors) these were the fall migration totals to-date for a few species ...

Broad-winged Hawks = 1,126,985
Mississippi Kites = 281,613
Turkey Vultures = 48,510
Ospreys = 1,697
American Kestrels = 626
Peregrine Falcons = 503
Merlins = 33

[GCG]

Fall migration has begun for the Peregrines it seems ... and it seems like most of the migration stations haven't started to report regular sightings yet, so it will be interesting to see how the numbers look when they are.

  Certainly not words I want to see posted this early.

[The Peregrine Chick]

Fall migration has begun for the Peregrines it seems ... and it seems like most of the migration stations haven't started to report regular sightings yet, so it will be interesting to see how the numbers look when they are.

Aug 17 - Texas, Corpus Christi = 1
Aug 19 - Maine, Acadia National Park = 1; Texas, Corpus Christi = 1
Aug 20 - Texas, Corpus Christi = 3
Aug 22 - Texas, Corpus Christi = 1
Aug 23 - Pennsylvania, Bake Oven Knob = 2
Aug 24 - Pennsylvania, Ft Indiantown Gap = 1; Pennsylvania, Bake Oven Knob = 1;
             Connecticut, Quaker Ridge = 1
Aug 25 - Maine, Acadia National Park = 1

Just as a note, the American Kestrels were off and running on August 1st (when I started tracking) and the Merlins on August 6th.  

No reports of Gyr, Prairie or Aplomado Falcon movements but they usually only turn up on a very few sightings in the west and there are only a couple of monitored hawk migration sites west of the Mississippi River.

[The Peregrine Chick]

Here are some amazing numbers - Panama, Oct 27

Turkey Vulture            548,740
Swainson's Hawk         248,371
American Kestrel                  0
Merlin                                1
Peregrine Falcon                  3
Unknown Buteo            67,233 - couldn't identify what type of Buteo spp of hawks
Unknown Falcon                  1
Unknown Eagle                    0  
Unknown Raptor           24,700 - couldn't identify what type of raptor species

Notes from the Observation Team
Observation times: 08:00:00 to 17:00:00  (total = 8.75 hours)
Official Counter:  Ariel Aguirre
Observers:  Daniel Hinckley, Laura Reyes, Venicio Wilson
Visitors:  Rosabel Miró, Karl Kaufmann, Itzel Fong, Yenifer Díaz, Javier Lasso, Alfredo de Albatros Media.
Weather: NW winds all morning. No rain.
Raptor Observations:  Apocalypse. Wow!
Non-raptor Observations:  15 Wood Storks.

[The Peregrine Chick]

That's so interesting, Cooper!  TPC, is it possible that a Gryofalcon could make its way this far south?!?

Gyrfalcons overwinter in South Dakota, so yup, they will be migrating though I believe its a bit later, so long as they have food and fair weather they will stay where they are before heading south even though South Dakota isn't like South America!

[photosbydennis]

Yep...they have been seen this far South. I searched for one a few years back down Hwy # 59 with no luck.

[susha]

That's so interesting, Cooper!  TPC, is it possible that a Gryofalcon could make its way this far south?!?

[Cooper]

Ooh, I would like to see the photo too!

I can't remember whether I reported this last year but I had a visitor to my backyard last year. He landed on a dead tree not twenty feet from me. He looked all the world like an albino peregrine to me but much larger. We stared at each other for the longest while (me wishing I had a camera). He spoke to me in just a one syllable squawk as if to say "what?". I did inch my way to the house in search of my camera and he seemed content to wait. Of course by the time I got back he was gone. Thereafter I poured through "The Birds of Canada (Godfrey, Crosy) and surfed the internet and came to the conclusion that, although I thought he could be a gyrfalcon, he was just too far south and therefore he must be a prairie falcon. His hunkered stance was very much like one of the illustrations in The Birds of Canada and this photo I found on the net: http://sdakotabirds.com/species_photos/prairie_falcon_1.htm My only concern was the bird I saw was much, much paler in colouration.   

[The Peregrine Chick]

That's very interesting, a gyrfalcon x peregrine hybrid.  I hope it's not too hard to find, I'd love to see the picture.

I've seen the photo, just can't remember if someone showed me or if they sent it (exhausted grey cells).  Will find it though ...

[RCF]

RCF,

I'm hunting up a photo of a bird that was found in southern Manitoba a little while ago that was causing us some identification problems - it was somewhere between a peregrine and a prairie we thought but wasn't really either.  Turned out to be a lost falconry bird - a juvenile gyrfalcon x peregrine hybrid.  There were in fact two birds, brothers, lost at the same time so let me know if the photo (when I find it) looks a bit like the bird you saw, who knows, just might be our lost "boy".

