Even with the end in sight the hawk count is still going strong! Among raptors, Broad-winged Hawk remains most numerous with a total of 4,749. They will surely remain in the lead, as immature birds have only in the past two days begun to make up a significant proportion of the kettles overhead, with the potential for thousands more to pass by before the month ends. The second-place Sharp-shinned Hawk, at a total of 3,549 stands at just 30% of their total from last year at this date. Red-tailed Hawk is still third most common, with 911 counted. Like Sharpies they too are down from last year’s pace, at just 63% of their prior total and not likely to increase significantly at this point.

Rough-legged Hawks and Northern Harriers continue at a trickle, as do Northern Goshawks, and, surprisingly, Red-shouldered Hawks. As occurred last year, late May has so far seen a fantastic  push of Bald Eagles, and they have been nearly exclusively immature birds, showing infinite variety in their mottled plumage. A new season high of 37 Balds on the 22nd eclipsed the previous peak of 36 from April 20th. Peregrines and Merlins have been regular though uncommon, while our third falcon, the American Kestrel, has been all but absent from the past week of the count.

Overall no hawks stand among the three most common species tallied. Blue Jays continue to swarm the Point most mornings and currently constitute 22% of all birds seen from the hawk deck with a total of 11,388. Sandhill Cranes continue to move past the Point in moderate numbers, climbing to a current count of 6,324, making them the second most common species overall. Just behind them are Common Redpolls, with 6,198 despite no more than three individuals being seen on a day in May and the most recent sighting over two weeks ago. One of the most unexpected species to occur this season on the hawk count was added to the totals on May 17th, when a flock of 19 American White Pelicans were spotted!

Be sure to follow Dunkadoo and HawkCount closely to see the complete totals as we come into the home stretch!