[EBB Sightings] Crockett Hills 4/15 Raptor Census

April 15, 2007

Turkey Vulture 25
Red-tailed Hawk 198
Sharp-shinned Hawk 4
Cooper's Hawk 6
Northern Harrier 16
Am. Kestrel 3
Peregrine 0
White-tailed Kite 9
Golden Eagle 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 0
Merlin 1
Osprey 6
Unidentified Accip 3
Unidentified Buteo 1
Unidentified Falcon 1
Unidentified Raptor 12

Total Count: 286
Total Minutes: 240
Raptors per Hour: 71.5

Weather: Temp 61F-67F, Wind 300  at 5-10G15, Sky clear

Crew: Kanani Kauka, Laura Thomas, Janet Thiessen, Harv Wilson

Visitors: Today, EBB folks came to see the raptors. We had a total of 13
visitors. Visitors, please post your comments and suggestions here and let
us know what you think. 

I'll be out there Mon--Fri this week and Mon-Tues next week. Meet me at the
turn-out at 11 a.m. 

The species mix today was the most varied since beginning the census and
included  13 accipiters, 6 Ospreys, a Golden Eagle, and our first Merlin. 

Marci Nylander, one of our visitors, got some good pictures of the Ospreys
and the local dark-morph Red Tail. 

Ran the watch from 12:00 to 4:00 rather than 11:30 to 3:30. The count for
the first two hours was 90 and 95. The last two hours were 49 and 52.
Starting the watch later and a rising wind during the last two hours
probably contributed to the lower counts in these hours. 

The crew stayed focused on the census and did an excellent job, including
covering my sector all afternoon while I talked with visitors!

Harv Wilson