Hi everyone,
In a span of 4 hours, from 10 am to 1 pm, Gene Bauer and I, at times,
observed some overwhelming hawk migration from the parking lot of River Bend
Nature Center. In that time, we counted no less than 790 Broad-winged Hawks
moving south. The biggest kettle I counted contained at least 183 birds. I
would guess this to be a very conservative estimate as there were times when we
got distracted from counting to observe something unusual. I know at one point,
I totally gave up on two very large kettles of Broadies and didn't relocate
them when I re-tried.
Other things were also moving today:
106 Turkey Vultures (one group of 43 birds)
19 Sharp-shinned Hawks
97 Blue Jays (I only counted those that were migrating south in groups)
Gene had a Swainson's Hawk which I missed.
In addition to watching raptors, we also checked the sod farms on Hwy. 60 &
Ibson Ave where I had previously reported Buff-breasted Sandpipers. There, we
had 3 American Golden Plovers. (No BBSA's)
Also of note, we had 8 species of warbler including this season's first
Yellow-rumped and Palm Warblers.
1 Brown Creeper
And several times I heard Pine Siskins flying over.
Good birding!
Dave Bartkey
Faribault, MN
greathornedd...@hotmail.com
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