I won't make you scroll down any further, here is the beautiful Leucistic American Kestrel that was observed in the area on November 1st and 2nd. It was a rare treat to see such a uniquely colored raptor and the CVWO staff was in awe of it and grateful for the opportunity to see it. The Eastern Shore is great for birds!
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| Leucistic American Kestrel (Julia Magill) |
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| Leucistic American Kestrel (Julia Magill) |
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| Leucistic American Kestrel (Julia Magill) |
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| Leucistic American Kestrel (Julia Magill) |
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| Leucistic American Kestrel (Julia Magill) |
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| Leucistic American Kestrel (Julia Magill) |
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| Leucistic American Kestrel (Julia Magill) |
Late October has been great for birding here at Kiptopeke. Pine Siskins, Goldfinches, and Red-breasted Nuthatches have been dripping from the feeders. The Eastern Shore Bird Club walked the Raptor trail to Taylor Pond here and observed 51 species including a Yellow-bill Cuckoo, Hermit Thrushes, Golden-crowned Kinglets, Northern Harriers, Bald Eagles, Wood Ducks and Ruddy Ducks.
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| Yellow-rumpled Warbler and American Goldfinch sharing a puddle (Julia Magill) |
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| Adult Male Northern Harrier (Julia Magill) |
Red-tailed Hawks had a great day on October 30th, and so did we for getting to see such a great number of them. Anna counted 30 in total. We celebrated Halloween by counting and identifying raptors flying south! Same as everyday, except that we were in costume as some of our favorite birds we get to see on the hawkwatch. Let us know on the Facebook post if you like Anna's costume!
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| Anna dressed up as a Turkey Vulture (Nancy Barnhart) |
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| Me dressed up as an Osprey (Julia Magill) |
We had a nice push of Bald Eagles this week, which has helped lead us to a new Kiptopeke record for Bald Eagles seen in a season! 462 was the previous record which was overtaken on November 1st. As of today we are up to 493 and counting. There was a time when known breeding pairs of Bald Eagles on the Eastern Shore was abysmally low. It has been amazing seeing so many beautiful Bald Eagles in such great numbers this season.
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| Adult Bald Eagle (Steve Thornhill) |
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Immature Bald Eagle ( Julia Magill )
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-Julia (just kidding about the Osprey costume)
