[texbirds] GCBO Smith Point HW, 6 Oct

From: Tony Leukering <greatgrayowl@xxxxxxx>
To: texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, Sk8inginfo@xxxxxxx, coturnicops@xxxxxxxxx, sam.galick@xxxxxxxxx, mikecrewe@xxxxxxxxxxx, swallowtailstudio@xxxxxxxxxxx, ellendunnking@xxxxxxxxx, ngobris@xxxxxxxx, sy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, bauersteven@xxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Sat, 6 Oct 2012 19:39:57 -0400 (EDT)

Hi all:

Yet another good day at Smith Point, though not necessarily for the large 
number of birds.

I have added some interesting pix from the past few days to my Smith Point 
Hawkwatch folder at my Flickr site 
(http://www.flickr.com/photos/tony_leukering/ - top folder in right column), 
including a few sunrise pix from yesterday 
(http://www.flickr.com/photos/tony_leukering/8060901791/in/photostream/) and 
the day before 
(http://www.flickr.com/photos/tony_leukering/8060903105/in/photostream), 
sh0wing Sharpies on the move at that early hour.

One of the more interesting of today's highlights was the late Olive-sided 
Flycatcher perched in the distant treeline to the NNW 
(http://www.flickr.com/photos/tony_leukering/8060905634/in/photostream/); I 
hadn't seen one in nearly ten days.  However, landbirds were otherwise quite 
slow (a single Ruby-crowned Kinglet, 15 Scissor-tailed Flycatchers, and a 
single Dickcissel), but with 58 Blue-gray Gnatcatchers.  Among the raptor 
highlights were a juvenile Bald Eagle, seven light Swainson's Hawks, and 
another very late adult Swallow-tailed Kite late in the afternoon.  Hopefully, 
it stuck around and will put in an appearance tomorrow morning (which still 
looks pretty good, according to the forecast).  This morning's early-morning 
raptor show was not up to recent standards, with only 63 Sharpies in the first 
hour and no other species counted then.  However, we (Joe, Dan, and I) still 
tallied 13 raptor species, and that does not include any counted vultures!

Bird of the Day:  I am breaking my own rule here by repeating (probably) an 
individual bird as BOD.  When Joe Kennedy arrived in the AM, he told us that he 
had seen what was, presumably, the same Harris's Hawk along FM 562 that I had 
seen yesterday, but closer to the Point.  In late morning, the second-year 
bird, I believe with the white bases to the primaries   
(http://www.flickr.com/photos/tony_leukering/8060906080/in/photostream -- start 
here, and go left in the stream), came up to the HW in the late morning to 
thrill the Saturday crowd and got recorded as the first of the season here.

Raptors counted:

Swallow-tailed Kite 1
Mississippi Kite 1
Bald Eagle 1
Osprey 2
Northern Harrier 6
Sharp-shinned Hawk 206
Cooper's Hawk 81
Harris's Hawk 1
Broad-winged Hawk 177
Swainson's Hawk 7 (6 adults, 1 juv)
American Kestrel 43
Merlin 1
Peregrine Falcon 6
Total 552

Come on down tomorrow, it should be a splendid day!

Enjoy,

Tony


Tony Leukering
Villas, NJ
http://copyeditinggonebad.blogspot.com/
http://capemaymoths.blogspot.com/
http://cfobirds.blogspot.com/
http://aba.org/photoquiz/

[texbirds] GCBO Smith Point HW, 6 Oct

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