Broadwings Dropping From Clouds

We were a little later than planned getting up to the watch today.  But the cloud cover and SW winds were pushing even the Vultures northward.  We arrived to find that Harold Birch had been there early to mow or weed-eat at the road and along the ridge, for which we GREATLY THANK HIM. We did all we could last night to prepare the place, but it was so overgrown that we couldn't do it all. He is such a blessing.

To the east of us, all along the river the sun was warming the valley for thermals, but over our ridge and west of us was just a steady wind pushing the clouds along, while the sun's rays tried to punch holes through the clouds throughout the morning. But there were no places where constant sun could warm the earth and provide singular thermals.  Although we saw Turkey Vultures,  Blacks, 2 Red-tailed and Red-shouldered Hawks, and 2 Sharp-shinned, there were no Broad-wings or other migrant raptors until the sun broke through after 2 pm.

We discussed that we didn't expect Broad-wings to confront the strong winds from the SW, but continued to look. I remembered how I thought about the sun warming the valley earlier in the day and noticed that the clouds were in long linear layers. I remembered how Debbie Shannon used to find afternoon, distant and high flying individual hawks zipping along skies like that in years past. So I began to concentrate on sorting out the rising Vultures, many of which were rising in kettles casually climbing hundreds of feet before peeling off North. 

And then I spotted it. That tiny bullet that dropped from nowhere out of the clouds.  We sometimes see this in the early afternoon.  Broad-wings seem to drop from nowhere above us sometimes, and we have come to realize that they are dropping from heights where they fly during midday.  This was the case with this little bullet.  But not long after I followed it streaking along, it flared its wings,  two, three, then four times, and I could tell it had hit a wall of that SW wind.  It looked like putting on breaks, but it was the wind doing his breaking, and this hawk was forced to come out of that stoop, and open its wings, or fall from the sky.  It flew into the first thermal it could find, and began that familiar upward circle.  It occasionally disappeared behind gray hazy clouds, but I patiently waited  for it to rise above them, and it paid off!  Suddenly there were 4 more, then another, and arriving to the bottom of the kettle 3 and 3.  There it was. Our first kettle of the season! 11 - every one peeled off the top and continued from the heights above the SW wind like a bullet on its journey. I followed them South and never saw them make a westward turn, but why would they abandon the only thermals forming.  

All told, we had:

 13 Broad-wings
 20 other species

 to record today.

Among the non-raptor species we counted today was a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.  A real treat.

We are prepared to go up tomorrow morning, but predicted storms may relieve us in the afternoon.  But if it is densely clouded around 10 to 11, we will make a call on the day.  Storms are predicted for Friday as well, so for now, we think it's a no go.

Keep looking UP.

Remember, we are now thirteen birds closer to our 50,000 grand total goal. Check out the link.