Hawk Hill in High Park - 369 raptors

[Anonymous]

Good evening guys.

 Today my plans were disrupted so I decided to head for Hawk Hill in High Park for some Raptor viewing and the following are MY UNOFFICIAL totals for the day.

- Turkey Vulture - 2
- Bald eagle - 2
- Sharp-shinned Hawk - 7
- Cooper's Hawk - 3
- Red-shouldered Hawk - 11
- Red-tailed Hawk - 337
- Rough-legged Hawk - 3
- Golden Eagle - 4

 Other birds observerd were 250+ American Robins on, over and around the hill with lots of singing birds, 2 very vocal Hairy Woodpeckers, Rusty and Red-winged Blackbirds, Cedar Waxwings, but only 1 Common Loon.

 Incidentally, the Cranbery Marsh Hawk watch had a total of 707 Raptors today. Shows the difference between the two areas when the winds cause the Raptors to migrate further south along the lake shore.

[Anonymous]

Just have to ask...337 Red Tails in 1 day?  That is a very big number!

Attila

[Anonymous]

No Attila not a very big number during migration at all.

Examples from past high counts that I was involved with over Hawk Hill in High Park.

- Oct.29, 1995 - 1268
- Oct.14, 1996 - 371
- Nov.08,1995 - 315
- Oct. 25,2006 - 640

As you can see. 337 is not out of line but in fact is a good number this time of year as the bulk of Red-tailed Hawks have already migrated through. You should try a visit to Hawk Hill next year.The count starts on Sept. 1st and runs through to Nov. 30th every year and unless it is pouring rain someone is on The Hill every day and they will also be there untill the end of this November.

Norm