[EBB Sightings] Crockett Hills 4/12 Raptor Census

April 12, 2007

Turkey Vulture 28
Red-tailed Hawk 265
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Cooper's Hawk 2
Northern Harrier 9
Am. Kestrel 3
Peregrine 0
White-tailed Kite 6
Golden Eagle 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 0
Osprey 2
Unidentified Accip 0
Unidentified Buteo 4
Unidentified Raptor 24

Total Count: 344
Total Minutes: 240
Raptors per Hour: 86.0

Temp 56F-67F, Wind 260 5-10, Sky clear

Crew: Harvey Wilson, Nina Wong, Leary Wong, Gary Palmer 

Nina and Gary are Golden Gate Raptor Observatory volunteers. 
Nina's husband Leary is new to hawk watching and did a great job.

Nina, Leary, Gary, and Laura Thomas (also a GGRO volunteer)have volunteered
to help next week. This will greatly improve the quality of the census. We
are now able to divide the site into manned sectors and are thus able to get
much better coverage. 

I have asked the crew to avoid double-counting as much as possible. If they
suspect that a pop-up has already been counted, we omit the bird from the
census. I estimate we are omitting 10%-15% of sightings. I have been doing
this consistently since beginning the census in March. 

The Northern Harrier count has been down for several days. So is the
accipiter count. The Kestrel count is beginning to increase.

Have identified 2 pairs of kites, 1 pair of harriers, and 2 pairs of Red
Tails (one bird is a dark morph) that have staked out territories and are
defending them against other raptors. Have seen one of the Red Tails
carrying nest materials. Have also identified a large stick-nest in a
cross-country tower about 3/4 mile to the south. Have seen raptors perching
on this tower. 

Harv Wilson