Oct 19 - Finally a *COLD* Front!...lots of hawks incl. GOLDEN EAGLE

This autumn migration has been a brutal one thus far for "classic" cold fronts in Connecticut, i.e. cold fronts that pack cold air in the form of NW wind. We've had some fronts bring cool weather, but very few have cleared with that classic NW wind. Instead we've had mostly NE or W wind. As a result this has been a down year for the Lighthouse Point (New Haven, CT) hawk watch and a dreadful year for the Bluff Point (Groton, CT) morning flight "hot corner."

Last week I was watching the weather for Sunday, as it was looking good for a hawk flight. Moderate-to-strong NW winds were forecast. A bit to my surprise (used to being disappointed this fall!) the forecast held true. We had a classic day for a coastal hawk flight with gusty NW winds pushing birds right to the coast.

In all, 1159 raptors of 13 species were tallied at the hawk watch, with the bonus of a fantastic flight of hundreds of Purple Finches and Pine Siskins. The bird of the day was a young GOLDEN EAGLE that passed over the park around 2:45pm. the first of the year for this location.

immature Golden Eagle



immature Golden Eagle (same as above)



immature Bald Eagle going away, for comparison



American Kestrel


Cooper's Hawk

Sharp-shinned Hawk (top) with Cooper's Hawk

Northern Harrier

 - NB

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