Westskyline Hawk Count has been up and running since 1 March. April
I have not sent out an updates since the 3rd as there has been very few raptors migrating compared to what should be normal for this time of year. April is the month with the largest number of raptors and species diversity. Some years one can count upward to 18,000+ raptors of 15 species. So far this month, as of the 18th, 3981 raptors have been counted with over half of these counted on the 2nd and 3rd. Starting on the 4th there have been northeast winds nearly everyday, with some days winds speed reaching 30-40 mph. This is mainly do to high pressure systems sitting above us (Omega Block) producing northeast winds. The raptors have not even been able to approached the vicinity of the lakeshore. Meanwhile condition further inland have been warm and sunny with some days producing southerly winds. This is the reason for the low number of Red-tails and will for sure give us the lowest number since the count started the two site protocol. It should be noted that this is being seen at other great lakes sites such as Derby Hill and Braddock Bay which are both on the south side of Lake Ontario in New York State. Hope is for a break in the weather and southerly winds. Now that the red-tail push is most certainly done, we are starting to see the beginning of the Broad-winged Hawk movement. This species is even more prone to migrating away from the lakeshore with the type of conditions of late. Other birds sighting have been slow with most species starting to show up. Interesting sighting include: White Pelican seen on the 15th, with 63 seen on the 16th along with 5 Belted Kingfishers. A few sandhills every few days (poor movement this year), a male Purple Martin on 18th along with 23 Common Loons, Chipping sparrow at my feeder along with several Evening Grosbeaks. Yellow-rumped Warbler showed up on the 16 at the lookout along with some kinglet. Below you can view today and this season's count which is up to date as of 18 April. You may also view the count on a daily basis at "HAWKCOUNT. ORG" and look for West Skyline Hawk Count. I would like to thank the MOU committee's and Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory for funding the count this year. West Skyline Hawk Count Minnesota, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 18, 2005 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 54 352 355 Osprey 11 23 23 Bald Eagle 9 699 2745 Northern Harrier 3 24 25 Sharp-shinned Hawk 70 528 547 Cooper's Hawk 3 14 18 Northern Goshawk 0 3 9 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 3 4 Broad-winged Hawk 47 59 59 Red-tailed Hawk 31 2153 2230 Rough-legged Hawk 1 78 84 Golden Eagle 0 6 43 American Kestrel 17 29 29 Merlin 5 10 10 Peregrine Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown 0 0 0 Total: 251 3981 6181 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Submitted by: Frank Nicoletti
