By Dan Casey
The fourteenth fall season of raptor migration at the Jewel Basin Hawk Watch got off to a great start, with 23 surveys conducted as of September 18th. We have counted 1,249 individuals of 17 species to date as the weather has mostly been forgiving and observers have spent more than 150 hours on site. Highlights of the first half of the season included higher than usual numbers of several species more common east of the mountains: two Ferruginous Hawks; six Swainson’s Hawks; 15 Prairie Falcons; and 38 Broad-winged Hawks. Josh Covill and Bo Crees had 30 Broad-wingeds on September 14th, a new one-day high for our site. (Watch live as counts are being made on the Jewel Basin Dunkadoo site.)
- Here are our season totals as of September – 18.
- Turkey Vulture – 3
- Osprey – 5
- Bald Eagle – 18
- Northern Harrier – 29
- Sharp-shinned Hawk – 561
- Cooper’s Hawk – 268
- Northern Goshawk – 11
- Unidentified Accipiter – 15
- Broad-winged Hawk – 38
- Swainson’s Hawk – 6
- Red-tailed Hawk – 153
- Ferruginous Hawk – 2
- Unidentified Buteo – 11
- Golden Eagle – 38
- American Kestrel – 47
- Merlin – 14
- Peregrine Falcon – 11
- Prairie Falcon – 15
- Unidentified Falcon – 2
- Unidentified Raptor – 2
TOTAL: 1,249