Young, dark Red-tailed Hawk. photo by Ted Keyel
Hello Everyone!
Things have been going pretty well from the hawkdeck. On May 19th, we witnessed our largest Broad-winged Hawk kettle so far this season, with 440 birds. We have still been seeing a lot of Red-tailed Hawks and the majority are young birds. There still some of the dark Red-tails around too. Sharp-shinned Hawk numbers seem to be winding down, but there have still been some passing by. We have also been seeing some large pushes of Bald Eagles, mostly young birds. On the other end of the spectrum, we have not seen a Rough-legged Hawk since May 10th or a Red-shouldered Hawk since May 9th.
Cape May Warbler, photo by Ted Keyel
On the non-raptor side of the spectrum, warbler diversity and numbers have been picking up in the last few days, with 19 species being reported. On May 16th, over 2,000 American Pipits passed by over the hawkwatch! It was incredible to watch flocks of hundreds of pipits fly over. Finally, today, an adult Parasitic Jaeger flew over the lighthouse.
We are still hoping for a day with southwest winds and a large Broad-winged Hawk push. The last couple days have been a little strange, with many birds visible and present in the mornings and disappearing in the afternoons. It could be that the birds are climbing so high and out of sight.
Parasitic Jaeger over the Whitefish Point Lighthouse. Photo by Ted Keyel
It is hard to believe that there is only a little more than a week left in the Spring 2016. There have been so many great birds so far, and hopefully we will still see a few more.
Happy birding!
-Ted
