Bradbury Mountain Hawkwatch: Week 5

It was nice seeing temperatures in the 50s, with a high of 65 last week. Despite a couple of delayed starts, we managed to count 8 full hours almost every day. The wind flow had an easterly component for much of the week, providing us with some steady seabreezes in the afternoons. Interestingly, despite easterly winds, we had a few days of great hawkwatching. 236 raptors on 4/14 was eclipsed by 627 on 4/17. That big flight occurred on northeast winds which is generally unfavorable. But, we are at the peak of migration and birds have to move! 517 of those birds were Broad-winged Hawks. Bohemian Waxwings were the non-raptor bird of the week with 103 landing briefly in the trees around the summit on 4/15. The first Barn Swallows, Red Crossbills, and Blue-headed Vireos were also spotted.

Week 5 Totals (current week - total to date – season average) 

BLACK VULTURE  0-0-1

TURKEY VULTURE  13-439-414    

OSPREY 143-224-400

SWALLOW-TAILED KITE 0-0-0   

MISSISSIPPI KITE   0-0-0   

BALD EAGLE 11-50-81

NORTHERN HARRIER 65-113–108

SHARP-SHINNED HAWK 102-169–661

COOPER’S HAWK 13-33–68

AMERICAN GOSHAWK 0-2-6      

RED-SHOULDERED HAWK 12-62–88

BROAD-WINGED HAWK 699-716-1888

SWAINSON’S HAWK 0-0-0

RED-TAILED HAWK 8-58–202

ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK 0-0-1

GOLDEN EAGLE 0-1-0       

AMERICAN KESTREL 119-226–364

MERLIN 16-26–71

PEREGRINE FALCON 1-3-6

UNIDENTIFIED RAPTOR 10-16-47          

TOTAL 1212-2138–4407