The South Livingstone Raptor Count for the fall migration of 2008 has now begun. First official day of counting began on 25th August 2008. Follow the daily movement of raptors on this blog updated daily by Peter Sherrington.

Sunday, September 7, 2008

September 5 [Day 11] Winds were from the west all day 10-15 gusting 26 km/h, with 90-100% cloud cover, cirrostratus at first giving hazy sunshine, but thickening to stratocumulus in the afternoon producing rather gloomy conditions and rain between 1525 and 1645. The temperature ranged from 6C to 11C. There was a steady stream of juvenile Sharp-shinned and Cooper's Hawks up to 1300, many of which stopped to hunt the many songbirds that were passing by the site during the first half of the day. After 1300 only one more migrant was seen, another juvenile Sharp-shinned Hawk at 1411, and that was it for the day: not even the resident Golden Eagles made an appearance. The songbirds were far more entertaining with singles of Warbling Vireo, MacGillivray's Warbler and Evening Grosbeak, and an adult and juvenile Brewer's Sparrow being recorded for the first time this season. The 61 Wilson's Warblers are a new single-day high count for the site, and other migrants included 2 Western Wood Pewees, 127 Red-breasted Nuthatches, 14 Golden-crowned Kinglets, 20 Ruby-crowned Kinglets, 4 Mountain Bluebirds, 8 Townsend's Solitaires, 56 American Robins, 1 Orange-crowned Warbler, 49 Yellow-rumped Warblers, 1 Townsend's Warbler, 2 Chipping Sparrows (the species has been remarkably scarce so far this season), 1 White-crowned Sparrow, 4 Dark-eyed Juncos, 1 Cassin's Finch, 68 White-winged Crossbills and 38 Pine Siskins. The Thirteen-lined Ground Squirrel made another appearance at the site and the brown Black Bear appears to have become a fixture to the northeast of the site. 11.25 hours (116.5) SSHA 10 (65), COHA 3 (11) TOTAL 13 (118)

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