Hey birders,
I've been lucky to work at the two largest hawk migration sites in the world: Veracruz in Mexico, and Eilat in Israel. While the numbers at Kiptopeke can't compete we had an absolutely amazing day of hawk watching, counting close to 1200 birds and the excitement rivaled any day I've experienced. I thought it would be fun to share a snippet of a big day from these three sites.
Close your eyes and imagine a coastal plain with snow capped volcanoes rising high to your left. We're looking north and there is a continuous stream of raptors all the way from the horizon, disappearing into the distance behind. Birds are 50 wide by 30 tall as far as the eye can see, mostly Swainson's Hawks but with smaller broad wings and TVs mixed in. The Rio de Rapaces, or River of Raptors is flowing like a conveyor belt from one vortex to another: birds arriving at the bottom and rising up in clouds of swarming crowds of 10,000 strong before streaming off at the top …heading south, always south. That's Veracruz for you. Where else can you see a couple of hundred thousand raptors in a day?
How about the southern tip of Israel. Up in the desert mountains above Eilat we look down on the Red Sea as line after line of massive Steppe Eagles pass below us without a flap on flat wings. They've crossed the Sarah desert on their way to Central Asia and Eastern Europe. There are vultures too, and harriers …here comes a Snake Eagle, there's an Imperial Eagle. As the thermals increase, the birds climb and so we follow the mountain road higher to stay with the stream that continues well into the afternoon …did we just count 50,000 birds?
Here on the Eastern Shore it's the falcons that rule. There really aren't many places where the variety of raptors are so mixed. Merlin after Merlin skimming the treeline as they take little more than a second to wizz by. Taking out a dragonfly, smashing into a kestrel, the Merlins force their presence and take no quarter. You had to be there to experience the energy last week …Visitors were enthralled and kept staying longer and longer. The volume and energy kept rising and rising with new folks adding to it. I've never experienced anything quite like it. I am hoping we have more falcon frenzies like that. What a buzz. It's so much more than just numbers.
Tally so far at end of week 4: total raptors 5859
Osprey 2368
Bald Eagle 199
Northern Harrier 148
Sharp-shinned Hawk 153
Cooper's Hawk 141
Broad-winged Hawk 776
Red-tailed Hawk 65
American Kestrel 1397
Merlin 496
Peregrine 102
Mississippi Kite 2
Happy birding,
Steve
