Observation start time: 05:30:00 Observation end time: 15:30:00 Total observation time: 9.95 hours
Official Counter: Maili Waters
Observers: Daena Ford, Greg Sanda, Mike Tetlow, Shannon Sanda, Vid Killius
Visitors: 30
Weather: The morning started out cloudy and warm with temps in the low 60s. Winds out of the west at 15-20mph. Around 9am it rained pretty hard for over half an hour. By 9:45 the rain had stopped and the winds shifted more SW and increased to 25-35mph. Temps reached a high of 69F around noon. Skies remained cloudy all day. Scattered showers in the afternoon. Around 4pm the winds shifted back to west and it started to rain more, shutting down the flight.
Raptor Observations: Another incredible day! It started right at sunrise with a constant stream of Sharp-shinned Hawks going low over the platform and along the spits. Along with the Sharp-shinneds, a Short-eared Owl flew over the barrier island. A brief rain paused the flight around 9, but quickly picked up again after 9:45. Right after the rain stopped, the Broad-winged Hawks picked up. We ended with a total of 7,435 Broad-winged Hawks, 663 Sharp-shinned Hawks, and plenty of other raptors! A highlight of this amazing day were the 10 Golden Eagles that flew over throughout the day. All were immature birds spread out over the day. A beautiful light morph Rough-legged Hawk also made a quick appearance in the afternoon before disappearing. Yesterday and today have been highlight days of the whole season so far!
Non-raptor Observations: 3 Trumpeter Swans, 1 American Bittern, several Greater Yellowlegs, a flock of 30 Horned Larks with one Lapland Longspur mixed in.
Predictions: Tomorrow will have a mix of sun and clouds and a high of 48F. Winds out of the NNW at 10-15mph. There will probably be small numbers of raptors moving even though the winds aren't ideal. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Maili Waters (<mailirwaters...>) Braddock Bay information may be found at: http://www.bbrr.org/
