View from the Field: Hawkwatch - Wednesday, November 8, 2017

The weather finally feels like fall. Today we had refreshingly brisk winds out of the north as a ceiling of clouds covered the sky nearly all day long. The cool winds brought many birds and the clouds kept the migrating raptors low.

November is the time of fall for the larger raptors (bigger buteos and eagles) and unusual rarities. Today we had numerous looks at Cave Swallows, a southern swallow species coming up from at least the limits of Texas if not far south. One lone White-winged Dove was seen flying over our heads. This large dove species is another vagrant from the southern states. A very late Indigo Bunting was calling shortly after sunrise.

Red-throated Loons and Common Loons streamed back and forth, some low and some high overhead. Northern Gannets and mixed flocks of scoters rule the pelagic horizons. With this recent cold snap came Snow Geese and Tundra Swans from the far north. In addition to all of this excitement, we also had an impressively diverse raptor flight. Sharp-shinned Hawks and Red-shouldered Hawks were the most common raptors of the day. The first two raptors seen at sunrise were an American Kestrel and Northern Harrier. Later in the morning a Short-eared Owl was seen propelling itself through the air using its exaggeratedly buoyant wingbeats. Scope views of a juvenile Golden Eagle took place in the middle of the day.

Come see what migration is taking place at the hawkwatch! We're in the window of good migration potential for raptors and rare birds. Partly cloudy skies and temps in the upper 40's are expected for tomorrow. Bundle up and come scan the skies!