Hola Birders,
This morning at 7:30am a Intermediate to dark morph Swainson's Hawk flew over
Kiptopeke State Park. The bird in question showed no obvious signs of molt and
was considered a probable Hatching Year bird. It was horribly back lit by a
beautiful sunrise so exact age and morph info is left somewhat unknown. The
bird was very low and heading North. Did it roost in the Park?
The flight today was again slow the winds howled from the west once again.
Today Falcons and Vultures dominated this very low flight that occurs under
these conditions. Merlins flew at break neck speeds while Turkey Vultures
loafed around in large groups. Most visitors were entertained by spectacular
Peregrine Falcon looks and a nice breeze. Tis the season for adult Accipiters
too. (Coastal Migration sites generally get very few adult migrants) Here's
the breakdown for the day:
BLVU: 28
TUVU: 96 (season highcount)
OSPR: 13
BAEA: 2
NOHA: 4
SSHA: 48
COHA: 27
SWHA: 1 (sweet!)
AMKE: 22
MERL: 46
PEFA: 13
Total: 300
Other birds:
Blue Jays made a good flight today. 10 Red-Bellied Woodpeckers flew over along
with a few Flickers et al. A Chimney Swift was seen again today. Red-Breasted
Nuthatches visiting the feeders.
Feel free to check out www.hawkcount.org under Monthly Summaries for more
detailed count info for this site and your other local Virginia sites.
Good day and good birding,
-Sam Stuart
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