A Hawk Watch is in Effect for Litchfield County

With the shorter days and cooler temperatures arriving, the plants and animals are beginning to prepare themselves for this coming winter through building up fat stores or by migrating south. 

This migration is easily seen in our hawks, eagles, and other large birds of prey.  Throughout September and into October, we at the Conservation Center will have our eyes fixed on the sky as these birds begin to move to warmer climes.  Already we have seen some movements; from our observation post on Sawmill Hill, we have seen Turkey Vultures, Red-tailed, Red-shouldered, and Broad-winged Hawks, Kestrels, Peregrine Falcons, Bald Eagles, Northern Harriers, and all three North American Accipiter species. 

Bald Eagle juvenile

This observation of hawk migration is part of our annual Hawk Watch, done in conjunction with the Hawk Migration Association of North America.  Please join us, whether as a volunteer hawk-watcher at the Conservation Center or simply as someone who enjoys gazing at these magnificent birds in the sky.

Peregrine Falcons over WMF Hawk Watch, 9/30/11

Peregrine Falcon adult in flight

by Jim Burns from www.azgfd.gov

The weather finally improved enough on Friday, 9/30/11, to conduct a hawk watch around the Museum Area between 11:00 a.m. and 3 p.m. Since the winds were out of the southeast, south, and southwest at a sustained 20 m.p.h., conditions were not really good for hawk migration, but 30 members of this group flew over our site, anyway. I wouldn't have bothered to engage in hawk watching/counting this day if it hadn't started with a gorgeous adult Peregrine Falcon flying low over us. It went from north to south without showing any difficulty in dealing with the headwind. Soon after that the first of 8 high-flying migrant Red-tailed Hawks went over. This species doesn't usually migrate until later in October or November, but these birds had to be migrants because of their altitude and their direct flight from northeast to southwest. The rest of this day's migrant raptors consisted of 4 immature Bald Eagles, 6 Ospreys, 5 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 4 Cooper's Hawks, 1 late Broad-winged Hawk, and an immature Peregrine Falcon. We, and the hawks, quit when the sky became overcast. So far this fall's hawk watching hasn't been particularly good at White Memorial because the weather has been unfavorable, and quite often downright awful, for most of the month of September. We've only been able to put in 4 days of effort, which has yielded a grand total of 412 hawks. This breaks down to 354 Broad-winged Hawks, 14 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 9 Bald Eagles, 8 Ospreys, 8 Cooper's Hawks, 8 Red-tailed Hawks, 4 Red-shouldered Hawks, 4 Black Vultures, 2 Peregrine Falcons, and 1 N. Harrier. It is amazing that we haven't seen any American Kestrels, yet. We hope to have at least one more day of good hawk watching conditions before their migration season ends. Last year, we counted a total of 905 hawks passing over our site on 15 favorable days, so we don't expect to come anywhere close to that figure, but it would be nice to end this year with a total around 450. If the weather forecasts are correct, we might be in for more movement later this week.

Hawk Watch results from White Memorial for 9/16, 17, & 19/2011

Broad-winged Hawk photo by Ron Austing

from www.borealbirds.org

Northern Harrier from http://www.allaboutbirds.org/

Sharp-shinned Hawk photo by Darlene Knox

Osprey photo by Bob Stanowski

Bald Eagle adult photo by Paul Fusco

from http://www.paulfuscowildlifephotography.com/

Red-shouldered Hawk adult

photo by Darlene Knox

Cooper's Hawk immature

photo from http://www.njwildlifetrails.org/

The White Memorial hawk watch started its 2011 season on September 16th with a good showing of birds. The weather for much of the month prior to this was too lousy for hawk migration to occur. By contrast, the weather on the 16th was sunny, very cool, and with a steady 20 - 30 m.p.h. wind from the northwest. These conditions were optimal for hawk migration along the coast, as many birds were blown that far. I saw reports from Lighthouse Pt. in New Haven of 3,000 hawks and from Greenwich Audubon Center of 6,000 hawks that day. Inland sites, like White Memorial did o.k., but the results were not nearly as impressive as those from coastal sites. We counted a total of 259 hawks passing over the Museum Area between 10:15 a.m. and 5:15 p.m. The vast majority of these (255) were Broad-winged Hawks. The biggest kettle (or group) of Broad-wings consisted of 40 birds circling around overhead at one time. We also saw 1 Osprey, 2 Bald Eagles, and 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk. The next day, 9/17, was our "official" hawk watch day for the public. About 20 people attended at various times between 10:15 a.m. and 5:15 p.m. and were rewarded with a total of 107 hawks passing overhead. Of these, 93 were Broad-winged Hawks, including 50 in one kettle. We also saw 2 Black Vultures, 1 Osprey, 3 Bald Eagles, 3 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 2 Cooper's Hawks, and 3 Red-shouldered Hawks. No one manned our hawk watch site on Sunday, 9/18, but judging from observations from other places, we didn't miss much. Winds were coming from out of the south, and hawks weren't moving. The next day, 9/19, the winds shifted around to the west, and a few hawks started moving in the afternoon. Between 2 and 5:15 p.m. we counted a total of 16 hawks passing over the Museum Area. These consisted of 2 Black Vultures, 1 Northern Harrier, 5 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 2 Cooper's Hawks, 1 Red-shouldered Hawk, and 5 Broad-winged Hawks. The weather since this day has been too lousy for hawk migration to occur.

