Thursday, October 3:
Early October turned out to be very good for raptors, with 725 total on the 3rd. We had 104 Ospreys, 199 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 134 Cooper’s Hawks, 107 American Kestrels, 90 Merlins, and 39 Peregrine Falcons. It was pleasing to see so many accipiters and falcons, and we were able to get pretty decent looks at many of them.
There were a good number of warblers that were also traveling around the park, especially American Redstarts, Palm Warblers, and Northern Parulas.
At one point in the day we saw over 300 Brown Pelicans spiral into the sky, likely due to something startling them. It was pretty amazing to watch these large birds swarm and circle (almost like a horror film)! They settled down again, leaving us to wonder what could have scared them up like that.
Merlin eyeing a dragonfly (Megan Murante)
Cooper's Hawk (Megan Murante)
Two Peregrine Falcons (Megan Murante)
Kettle of Broad-winged Hawks (Megan Murante)
Black Swallowtail (Megan Murante)
Scoop of Brown Pelicans (Megan Murante)
Palm Warbler (Megan Murante)
Friday, October 4:
On Friday we started the day with a visit from a pretty bold Cooper’s Hawk. He briefly perched on the T-pole by the platform before taking off and zooming by only a few feet away from us. We had 638 raptors migrate through Kiptopeke, a good number of which were Sharp-shinned Hawks, American Kestrels, and Merlins. While they were flying fairly high throughout the day, we had a fairly constant flight and many wonderful volunteers to help us spot them.
In addition to our raptors, we had several groups of waterbirds fly through. There were exactly 100 Great Blue Herons that flew overhead, as well as five Wood Ducks and two Great Egrets.
I am very pleased to be able to post a photo of a bird in front of the moon (FINALLY). This is something I have been trying to do for a while, since Anna and I started a friendly competition a few weeks ago at the platform involving the moon. We had an agreement that if someone was able to take a photo of a bird in front of the moon, Anna would buy them three scoops of ice cream at Brown Dog Ice Cream. There were large groups of Tree Swallows swarming around the platform on this day, plus it was the day before the quarter moon. I was able to take two photos of Tree Swallows flying past the moon, and so I won the competition! (And yes, Anna followed through on her promise and bought me ice cream this past weekend).
A little while before sunset, Michael (CVWO Monarch Biologist) and I went to check the roost site at Wise Point. He was pleasantly surprised to find that there were Monarchs roosting there already, and he was even able to tag one before the rest settled in for the night. Before we left, we saw a flock of Brown Pelicans fly over the bridge.
Cooper's Hawk (Megan Murante)
Cooper's Hawk (Megan Murante)
Great Blue Herons (Megan Murante)
Wood Ducks (Megan Murante)
Double-crested Cormorants (Megan Murante)
Tree Swallows (Megan Murante)
Michael taking measurements of a Monarch caught at Wise Point (Megan Murante)
Sunset at Wise Point (Megan Murante)
Brown Pelicans over the Bridge-Tunnel (Megan Murante)
Saturday, October 5:
The Early Bird Hike was especially fun this week. A group of 11 enthusiastic individuals joined me, and some of the highlights we saw were a Cooper’s Hawk perched on a very low branch, only a few feet off the ground, and a Cape May Warbler by Taylor Pond. We also saw several Northern Parulas, a Brown Thrasher, Northern Cardinals, Northern Flickers, Gray Catbirds, and Palm Warblers.
We also had a very bizarre visitor in front of the platform close to our birdbath. An American Bittern shocked us by slowly skulking across the lawn before flying off! We were concerned that it was here and far from a typical bittern habitat. However, it was able to fly off, so maybe the high winds on this day blew it off course temporarily.
Northern Parula (Megan Murante)
Cooper's Hawk (Megan Murante)
Cape May Warbler (Megan Murante)
Palm Warbler (Megan Murante)
American Bittern (Megan Murante)
American Bittern (Megan Murante)
Sunday, October 6:
It was a slow Sunday for raptors, but there were still some fun sightings! In the morning, five Gray Catbirds enjoyed a bath at our new birdbath across from the platform. Apparently they were having so much fun that they enticed a female Eastern Towhee to slowly inch out of the bushes to check what all the fuss was about. Not long after she emerged, the catbirds had a small scuffle amongst themselves and took off, leaving the towhee to leisurely sip water from the bath on her own. Once she had her fill, she flitted over to the bush directly in front of the platform, and gave us a closer look before taking off for the day.
Gray Catbirds and Eastern Towhee (Megan Murante)
Gray Catbirds and Eastern Towhee (Megan Murante)
Eastern Towhee (Megan Murante)
-Megan