That's very interesting, a gyrfalcon x peregrine hybrid.  I hope it's not too hard to find, I'd love to see the picture.

[The Peregrine Chick]

RCF,

I'm hunting up a photo of a bird that was found in southern Manitoba a little while ago that was causing us some identification problems - it was somewhere between a peregrine and a prairie we thought but wasn't really either.  Turned out to be a lost falconry bird - a juvenile gyrfalcon x peregrine hybrid.  There were in fact two birds, brothers, lost at the same time so let me know if the photo (when I find it) looks a bit like the bird you saw, who knows, just might be our lost "boy".

[susha]

I was in Fargo 11 days ago and while waiting for the marathon to start (at the Civic Centre) I looked to see a PF straight above. It eventually landed on the Civic Centre. It could have been anybirdy of course but I liked to imagine it was someone from Manitoba.
I had a good run and it was a beautiful day. It's a nice event for anyone who likes a fall race.

I'm sure it was a Manitoba bird, bcf, and it was probaly thinking that you were going south with him/her!  *wink*

[eagle63_1999]

RCF good for you on seeing the Prairie Falcon, I wasn't sure they came that far east!

[birdcamfan]

I was in Fargo 11 days ago and while waiting for the marathon to start (at the Civic Centre) I looked to see a PF straight above. It eventually landed on the Civic Centre. It could have been anybirdy of course but I liked to imagine it was someone from Manitoba.
I had a good run and it was a beautiful day. It's a nice event for anyone who likes a fall race.

[Kinderchick]

Interesting, rcf. They do look much like peregrines.

[RCF]

On Oct 9th I saw a raptor that I never saw before and it looked very much like a peregrine falcon but very much paler overall.  It had paler malar stripes, white underneath and white breast with dark vertical markings and very dark under the wings or armpits if you will when it opened up it's wings and flew away.  It was on a hydro pole and when I stopped to look it didn't fly away immediately like Red-Tailed hawks do, so I had a good look.  I did a little research and I may have seen a Prairie Falcon.     It's amazing how much it looked like a peregrine.     I didn't have my camera with me, but even if I did it would have flown too far away to get a good picture before I got the camera out.


I did not take this picture but here is a link to more pictures of Prairie Falcons http://www.google.ca/search?q=prairie+falcon+pictures&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=HTz&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=OgyeTtebFYfYqgG1qYSLDw&ved=0CCUQsAQ

 

[The Peregrine Chick]

Okay, I think this is the highest number of peregrines counted on migration so far this fall ...

Guana Reserve
Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 08, 2011
361 peregrines counted in a 7 hour period

[susha]

Sounds like a interesting book, susha. You can place posts about books in the "Bird Books Worth Reading" thread, if you want to. Who knew crows could be so intriguing?

Guess I didn't look very hard for the proper thread .  Thanks for the info KC!

[birdcamfan]

Thank you those are great shots. Really I wish I could have stopped but there was too much traffic. I don't think they would have left if we had stopped and stayed in the car. We were only 6-7 meters away.

[photosbydennis]

http://www.pbase.com/photosbydennis/image/89776446
http://www.pbase.com/photosbydennis/image/89776437
Taken across the road from Fort Whyte...Grey Cup Sunday and our 1st. Snow Fall 2007

[birdcamfan]

Oh and I forgot to mention, thanks TPC for that tidbit of information. I had just assumed that most raptors only go for "fresh kills" rather than carrion. That's very interesting.

[Kinderchick]

Speaking of corvids, I just finished reading a great little book called "Crows" by Candace Savage.  Don't know which thread that bit of info belongs in, but this seems just as good as any, following bcf's observations of "Black Birds"!  The book made me fall for the wicked, clever little beasts

Sounds like a interesting book, susha. You can place posts about books in the "Bird Books Worth Reading" thread, if you want to. Who knew crows could be so intriguing?

[susha]

Speaking of corvids, I just finished reading a great little book called "Crows" by Candace Savage.  Don't know which thread that bit of info belongs in, but this seems just as good as any, following bcf's observations of "Black Birds"!  The book made me fall for the wicked, clever little beasts

[birdcamfan]

Oops, me bad. They were ravens or really big crows. Thanks for pointing that out, I must have been more tired than I thought.

[The Peregrine Chick]

Saw multitudes of bald eagles driving back from Pinawa today and over the golf course yesterday. One was sitting in a field eating something and just a bit further up one was in the ditch eating a dead raccoon. 2 large blackbirds were a couple of feet away hoping for a snack. Is this unusual? I didn't know that eagles ate carrion.

