| Day's Raptor Counts | BV | TV | OS | BE | NH | SS | CH | NG | RS | BW | RT | RL | GE | AK | ML | PG | UA | UB | UF | UE | UR | SW | Total |
| 0 | 13 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 51 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 679 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 781 |
Observation
Start Time | 07:00:00 |
Observation
End Time | 17:15:00 |
Official
Counter | Henry Walters |
| Observers | Alan Bragg, Don Stokes, Francie Von Mertens, Ginny & Jerry Gonville, Janet Delaney, Katrina Fenton, Kurt Geerer, Lillian Stokes, Nancy Moreau, Phil Brown, Tom Delaney, Tracy Tate |
| Weather | The passing front left a turbulent wake--37 degrees Fahrenheit this morning, with 25 mph winds out of the west. Birds were hitched to its ragged trailing edge, finding plenty of thermal lift. Sunnier and calmer as the day went along. |
| Observation Notes | Last night's storm punched a hole in the north, filled by a blast of air and Broad-winged Hawks, not pouring into sky from any one window, but from a breach in the whole back wall of it. In short succession, groups of 139, 60, and 45 birds swarmed into view, many swirling up from under the horizon less than a half-mile away. Accipiters in good numbers kept the afternoon moving. Seven eagles stretched their six-and-a-half-foot frames over big tracts of air (two adults, three juveniles, two not aged). Also a platoon of Turkey Vultures, the first obvious deserters, made a break for it, having no desire to stand sentry duty in snow all winter. |
| Non-Raptor Notes | "I think I have...a planet." Katrina Fenton, not satisfied with the hawks in her own atmosphere, combed through 91 million miles of vacuum before finding a chunk of rock circling in a slow thermal west of the sun. Mercury has wings on his ankles, and Jupiter stoops to Earth as an eagle, but this was Venus, who floats on her own unflappable heart, in broad daylight.
Last bird of the day, a young Yellow-bellied Sapsucker making the rounds from trunk to trunk, drilling exploratory wells. An immature Common Loon headed for the coast, having never seen an ocean, or felt the buoyancy of salt. Only one Yellow-rumped Warbler today, along with a couple Blackpoll/Pine Warbler sp. in flight--the big storm must have cleared out all the locals. Other migrants included Blue Jays (7), Northern Flicker (2), Purple Finch (2), and a Canada Goose. 72 Monarchs. |
| Visitors | Fifth- and sixth-graders from the Wells Memorial School in Harrisville showed up their elders by picking out birds too distant for even twenty-year-old eyesight: Sharp-shins skating down the horizon, Broad-wings on a high-wire overhead, and a Red-tail at recess, teasing all the ravens. They didn't want to leave, and we didn't want them to. Thanks to their great teachers for making the field trip happen. 45 visitors in all. |
| Forecast | High clouds will mean good hawkwatching skies, with moderate winds out of the east. After a chilly night, what Broad-wings remain to the north of us should be making their move tomorrow and Friday. Come out in the morning to enjoy some of the last kettles of the season. |
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