Golden Gate Raptor Observatory

Golden Gate Raptor Observatory HawkWatch Sightings 2004*

Click on a day to see HawkWatch Activity for that day.
Webmaster note: The Webmaster is a volunteer and on some days if the HawkWatch Today is late, it is because the Webmaster is in the field.

December

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
			1	2	3	4
5

November

October

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
					1	2
3	4	5	6	7	8	9
10	11	12	13	14	15	16
17	18	19	20	21	22	23
24	25	26	27	28	29	30
31

September

August

December 5, 2004

Last day of HawkWatch 2004!

First off, the Sunday II team should be given well-deserved recognition for their four-Falcon-and-a-Ferrug day two Sundays ago. I should also mention that they endured winds gusting upwards of 30 mph. Their intern was busy at 1064 that day making a specimen of some poor unfortunate Hawk at a skinning workshop and failed to post a make-up blog entry. According to the old-fashioned log, their stats for Sunday November 21 were: 483 total sightings at 80.5 hph, comprising 12 species.

The highlight today was probably the impromptu banding demo offered by a juv Harrier early on the morning. Sighting-wise, today wasn’t anything to write home about: a couple of nice RT kettles formed, male kestrels did some performance flying around Kirby cove, and some adult coops (including one Accipiter study bird) made appearances, and that’s about it. But the team was well-fed and therefore content. We were treated to chicken wings, veggies and pretzels with dip, fresh oranges, pumpkin bread, baklava, butternut squash soup, cookies, truffles, filo-dough thingies filled with spinach and those little rolled up sandwiches with tasty stuff inside. Other treats included wines, Raptor Red Lager and a sudden shift from Code 3 to Code 1 wind speeds around noon. If that cold wind had continued throughout the day, the HawkWatchers probably would not have been able to recognize each other under the all layers of clothing.

I guess the Rough-leg chants and dances didn’t work this season, nor did offers of pizza rewards. Perhaps next year we need to offer up rewards for the Hawks instead of the HawkWatchers. Ptarmigan turnovers? Lemming loaf? Well, let’s just say it’s one point for the RLs this year for cleverly evading us.

In any case, it’s been yet another fun season for many, a special new experience for others, and speaking for myself, an exciting, exhausting and enlightening one. I’m sure I’ve gotten more out of it than I’ve given. Being involved with this unique subculture has truly been unique and inspiring. I am impressed by the spunk and dedication of the diverse individuals who volunteer at the GGRO, and I consider it a privilege to have witnessed the miraculous mechanism that they’ve made possible. Cheers to the staff and fellow interns past and present that somehow keep it ticking year after year!

Thanks to you all for caring enough about our natural world to make “citizen science” possible. And thanks for making me a part of it.

Over and out.

Hayley Ross

Daily HawkCount
(data have not been entirely checked contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture 89
White-tailed Kite 1
Northern Harrier 13

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk 3
Cooper’s Hawk 4

Buteos & Aquila
Red-tailed Hawk 114

Falcons
American Kestrel 9

Unidentified
Accipiter 2
Raptor 2

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 237
Rate of sightings: 39.5 hph
# Species seen: 7

Fly to the Top

Date: December 4, 2004

The end is upon us! The exhausting journey from quadrant to quadrant to quadrant to quadrant to…haven't I been in this quadrant before? Or in the case of this team, watching the fog and rain from Fort Cronkhite will have to continue elsewhere. But we did get on the hill for the entire day today! It was nice to be on the hill with this team. We saw many juvenile Harriers taking turns circling the hill. We even saw what could be termed "kettles" of Red-tails this morning.

So many kudos for all of those that contributed to the smorgasbord! Every time I walked back to the center of the hill I found another delicious dish. We also had good conversations, watched a few Red-tails now and then, and kept track of Coast Guard and Ranger activities. You may not be sure if Big Brother is watching, but you can be assured that if you're in the vicinity of Hawk Hill than HawkWatch is! Well, until the season is over, anyhow.

Until the birds have come again, no one is safe.

Well, maybe you will be. In the past couple of weeks, some volunteers have asked me and my fellow interns what our plans are. Once I am forced to leave the warm nest at the GGRO I will end up camping on Hawk Hill. I vow I will not come down from that Hill until a Rough-legged is seen! Thank you GGRO Hawk Watchers for training me, keeping me entertained and fattening me up for this mission. Happy off-season bird watching and keep on rockin' like Vultures!

