Tomorrow (Friday 9/25) should be good
UPDATE #2: Friday the 25th was by far the best day (numbers-wise) that I've ever had at Lighthouse Pt. We tallied over 2,800 hawks throughout the day including 1300+ Broad-wings and 1000+ Sharp-shinned Hawks. 15 Bald Eagles were also a highlight and tied the record single-day count for LHP. Twelve raptor species were seen at LHP and my Black Vultures along I-95 in the morning made for a personal baker's dozen on the day.
I had been there for a couple 1,200-or-so days before, but never anything like Friday. The moderate/strong North winds were to thank for the Broad-wing show, as LHP lies to the southeast of the main Broad-wing route, so strong winds are needed to push them that far to the southeast in any numbers. But amazingly even without the Broad-wings it would have been a personal LHP record.
Unfortunately we couldn't turn up anything really great like a Swainson's Hawk (one was seen by Paul Carrier in Burlington, CT that morning), but I'm not complaining after a show like that.
UPDATE: Here's a pic of the radar. Lit up like a Christmas tree.
[end update]
...for early-morning migrant passerines and for hawks later in the day. Tonight should be mostly clear and cooler (but not cold) with a northwest breeze. As a result, songbirds will be lighting up the radar tonight and should be plentiful in the morning at the typical migration traps. The forecast tomorrow is for a stiff North wind that should bring plenty of hawks past Lighthouse Point and Quaker Ridge. These windy days are when the coastal hawkwatches (i.e. Lighthouse Pt) really shine, as more birds are pushed against our east-west shoreline. I plan on taking a break from paper-writing and parking myself there tomorrow after an early morning of landbirding. I just hope there are enough clouds to help us find those specks in the sky.
- Nick
I had been there for a couple 1,200-or-so days before, but never anything like Friday. The moderate/strong North winds were to thank for the Broad-wing show, as LHP lies to the southeast of the main Broad-wing route, so strong winds are needed to push them that far to the southeast in any numbers. But amazingly even without the Broad-wings it would have been a personal LHP record.
Unfortunately we couldn't turn up anything really great like a Swainson's Hawk (one was seen by Paul Carrier in Burlington, CT that morning), but I'm not complaining after a show like that.
UPDATE: Here's a pic of the radar. Lit up like a Christmas tree.
...for early-morning migrant passerines and for hawks later in the day. Tonight should be mostly clear and cooler (but not cold) with a northwest breeze. As a result, songbirds will be lighting up the radar tonight and should be plentiful in the morning at the typical migration traps. The forecast tomorrow is for a stiff North wind that should bring plenty of hawks past Lighthouse Point and Quaker Ridge. These windy days are when the coastal hawkwatches (i.e. Lighthouse Pt) really shine, as more birds are pushed against our east-west shoreline. I plan on taking a break from paper-writing and parking myself there tomorrow after an early morning of landbirding. I just hope there are enough clouds to help us find those specks in the sky.
- Nick
Comments
Post a Comment