The bottleneck that was building up because of poor migration weather over
the past 2 weeks, including snow here on April 7th and of course the huge
nor'easter this week, finally began to break up today, April 18th. Despite
stiff
north winds, Ospreys seemed to be everywhere and moving north. A new daily
high of 52 was set for the site, smashing the new high of 25 that was just set
on March 28th. They passed east and upriver to the west and overhead from
about 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. Many more were around that
didn't pass the station, but likely did later in the afternoon after I left.
Other birds were moving across the river as well: 13 Turkey Vultures, 5 Bald
Eagles, 3 Northern Harriers, 4 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 1 Cooper's Hawk and 1
Red-tailed Hawk for a respectable daily total of 79.
The Osprey nest on the duck blind in front of the hawkwatch survived the
storm. It has been blown into the river for each of the past 2 Aprils.
Other birds today included hundreds of Barn Swallows and Tree Swallows and
1000+ Double-crested Cormorants.
Brian Taber
College Creek Hawkwatch is located on the James River near Williamsburg and
is a program of Coastal Virginia Wildlife Observatory.
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