-Kerry Neijstrom

Daily Food Count (Food has not been entirely eaten - contact members of the team for leftovers)

Drinks
Bloody Mary's
Red Tail Ale
Coffee

Deserts:
Cookies
Lemon bars
Baklava

Breads:
French
Pumpkin
Ginger

Other:
Chips and bean dip
Soup (warm!)
Quesadillas
Chicken
Cheese snips
Quiche

Daily HawkCount
(data have not been entirely checked -contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture - 71
White-tailed Kite - 2
Northern Harrier - 9

Accipiters
none

Buteos & Aquila
Red-tailed Hawk - 91

Falcons
American Kestrel - 5
Peregrine Falcon - 1

Unidentified
We identified everything

Daily HawkWrap
Sightings: 179
Rate of sightings: 32.55 hph
# Species seen: 6

Fly to the Top

Date: December 3, 2004

I never thought I'd have as good of a last day on the hill as I did. We didn't see too many birds...aside from the usual Red-tails and TVs. We spotted some Red-shoulders and a few Sharpies and Coops. We had some great food...including some salmon that Linda made. It's funny...the Golden-crowned Sparrows seemed to like the salmon too..who would've thought! A few of them actually perched up on the side of the salmon dish and decided to take a few morsels away. One small note...we ended with a pizza on the hill today. Unfortunately, it wasn't because we saw an actual Roughleg. However, we did get a flash of a Roughleg out of the Sibley guide. We had quite a few visitors on the hill .... HawkWatchers mainly...that helped us count due to the small size of our team. Thanks to those extra HawkWatchers. This will be my last weblog. It was a great season and a pleasure to be on Hawk Hill with all of you. Thank you for all the kindness and good natured fun! GGRO rocks!

-Rachel

Daily HawkCount (data have not been entirely checked contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture-51
White-tailed Kite-5
Northern Harrier-8

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk-3
Cooper's Hawk-2

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk-4
Red-tailed Hawk-189

Falcons
American Kestrel-3

Unidentified
Buteo-6

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 271
Rate of sightings: 49.27 hph
# Species seen: 8

Fly to the Top

December 2, 2004

Thursday II and the Blustery Day.

The day went like this: Yawn…shiver…yawn…stretch…Turkey Vulture…Dang it’s cold…Juv RT…Turkey Vulture…is it noon yet? Can we break open that bottle of wine?…Juv RT…Juv RT…Harrier…Mmmm wild mushroom pate…Juv RT…Juv RT…Juv RT…PRAIRIE FALCON!…

What, you say you picked those wild mushrooms yourself?

No, really, we saw a Prairie Falcon today. But only after having toughed out a wicked chilly AM. Hour after freezing hour of the morning passed by with the occasional TV and Red-tail and plenty of wine, sparkling cider, the aforementioned wild mushroom pate, tuna salad, and brie all with crackers. And turkey, fresh pineapples, lentil salad and sourdough date rolls. Yum yum.

For dessert we had the 1-2PM hour. Not only did this hour bring a slight (though EVER so slight) warming trend, but it brought much needed variety to the day: a pair of mismatched Accipiters, a Red-Shoulder and, yes, a Prairie Falcon. There had been earlier a few Kestrels, someone saw a Merlin somewhere, and the Golden Gate Bridge sentinel Peregrines dots were on their post, so when the Prairie Falcon soared over the hill amongst the confusion of the increasing number of RTs, we nailed a late-season Four-Falcon day. Not too shabby. Incidentally, Allen Fish was leading a special tour at this very hour, so it is suspect that Prairie may have been contracted for a hefty fee. But that’s just idle speculation.

The rest of the day was pretty much bumper-to-bumper Juvenile Red-tails flying hither and thither around the hill and giggling at how it made our heads spin. Didn’t know that Hawks giggle? Ask Buzz.

Haley Ross

Daily HawkCount
(data have not been entirely checked contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture-74
White-tailed Kite-3
Northern Harrier-13

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk-1
Cooper’s Hawk-1

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk-1
Red-tailed Hawk-307

Falcons
American Kestrel-5
Merlin 2
Peregrine Falcon-2
Prairie Falcon-1

Unidentified
Buteo-2
Raptor-2

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 415
Rate of sightings: 75.45 hph
# Species seen: 11

Fly to the Top

Date: December 1, 2004

Hot corn chowder, sweet rosemary bread, crusty sourdough loaf, apple and bleu cheese and romaine and pecan salad, Chinese (chicken or no chicken) salad, spicy tuna salad, several bottles of special grape juice, Italian liquor cake, and brownies. The Wednesday 2 HawkWatch team finished up the season by alternating watching for birds and watching forkfuls of food enter their mouths. The good food, the warm sun on our backs, and the slow cool breeze off the bay lulled us into a contented HawkWatching state. The fabulous feast culminated in a wonderful opportunity to see a Red-Tail up close and personal.

