Scorcher. Light NW winds at 6-11kph for most of the count. Really good
visibility to Stone Mountain for the entire count. Partly cloudy skies to
begin with, high cirrus. These burned off by 13:00 leaving the blue sky of
death to locate high flying raptors in. Low temperature of 10C at 08:00 and
a high of 27C by 15:00.
Raptor Notes
TV 5 (284) OS 2 (78) BE 3 (118) SS 5 (222) CH 2 (50) RS 3 (45) BW 7 (1459)
RT 3 (313) UB 2 (19) UR 1 (41) Total 33 (2915)
Slow but steady flight that peaked in the 10:00 hour. It is interesting to
note that more than half of the day’s raptors were picked up low moving
down Stone Valley. It wasn’t until 11:20 that I saw my first BW up on the
ridge. Late in the afternoon I lucked out getting on some sky-high BE’s
under a cloud that had formed directly above the ridge. Jacqui McKee also
picked up some extremely high TUVU following the same line which helped the
numbers out to close out the day’s effort.
At 10:12 the resident COHA was performing its wing display over Stone
Valley. At 11:07 three adult BE’s were in a skirmish over Leading Ridge. At
15:30 the first resident OSPR of the season was spotted flying S over Stone
Valley probably enroute for Lake Perez and a tasty trout.
Non-raptor Notes
The resident FISP has secured a mate. I see them together several times
during the day. I also think EATO has secured a mate as I hear some
interesting calls coming from the same shrubbery. A PAWA visited the cute
briefly, possibly migrating through. I heard its call note, then got eyes
on it in time to get a good look. It then flitted off the N side of the
ridge.
Mourning Dove 4
Double-crested Cormorant 2
Great Blue Heron 2
Turkey Vulture 10
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Downy Woodpecker 1
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Pileated Woodpecker 2
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 1
Blue-headed Vireo 1
Blue Jay 7
American Crow 1
Common Raven 2
Black-capped Chickadee 3
Tufted Titmouse 1
Tree Swallow 2
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 1
Barn Swallow 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1
European Starling 6
Eastern Bluebird 1
American Robin 1
House Finch 2
Purple Finch 1
American Goldfinch 14
Field Sparrow 2
Eastern Towhee 4
Red-winged Blackbird 2
Brown-headed Cowbird 3
Common Grackle 2
Ovenbird 1
Black-and-white Warbler 1
Palm Warbler 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 1
Black-throated Green Warbler 15
1 helium balloon, a shiny blue star with some ribbon attached.
Visitors
Jacqui and Dave McKee joined me late in the afternoon to help spot a few
migrating raptors. They gave me a really nice card and gift which I greatly
appreciated. They have been great help late in the survey season helping
spot migrating BW’s. It has been awesome sharing some great flights with
them this season and I hope our paths cross again. Certainly, when I
reflect on my time spent on Tussey Mountain it will include great times
with them and many others.
Jacqui and Dave McKee
Next Day Forecast
Mostly sunny, with a high near 81. Calm wind becoming south around 6 mph in
the afternoon.
