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 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 Good birdwatching, Erik Bruhnke Duluth, MN -- *NATURALLY AVIAN* - Bird photography and guided birdwatching tours www.pbase.com/birdfedr www.naturallyavian.blogspot.com [email protected] ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