Thanks for a great season, Wednesday 2 team!

Susan Culliney

Daily HawkCount
(data have not been entirely checked –contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture-40
White-tailed Kite-2
Northern Harrier-14

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk-1

Buteos & Aquila
Red-tailed Hawk-65

Falcons
American Kestrel-4
Peregrine Falcon-2

Unidentified
Buteo-3

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 131 Rate of sightings: 26.2 hph
# Species seen:7

Fly to the Top

Date: November 30, 2004

The last Tuesday II HawkWatch. I was amazed to see what a production the last day has become. You would've thought you were watching a trail of refugees as Doris pointed out coming up to the hill. Everyone was carrying something over their shoulder or in a cart or wagon of some kind. It was like visiting a smorgasbord. There was wine, pie, chili, grape leaves, chips, salsa, guacamole, salmon, veggies, salad etc. etc. The list goes on and on. I was so full at the end of the day that I felt like I was going to burst. Everybody was in high spirits today...who knows if it was the actual spirits that were making us so giddy but we spotted some really great birds today...before the adult beverages were passed out. We watched a juvenile Ferruginous Hawk make its way over the midspan of the bridge towards North Slacker as well as a Merlin on a mission past the north quadrant. We all had a great look at the Ferrug and saw three distinct points of light...it was fabulous. We saw quite a few light Red-tailed Hawks....one bird was almost completely white on its ventral side but with distinct patagials, hood and dark commas at the wrists. Everything else was white with a distinct trailing edge. We had an adult Red-shouldered Hawk fly right over the hill. This particular bird had an awesome contrast of red, white and black throughout its body...it was very easy to tell it was an adult...it was one of those sightings that almost hits you right between the eyes because the ID is so apparent. Thanks Tuesday II for a great season.

-Rachel

(Data have not been entirely checked- contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other:
Turkey Vulture-65
White-tailed Kite-1
Northern Harrier-20

Accipiters:
Sharp-shinned Hawk-2
Cooper's Hawk-1

Buteos & Aguila:
Red-shouldered Hawk-1
Red-tailed Hawk-144
Ferruginous Hawk- 1

Falcons:
American Kestrel- 3
Merlin-2
Peregrine Falcon-1

Unidentified:
Accipiter:3
Buteo:3
Raptor:4

Daily HawkWrap:
Sightings: 251
Rate of sightings: 47.81 hph
# Species seen: 11

Fly to the Top

November 29, 2004

Monday II said good-bye to the season on a crispy clear fall day with not-too-strong but steady and chilly southeast winds. A distant young Golden Eagle and a very impressive close up Ferruginous Hawk graced our presence. The Ferrug showed up around 2:15 while the team was busy figuring out how many JRTs were soaring around with a big group of ravens just over west quadrant (there were 5). It glided in from the west, circled around over Rocky Ridge, took off through the gap in front of north quadrant and then hung a left and headed straight for Tiburon. Our spread of snacks, including chips and guac, brie and sourdough baguette, muffins, and HOT chocolate kept us going throughout the rest of the relatively slow day. The most important thing to remember about this day aside from the Ferrug or course was the HOT chocolate.

Daily HawkCount
(data have not been entirely checked contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture 71
White-tailed Kite 1
Northern Harrier 13

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk 3
Cooper’s Hawk 4

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk 5
Red-tailed Hawk 114
Ferruginous Hawk 1
Golden Eagle 1

Falcons
American Kestrel 3

Unidentified
Buteo 1
Falcon 1
Raptor 5

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 223
Rate of sightings: 40.6 hph
# Species seen: 10

Fly to the Top

Date: November 28, 2004

Chocolate torte, brownies, pumpkin pie, cranberry nut bread, humus and cheese, crackers and dip, granola bars (a.k.a. raven snacks), wasabi peas, cranberry juice...and, oh yeah, there were some Hawks now and then.

For the last Sunday I HawkWatch, the Raptor activity was low, though the wind activity was high. We clocked the gusts in the north quadrant at 23mph with a wind chill of 28 degrees, thus proving we had a reason to feel like our faces were frozen! It was perfect Rough-legged weather, but, alas, there were no appropriately dressed Buteos in the air. All the smooth legged Hawks in the sky must have had cold tarsi. As for the HawkWatchers, we were freezing our own Buteos off! Thanks for a great season.

