1702 Raptors, Curry Hammock Hawkwatch


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Posted by Rafael A. Galvez on 20:59:44 10/16/10

Best flight of the season at Little Crawl Key, with 1702 raptors of 12 species seen today (one additional species - Turkey Vulture not tallied - due to non-migratory activity). Highlights were good numbers of Broad-winged, Peregrine, American Kestrel, Sharp-shinned, Cooper's, Swainson's Hawk and N. Harrier.

Curry Hammock Hawkwatch
Little Crawl Key, Florida, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 16, 2010
----------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count / Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- -------Osprey 5 / 325
Bald Eagle 5 / 16
Northern Harrier 43 / 346
Sharp-shinned Hawk 114 / 889
Cooper's Hawk 45 / 127
Swainson's Hawk 12 / 20
Short-tailed Hawk 1 / 2
Red-shouldered Hawk 1 / 13
Broad-winged Hawk 1255 / 2959
American Kestrel 88 / 941
Merlin 11 / 96
Peregrine Falcon 105 / 1038
Accipiter sp. 5 / 31
Raptor sp. 13 / 47

Total: Day 1702 / 7004 (season)

Weather:
Consistent strong winds above the teens (km/h) throughout the day, coming out of the NNW earlier, and primarily out of the north during the afternoon. Cloud cover varied substantially throughout the day, visibility was limited to 3km during times of high humidity. Cooler wind out of the north created low misty conditions as it mixed with local climate at high altitudes.

Non-raptor Observations:
Good flights of Rough-winged Swallows. Palm Warblers were around in good numbers. A Great Crested Flycatcher was seen coming in from the Atlantic, mid-morning. At dusk, a dull-winged nighthawk passed by going south, reminiscent of a Lesser Nighthawk, completely silent, but unclear.

Observation start time: 09:00:00
Observation end time: 17:00:00
Total observation time: 8 hours

Official Counters: Rafael Antonio Galvez, Katie Lyons.

Visitors:
Many visitors graced the hawkwatch today. At various points, there were several great eyes watching from the platform, including Mark Hedden, who came accompanied by no other than Carl Goodrich and Murray Gardler; the trio joined the official counters for most of the afternoon. Additionally, Paddy Cunningham and 8 birders from Audubon of Everglades passed by for a while (Valleri Braner, Paton White, Deb Smith, Marcia Yaip, John Curlew, Mary CurleW, Valorie Larson and Nick Campbell); and a birder couple from Miami, Marc Kramer and Eliana Ardila.



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