Wildlife Management and Inventorying Activities, 4/14/11

Red-tailed Hawk photo by Leo Kulinski, Jr.

from whalesandwolves.com Sharp-shinned Hawk photo by Darlene Knox Eastern Bluebird photo by Bob Stanowski

Bluebird nest box photo by Dave Rosgen

Yesterday, 4/14/11, Volunteers John Eykelhoff, Jim Kandefer, and Bob Stanowski assisted me with bluebird nest box maintenance and monitoring and a wide variety of wildlife surveying. Most of the time this type of field work is a case of multi-tasking. While working on the bluebird boxes we frequently scanned the skies for raptors, looked around the fields and edges for other birds and mammals, and listened for any birds or frogs than might be calling. Since it was a nice, sunny, warm day there was a constant concert of bird and frog sounds to enjoy. This included our first Northern Leopard Frogs of the season at the Litchfield Town Beach and in the Icehouse Marsh. Our first Common Snapping Turtles of the year also appeared today. Gerri Griswold and Lee Cook saw a huge one moving very slowly in the Bantam River and I saw a big one sticking its head out of Bantam Lake's N. Bay. Our third first-of-the-year animal found this day was a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher behind the Campground Store. Hawk migration activity was very good, with the best viewing being from the Bantam River Field. While replacing a rotted wooden bluebird box pole with a new metal one and replacing a cracked bluebird box front door we saw 3 Ospreys, a Sharp-shinned Hawk, and a Broad-winged Hawk fly over. Turkey Vultures and the resident pair of Red-tailed Hawks were also circling around overhead. These, and 3 other pairs of Red-tails seen elsewhere this day, were engaged in courtship activity. Migrant songbirds seen included Palm and Yellow-rumped Warblers. Eastern Bluebirds were seen at 4 nest box locations, and one of the boxes had a complete nest in it already. Tree Swallows were abundant everywhere. They were joined by a Barn Swallow in the Icehouse Field and N. Rough-winged Swallows at Wheeler Hill, the Bantam R. Field, and Cemetery Pond. Bantam Lake produced lots of action. This included at least 5 Ospreys fishing. Three of them were successful while we watched them, but one promptly lost its catch of a Northern Pike when an adult female Bald Eagle chased and scared it. The Pike disappeared when it hit the water, and the eagle failed to retrieve it. In addition to this eagle, an adult male (possibly her mate) was perched in a White Pine on the east shore, a 3rd-year immature female was flying around and then perched in a tree in N. Shore Marsh, and a 2nd-year immature male was perched in a White Pine at the tip of Lennox Hill Pt. He was being mobbed by American Crows for awhile. Bob was able to get really good Digiscoped photos of these eagles, so I will use them to do a future blog about the ways to determine the ages of immature and subadult Bald Eagles. While the eagles posed for photos, an immature Northern Harrier flew past us and disappeared into N. Shore Marsh, 7 Rusty and many Red-winged Blackbirds called from trees in the Marsh, 2 Green-winged Teal and 3 Wood Ducks swam along the shoreline, and 21 Double-crested Cormorants lazed on the stone blocks in N. Bay. Finally, we ended the day with 3 American Woodcock calling and displaying at dusk at Cemetery Pond. If you take a trip out to these locations, especially in the late afternoon and evening, you may very well be rewarded with these same sights and sounds of nature.

A Flood of New Migrant Birds in Litchfield

Wilson's Snipe photo by Bob Stanowski

Pied-billed Grebe photo by Bob Stanowski

Fox Sparrow photo by Leo Kulinski

American Woodcock photo by Bob Stanowski

The photos above depict but a few of the many species of birds which have migrated back to, or are migrating through, White Memorial this week. Even though the weather conditions haven't been particularly favorable for migration, the birds have been moving anyway. Some, like the American Woodcock and Fox Sparrow, have been present here for 3 weeks, but their numbers have increased quite a bit in the past week. Others, like Blue-winged Teal, Common Loon, Pied-billed Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, Osprey, Wilson's Snipe, Palm and Pine Warblers, and Swamp Sparrow have just arrived this week. Most of these birds have settled in, at least for awhile, so readers of this blog have some time to go out and look for them. Bantam Lake continues to produce a really good number and variety of birds. These include the aforementioned Common Loon, Pied-billed Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, and Osprey plus Bald Eagle, Bufflehead, and hoards of Common Mergansers. The best places to view these birds are from the Pt. Folly and Lake Trail observation platforms. Little Pond has become increasingly productive in the past week. That's where the Blue-winged Teal and one of the Wilson's Snipes were observed, along with Northern Harriers, Ospreys, Bald Eagle, and Killdeer. The Little Pond Trail leading in from White's Woods Rd. produced the Palm and Pine Warblers. Palm Warblers were also seen at Pt. Folly along with Swamp Sparrows. Cemetery Pond is producing American Woodcock every evening after sunset. It was also the location of our second Wilson's Snipe sighting. Most of the Fox Sparrow sightings have been at the Museum Feeders and along the Ongley Pond Trail. Please remember to report sightings of these and other birds to us either directly at my e-mail dave (at) whitememorialcc.org or indirectly through the share mechansim at http://www.ebird.org/. By typing in my email address after clicking "share" on the ebird report, a copy of your report will be sent to the White Memorial Foundation Archives. This will really help the bird migration monitoring efforts.