Migration: Raptors / Fall

[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....!!!