We began the day, arriving about 10:30 with virtually clear skies from horizon to horizon. The morning temps of about 57* rose into the 70's quickly. But it was after noon before we began to see kettles of BW's. A kettle of 19 blinked in and out of the haze over the ridge, and we thought we had lost it, until it suddenly appeared in the skies just to our right and slightly south of us, as so many other birds had done all day. Their flight path changed very little today, and we spent a lot of time looking over our shoulder, or turned to the South to catch them dropping from the heights before they headed W/SW. Harold Birch was once again our wingman. It was a good day. 421 Broadies put us over the 1500 mark. We need 275 to go past 2000 for this year. Wednesday rains, may mean another banner day on Thursday. We will watch the fronts. Big misses so far include a Harrier. We will be on the lookout. Only a few days to go.
- 421 Broad Wings
- 2 Sharpies
- 2 Coopers
- 1 Bald Eagle
Our daily birds have included several great looks at Red-headed Woodpeckers. Always a treat.
Lora Mcbride saw over 127 Broad-winged Hawks from her home in Bledsoe County, today after 5:00 pm. I think she said she saw 17 more before getting her binocs to be sure, and was able to share the experience with her husband who was unable to join us yesterday. She was so excited to get to watch them kettling for while unlike so many yesterday which soared through on the wind, while we watched straining into the blue sky. Congrats on spotting your own hawks on the other side of our ridge. That's info we wanted to know!!!!
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