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| Peregrine Falcon by Steve Thornhill |
The first week of October is typically
within the peak of raptor migration at the Kiptopeke Hawkwatch, but you
wouldn't know it if you visited the hawkwatch platform over the past
week. We've had several days of migrating raptor totals in the 50s. At this time last year, the daily migrating raptor totals
were often over 1,000.
The low numbers of migrating raptors at
Kiptopeke are likely due to the south and southwest winds that have been
persisting at Kiptopeke for over a week and the remnants of a hurricane that traveled
through the eastern United States recently. The best winds for raptor
migration at Kiptopeke are winds from the
northeast because they assist the birds' southward travel, and the winds
push the birds toward Kiptopeke.
Despite the low daily totals, we had
several good days of Peregrine Falcon migration between October 4th
and 10th. We had 152 migrating Peregrine Falcons pass by the
hawkwatch platform on October 7th! We were lucky to have
the plentiful Peregrines on that day for the Outdoor Exploration Day
at Kiptopeke State Park. We were able to educate children, adults,
and families about the Kiptopeke Hawkwatch and show them many
low-flying Peregrine Falcons.
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| Peregrine Falcon by Steve Thornhill |
On October 10th, we had a
surprise visitor in the cherry tree next to the hawkwatch
platform. A Lark Sparrow was seen perched in the tree several times
throughout the morning. We were able to get a few pictures of this bird
that is usually found farther west than Virginia.
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| Lark Sparrow by Katie Garst |
-Katie
