[wisb] Today's northwoods raptor/songbird movement (Duluth, MN)

From: Erik Bruhnke <birdfedr@xxxxxxxxx>
To: Wisconsin Birding Network <wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 6 Apr 2011 01:19:57 -0500
The conditions for counting raptors today in Duluth could not have been more
pleasant for raptor-viewing, and were very encouraging to raptors just
urging to head north. Today's flight was spectacular; a total of 300 raptors
were counted today!
Red-tailed Hawks were the most commonly-observed raptor today. Of the 158
Red-tailed Hawks observed today, three were dark morphs! Today I got to
observe the largest kettle of Red-tailed Hawks I've ever seen... A total of
18 Red-tailed Hawks were soaring upwards in a single kettle - two Bald
Eagles were mixed in there too. Seeing this scattered concentration (if
there is such a thing) made me watery-eyed. It was such a treat to witness,
and I'm sure that there are more impressive raptor flights to come this
spring! A "kettle" is a migrating group of raptors which is riding a
thermal/set of thermals higher and higher. It was so cool to see the groups
Red-tailed Hawks migrating up high. I have many pictures taken today during
the count, however they'll have a to come in a day or so :-) It's getting
late, and I have to be up early for another action-packed day of hawk
counting! Photos from today will be up soon, possibly including a fly-away
butt-shot of the little longspur cursing the skies - but also a large
section of the Red-tailed Hawk kettle... and more!

Today I observed several other new migrants to the area: A single LAPLAND
LONGSPUR gave bubbly trills and the chew-note call as it flew north, as well
as observing a single KILLDEER, 2 COMMON GRACKLES. In the early afternoon
today, a lone, high-flying Sandhill Crane flew by!

In case you're interested in seeing more about the day's count details, the
link below has what you're looking for...
http://hawkcount.org/day_summary.php?rsite=543&ryear=2011&rmonth=04&rday=05

Winds will be from the east tomorrow. I'm curious what birds will make an
appearance, possibly coming from Wisconsin and being blown westwards with
tomorrow's winds :-)
Good birdwatching,
Erik Bruhnke
Duluth, MN
-- 
*NATURALLY AVIAN* - Bird photography and guided birdwatching tours
www.pbase.com/birdfedr
www.naturallyavian.blogspot.com
birdfedr@xxxxxxxxx

-- 
*NATURALLY AVIAN* - Bird photography and guided birdwatching tours
www.pbase.com/birdfedr
www.naturallyavian.blogspot.com
birdfedr@xxxxxxxxx


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[wisb] Today's northwoods raptor/songbird movement (Duluth, MN)

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