Bradbury Mountain Hawkwatch: Week 9

Our bout of bad weather may have cleared out for the last few days of the season, but unfortunately, it did not bring us a lot of birds. The mostly westerly winds were leaning a little more north than we would like, and gusty at times. It was warm, but the skies seemed surprisingly empty. This year's season count was quite a bit below average. Interestingly, Broad-winged Hawk and Turkey Vultures may be one of our highest on record, but most every other species was quite low. Our unfavorable weather during, and directly following the peak of raptor migration certainly had an impact.

Nonetheless, we had another fun season with 2 Black Vultures and 1 Golden Eagle. We want to thank Zane Baker for coming back for another season. It is always a pleasure and we value his hard work and dedication. Thank you also to Bradbury Mountain State Park for hosting us and the people who joined us in spotting birds. See you next year!

This week’s totals (this week – season to date – 2022 total):

BLACK VULTURE 0-2-1

TURKEY VULTURE 0-500-470

OSPREY 8-279-286

BALD EAGLE 6-69-97

NORTHERN HARRIER 0-84-84

SHARP-SHINNED HAWK 2-383-670

COOPER’S HAWK 3-38-56

NORTHERN GOSHAWK 0-2-3

<