Jason Waanders and I manned the hawkwatch for the first time. It was better
than we thought it would be, given the warm wind from the southeast.
BE 1 (plus several others, but they did not move to the south)
NH 10 (at least 3 were adult males)
SS 7
CH 1
RT 11
UA 1
UB 1
UR 1
It was great to see so many harriers. At one point, we had three in one
glass. Note that all of the harriers were to the east, as were most of the
other birds.
Several additional redtails and at least one sharpie were seen loitering
about or heading north. We gave up on trying to keep track of the vultures,
but there were dozens of both species. Other birds of note were 4 tundra
swans, 8 cormorants, 2 ravens, and hundreds of robins and waxwings.
We were joined at various times by Peter Frechtel, Jim Mathews and family,
Joe Coleman, and Kurt and Maria (didn't get the last names). We didn't
tally the dogs, but Joe had an ancient Bernese, there was a Boston terrier,
a couple of the spaniels that look like cockers on steroids, and a few
others. The headless roadkilled deer on the drive up was an unusual sight
(I guess it's an easier way of getting a trophy than actual hunting . . . .)
Ben Jesup
Alexandria
