[texbirds] Smith Point HW, 16 Sep
- From: Tony leukering <greatgrayowl@xxxxxxx>
- To: Tony leukering <greatgrayowl@xxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 16 Sep 2012 18:35:46 -0500
Hi all:
I was greeted at the tower by ENE winds and a nearly overcast sky. There were
also flock of Dickcissels, Blue Grosbeaks, Baltimore Orioles, and Eastern
Kingbirds, one of the last of which hosted an imm Scissor-tailed Fly for the
day. Three Olive-sided Flycatchers shared the good perches with the kingbirds.
Blue-winged Teal were more in evidence today (and yesterday) with the advent
of teal season yesterday.
The raptors started getting up bang on time at 9:30, but then there was an
apparent lull until I and visitors found the beasts very high overhead, at
which point, they went higher. Most of the counted birds spent the day at the
limit of (my) unaided eyesight, with some higher than that. This caused my
percentage of unaged raptors to climb dramatically!
The diversity of counted raptor species was quite good today, and included two
very high adult Swallow-tailed Kites putting in brief appearances. The falcon
show continues to improve; all three regular species were tallied in the first
hour with raptors (9-10 am).
Along with the Broad-wings, the various and sundry social diurnal-migrant
waterbirds also rose into the stratosphere today; I don't know how many times I
would scan and find a speck flock of White Ibis!
Counted raptors:
Swallow-tailed Kite 2
Mississippi Kite 24 (all juvs)
Northern Harrier 3 (all juvs)
Sharp-shinned Hawk 14
Cooper's Hawk 26
Red-shouldered Hawk 2 (both juvs)
Broad-winged Hawk 401
Red-tailed Hawk 3 (2 ads, 1 juv)
American Kestrel 5
Merlin 2
Peregrine Falcon 3
Total 486
Other soaring migrants:
American White Pelican 4
Anhinga 296 (8 flocks)
White Ibis 302 (36 flocks)
Bird of the Day: The Merlin that played footsie with a female Am. Kestrel and
provided excellent photo ops!
Enjoy,
Tony Leukering
Villas, NJ
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