Susan Culliney

Daily HawkCount

(data have not been entirely checked -contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture-84
White-tailed Kite-1
Northern Harrier-6

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk-4

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk-6
Red-tailed Hawk-111

Falcons
American Kestrel-9

Unidentified
Raptor-2

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 223
Rate of sightings: 49.56 hph
# Species seen: 7

Fly to the Top

Date: November 27, 2004

Well, with much sadness we ended Saturday I HawkWatch today. The day was really a good one. We started out thinking that we were going to get rained out but somehow the weather took a turn for the better and we ended up with some sunshine. The wind was whipping through the north quadrant as usual but was bringing in birds left and right. We watched a couple of Peregrines near Middle Kingdom stooping on each other. We figured it might be the north bridge tower pair attacking a foreign visitor. We had a great look at a Ferruginous Hawk over the FM towers and followed it until it reached the middle of Slacker saddle and then it ambled out of sight. No pizza birds today but we did have a visit from another intern to the hill bearing a special gift....a Northern Harrier. We were blessed with an impromptu banding demo at the end of the day. Thanks so much for that Kerry! We ended our counting with an Osprey and a Merlin....pretty sweet. Thanks so much to the team and to our esteemed dayleader. You made it a great season.

-Rachel

Daily HawkCount
(data have not been entirely checked contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture-162
Osprey-1
White-tailed Kite-2
Northern Harrier-25

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk-4
Cooper's Hawk-4

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk -2
Red-tailed Hawk-132
Ferruginous Hawk-1

Falcons
American Kestrel-11
Merlin-1
Peregrine Falcon-9

Unidentified
Buteo-6
Raptor-2

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 362
Rate of sightings: 65.81 hph
# Species seen:12

Fly to the Top

Date: November 26, 2004

It must have been all that tryptophan from the turkey that kept all the birds away. I'm sure they were all slumbering somewhere cozy while we were busy searching for them in every little nook and cranny of the Headlands freezing our hineys off. Seriously! Where have all the birds gone? It's quite a mystery. We did have a good last time on the hill for Friday I. We counted a lot of RTHA's and TV's for the day but managed to see a Merlin, a Peregrine and a few Northern Harriers. I could easily count the Accips on one hand practically. We watched a Red-tail go into an awesome death-defying stoop at Hawk blind. WOW! Thanks to the Friday I team for everything! You guys helped make it a great season on the hill!

-Rachel

(Internette #2)

Daily HawkCount
(data have not been entirely checked contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture-107
White-tailed Kite-2
Northern Harrier-14

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk-3
Cooper's Hawk-2

Buteos & Aquila
Red-tailed Hawk-48

Falcons
American Kestrel-2
Merlin-1
Peregrine Falcon-1

Unidentified
Accipiter-2

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 182
Rate of sightings: 37.02 hph
# Species seen: 9

Fly to the Top

November 25, 2004 - Thanksgiving

No report filed.

Fly to the Top

Date: November 24, 2004

Bagels and cream cheese, smoked salmon, pepper kettle chips, pumpkin muffins, donut holes, tortilla chips and dip, Peet’s Coffee, and a box of mixed nuts (aka Wednesday 2 HawkWatchers). The food sprawled over the middle of the hill, and we made trips between our quadrant and the decadent display, feasting upon the goodies. In between bites of salmon laden bagels, we followed big boiling kettles of red tails around the sky.

The bright hazy day ended with a cardboard rough legged sighting! It appeared to be the elusive and little known subspecies, Buteo lagopus fishensis. The bird, oddly staying within a sky-blue cutout square, hovered over Hawk Blind, astonishing banders and HawkWatchers alike, before disappearing over the horizon. Truly this deserves a pizza, or at least a picture of a pizza!

Susan Culliney

Daily HawkCount
(data have not been entirely checked –contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture - 44
White-tailed Kite - 1
Northern Harrier - 16

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 5
Cooper’s Hawk - 6

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk - 5
Red-tailed Hawk - 198
Cardboard Rough-legged Hawk - 1

Falcons
American Kestrel - 2
Merlin - 1
Peregrine Falcon - 4

Unidentified
Accipiter - 3
Raptor - 1

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 286
Rate of sightings: 57.2 hph
# Species seen: 10

Fly to the Top

Date: November 23, 2004

The most extraordinary thing about the day was our terrific team. Awww. Yeah, that’s a little too cute. However, everyone on this team is great and I’ll miss you guys. We had a relaxing day in terms of raptor sightings although we were all hyper on sugar and coffee.