Bald eagles are opportunistic feeders.  They tend to prefer fish but they eat alot of carrion when the opportunity presents it.  They also eat other birds (larger bird) and mammals when they can catch them. 

As for the blackbirds - were they "blackbirds" BCF or were they "black birds"?  Black birds (crows, ravens, crackles) will eat carrion, but blackbirds (all one word) are insectivores.

[birdcamfan]

Saw multitudes of bald eagles driving back from Pinawa today and over the golf course yesterday. One was sitting in a field eating something and just a bit further up one was in the ditch eating a dead raccoon. 2 large blackbirds were a couple of feet away hoping for a snack. Is this unusual? I didn't know that eagles ate carrion.

[allikat]

2011-10-01: Curry Hammock State Park   (Site Profile) , Little Crawl Key, Florida, USA
  Start Time: 09:00    End Time: 17:00    Observation Hours: 8

115 Peregrine Falcons were observed at this site!  WOW!!!

[allikat]

Peregrines are on the move is right!!!
I think it would be an experience to witness/count that many raptors in an eight hour period!

Such a cool site to log into!

[allikat]

The joys of volunteering at an observation site!   

[The Peregrine Chick]

Also check out the length of time the volunteers were watching/counting!
I still haven't figured out how folks can count that many of anything in a limited time frame!

Take a look at the bolded stat folks!!!  


2011-09-21: Corpus Christi Raptor Migration Project   (Site Profile) , Corpus Christi, Texas, USA
  Start Time: 08:00    End Time: 16:30    Observation Hours: 8.5
 OS     NH     MK    SS     CH      BW     SW    RS    AK    ML   PG    BE    UA   UR     Total
 22       8      39     42     26    32298    11     1     42     5     5      2      3     4     32508
 

WOW...lots of Broad-winged Hawks!  And I mean LOTS!

Seriously folks, take a look at their numbers....http://hawkcount.org/index.php

[eagle63_1999]

Seems Broad-Winged Hawk numbers are up all over the place from my watching the hawk sites here in Ontario.

[allikat]

Take a look at the bolded stat folks!!!  


2011-09-21: Corpus Christi Raptor Migration Project   (Site Profile) , Corpus Christi, Texas, USA
  Start Time: 08:00    End Time: 16:30    Observation Hours: 8.5
 OS     NH     MK    SS     CH      BW     SW    RS    AK    ML   PG    BE    UA   UR     Total
 22       8      39     42     26    32298    11     1     42     5     5      2      3     4     32508
 

WOW...lots of Broad-winged Hawks!  And I mean LOTS!

Seriously folks, take a look at their numbers....http://hawkcount.org/index.php

[allikat]

Ahhh, yuck and nuts!  It's that time already!  C'mon raptors, give us a break!  Let your feathers loose and stay awhile!  Geez....!!!   

[The Peregrine Chick]

TPC, is this in the normal time range for the start of the raptor migration? I guess, because it's still hot and summery here, it seems too early for any of our "summer birds" to be leaving.

The hawk migration sites start observations August 1st but not all of them start until they actually see birds.  Waggoner's Gap usually starts on August 1st and they rarely don't have observations right from the start.  Last year their first sighting was an American Kestrel on August 1 and their first Broad-winged Hawk was recorded was on August 4th.

If anyone wants to check it out themselves: http://hawkcount.org/

[Saoirse]

You know, Eagle, before getting involved with the falcon forum, I was relatively uninformed about birds generally. It constantly amazes me how much there is to learn, and I do appreciate hearing comments like yours that open my eyes. Thanks!

[eagle63_1999]

You would be surprised at what starts heading south at this time of year.  Shorebirds, swallows are just a couple of the bird families that start their migration south.

[Saoirse]

TPC, is this in the normal time range for the start of the raptor migration? I guess, because it's still hot and summery here, it seems too early for any of our "summer birds" to be leaving.

[The Peregrine Chick]

Nuts, the season really is ending ... first fall raptor migration sighting for 2011.  
Broad-winged Hawks are usually the first to fly from up this way and in a couple/few weeks we should get observations from Texas/Mexico in the 1/2 million range at the peak of their migration.


Waggoner's Gap / 40 km W of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Aug 01, 2011

Weather: Sunny and hot with haze.  Moderate NW breeze. An active thunderstorm chased us at 1345h.  

Raptor Observations:
  Red-tailed Hawk - 3
  Broad-winged Hawk - 2  

Non-raptor Observations:
  Monarch Butterflies - 1
  Hummingbirds - 1
  Chimney Swifts - 8

Observations were made between 0630h and 1345h.  All the raptors were observed between 0945h and 1038h.  There were 2 official counters, 9 additional observers and 1 visitor/guest.  (so lots of eyes)