Derby Hill Bird Observatory Mexico, New York, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 17, 2026 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 5 11 Turkey Vulture 58 20566 33564 Osprey 0 110 123 Bald Eagle 1 143 350 Northern Harrier 1 290 384 Sharp-shinned Hawk 6 1280 1458 Cooper's Hawk 0 74 266 American Goshawk 0 1 2 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 81 493 Broad-winged Hawk 23 8565 8565 Red-tailed Hawk 1 1463 2342 Rough-legged Hawk 0 14 67 Golden Eagle 0 20 50 American Kestrel 0 243 308 Merlin 0 32 62 Peregrine Falcon 0 3 7 Unknown Accipitrine 0 0 0 Unknown Buteo 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 0 Swainson's Hawk 0 1 1 Total: 90 32891 48053 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 09:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 6 hours Official Counter: David Brown Observers: Dave Wheeler, Kim Steininger Visitors: 15, including a Baltimore Woods field trip led by Anna Stunkel Weather: Dense fog in the morning delayed the start of the count. Count conducted from the south lookout. Overcast after the fog and then clearing skies to full blue by the mid-afternoon. Moderate northerly winds shifting WNW late. Fairly warm temps, but chilly with the wind off the lake. Raptor Observations: A slow day overall, even when the sun came out. Turkey Vultures were most numerous with 58. A few dozen broad-wings but only a few came close. Small numbers of other expected species. Derby Hill 2026 Daily Summary Videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB8baxseGlb6YYCLHXEKtIckpJtq1srVm Non-raptor Observations: North Lookout (am): A big songbird fallout with a good variety of species and good numbers. Pied-billed Grebe, 2 Horned Grebes, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, 20 Purple Finches, 3 Pine Siskins, Fox Sparrow, NORTHERN YELLOW WARBLER, 15 Yellow-rumped Warblers. https://ebird.org/checklist/S322900772 Sage Creek Marsh: Swamp Sparrow https://ebird.org/checklist/S322877821 South Lookout: 2 Green-winged Teals, 2 Wild Turkeys, Sandhill Crane, Vesper Sparrow, 6 Savannah Sparrows. https://ebird.org/checklist/S323116436 New species for season: Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Northern Yellow Warbler, Swamp Sparrow. Predictions: TOMORROW: Partly cloudy becoming cloudy in the afternoon. A stray shower or thunderstorm possible. High 77F. Winds SSE at 15-25mph. Great conditions. All signs point to a big flight. Southerly winds overnight should bring a strong non-raptor morning flight. Southeasterly winds will hopefully help keep the raptors lower. Rain is holding off until the evening so it could be a good flight all day. NOTE: Expect a big crowd. Please drive slowly up the hill. If the parking lot at the north lookout is full you can drop your stuff off and then park in the gravel lot at the bottom of our hill along Sage Creek Drive, or in the Sage Creek Marsh parking lot. You can walk up the hill either via the grassy path (may be quite wet) or walk up the road. Please do not park along Grand View Avenue (the road that is the hill up to the north lookout). Consider carpooling if possible. SUNDAY: Rain showers early then mostly sunny. High 44F. Winds WNW at 10-20mph. South lookout. Overall unfavorable conditions. MONDAY: Intervals of clouds and sun. High 38F. Winds NW at 10-20mph. South Lookout. Overall unfavorable conditions. ======================================================================== Report submitted by David Brown ([email protected] ) Derby Hill Bird Observatory information may be found at: http://onondagaaudubon.com/derby-hill-bird-observatory/ More site information at hawkcount.org: https://hawkcount.org/siteinfo.php?rsite=358 Count data submitted via Trektellen.org - Project info at: https://trektellen.org/count/view/3860/20260417 -- Oneidabirds-L List Info: Visit: http://LISTS.cornell.edu for more information Posting Address: [email protected] Sightings: Please submit your observations to eBird at http://www.ebird.org. --
