Quality Over Quantitiy

Gulf Fritillary tucked away in the grasses and wildflowers, worn and old

Oct. 23, 2016: Quality over quantity

After the last couple of cold, very windy days on the lookout, it was nice to spend a very pleasant, warmer, and much less windy day  up there this afternoon.

 

I got there at 12:30. Sky was clear, wind from the southeast 1-5, temperature 62 F, visibility 70K,  and barometer of 30.30 and falling. it warmed as the afternoon progressed, ending up at 76F at 5:00. The last pressure reading was 30.19, and the last hour the wind was north 1-5. It was nice shirt sleeve weather. I was on the lookout until 5:30.

It was a day that didn't produce big numbers, but it was still very memorable. Following are the top three sightings, in chronological order:

1). A Merlin at 1:41 came over the north ridge and circled to gain altitude. At first I thought it was a Sharp-shin, but noticed pretty quickly the sharply pointed wings. It came south in a big hurry, passing close enough to display the very dark plumage this small falcon is known for. Any day you see a Merlin is a good day!

2). Next came one of my most surprising and exciting hawk sightings. When I'm on the lookout alone I do a lot of scanning of the sky. I don't want to miss any birds. Luckily for me I was taking a break from scanning when I saw a bird fly in UNDER the lowest black phone cable in front of me. It was rapidly heading my way. I thought "Can that be a hawk?", and I realized it was a Sharpie and it was flying just over the dirt road coming from the pole.  When it reached the mown portion of the lookout it dropped even lower, passing by me below my eye level, and I was SITTING DOWN!

 

He (it must have been a male - I was surprised how small it was) zipped right through the exact spot where Jimmy and Cynthia sat during Broad-winged Hawk season! If they had been there today they would have literally been eyeball-to-eyeball with a Sharpie. In all my time as a hawkwatcher I've never had one pass right down the middle of the lookout at 2 foot altitude only 12 feet away!!! I am glad I didn't have my binoculars up - I didn't need them. Wow! That'll be a story I tell a few times.

3). At 4:27, I looked up the valley to the right of the brow and spotted a large bird gliding south with set wings. It had the shallow M configuration that shouts Osprey, even at very great distances. Now it has been three weeks since we last saw an Osprey, so I went through my mental rolodex and remembered that I'd occasionally seen an eagle holding its wings that way - enough to fool you into thinking it was an Osprey. About that time the bird disappeared behind the brow. I thought it might pop back up, but it didn't do so immediately, so I surmised, "We'll it was probably an eagle flying toward the Rock Creek gorge roost north of us." A minute later I took another look and there it came over the brow, and it still had that M shape! It WAS a late season Osprey, and it was in a full glide the whole time I watched it sail past me down the valley. I had some wonderful looks. It put me in mind of 3 very late afternoon Ospreys I saw at Hawk Mountain, PA  last year. 

Today definitely featured QUALITY over quantity. You just never know what you might see on the lookout.

Totals: Oct. 23, 2016

Osprey - 1

Sharp-shin - 3

Red - shouldered - 1

Red-tailed - 4

Merlin - 1

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Total hawks - 10

Also: Heard Red-breasted Nuthatches a couple of times. Saw 3 migrant Monarchs.

Reporting: Bill Haley

 

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So sad that our TV crew members were Sick...What great stories they would have had!!!

 

And as always, like with the Osprey, it certainly pays to:

 

KEEP, I SAID KEEEEEEP, LOOKING UP!!!!!

 

Eyes to the sky folks.  It's not too late.

 

Jimmy and Cynthia Wilkerson