Cookies have been proven by scientists to improve vision for bird watching. (But these may be the same scientists who claim there’s no global climate change occurring).

We didn’t see a huge number of birds, but we did see an Osprey, some Falcons and some kettles of Red-tails. Or are those the same Tails kettling? Only the Ravens know.

Peace,
Kerry

Daily HawkCount
(data have not been entirely checked –contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other Turkey Vulture - 84
Osprey - 1
White-tailed Kite - 1
Northern Harrier - 13
Allen Fish - 1

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 7
Cooper’s Hawk - 2

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk - 2
Red-tailed Hawk - 138

Falcons
American Kestrel - 12
Merlin - 1
Peregrine Falcon - 3

Unidentified
Accipiter - 3
Buteo - 4
Falcon - 1
Raptor - 1

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 273
Rate of sightings: 49.6 hph
# Species seen: 11

Fly to the Top

November 22, 2004

Doughnuts, humus and pita bread and crackers, Israeli orzo salad, pizza (non RLHA), roast chicken, bubbly, bagels and cream cheese and lox, custard tarts...what? what did you say? Oh that's right! we're supposed to be making a list of HAWKS we see! Well, the food was mildly distracting.

A juvie Golden Eagle and Hawk Hill had a near miss, the bird started out at Hill 88, went down Sausalito ridge, over to Slacker saddle, then made a beeline to Hawk Hill, right through the north quadrant, zoomed into the west quadrant and disappeared behind the trees. We later saw it over Hill 88 again.

Three cheers for Monday 1 team! Thanks for a wonderful season everyone! And for the next two weeks, bring on the farewell picnics and feathered legged visitors from the north!

Susan Culliney

Daily HawkCount
(data have not been entirely checked –contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture-80
Osprey-1
White-tailed Kite-2
Northern Harrier-25

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk-15
Cooper’s Hawk-4

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk-1
Red-tailed Hawk-133
Golden Eagle-1

Falcons
American Kestrel-10
Merlin-1

Peregrine Falcon-1
Unidentified
Accipiter-3
Buteo-2 Falcon-1

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 281
Rate of sightings: 46.7 hph
# Species seen: 12

Fly to the Top

November 21, 2004

No report filed today.

Fly to the Top

November 20, 2004

Crystal clear skies and a light east wind bending to north by day's end brought a total of 372 Raptor sightings. Lots of Redtails still, but we're down to a handful of each small Accipiter. No Roughlegs yet, although they've been down to our latitude - at Grizzly Island - already. High points today were 4 Merlins, an adult Harlan's Hawk (a coal-black Redtail subspecies), and a dark morph Ferruginous Hawk, along with zounds (a British measure translating to just over 200) Redtails.

Amazingly, the final two-week cycle of the 2004 GGRO HawkWatch Season starts on Monday the 22nd. Dec 5th is our last day of counting. Come join us that Sunday on Hawk Hill for potluck food and drink, and the 2004 migration send-off. Thanks to our finger-flying interns -- Kerry Neijstrom, Rachel Norris, Susan Culliney, and Hayley Ross - for their flying fingers on these web-reports. And thanks for following our migration-blogs these past four months.

Peace -- Allen Fish

Daily HawkCount
(data have not been entirely checked -contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture 69
Osprey
White-tailed Kite 2
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier 18

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk 20
Cooper's Hawk 7
Northern Goshawk

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk 4 Broad-winged Hawk
Swainson's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk 227 including 1 ad Harlans
Ferruginous Hawk 1 dark morph!!
Rough-legged Hawk
Golden Eagle

Falcons
American Kestrel 9
Merlin 4
Peregrine Falcon 2
Prairie Falcon

Unidentified
Accipiter 9
Buteo
Eagle
Falcon
Raptor

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 372
Rate of sightings: 62 hph
# Species seen: 10

Fly to the Top

DATE: November 19, 2004

If anyone ever thought they had a small team for HawkWatch ...think again. We had four people on the hill today with an intermingling of visitors who just happened to know Raptors. Who would have thought we could ever have a fish sighting on the hill being so high above water...With the help of two particular irregulars we pulled the count together...thanks a million you guys! We had two very odd things happen on the hill. First was the sighting of a parrot of some kind being chased by one of the bridge Peregrines. The second was a tad on the sad side. A Broad-winged Hawk was spotted over North Slacker with a broken wing. The flight pattern was quite irregular which drew our attention towards it and we watched it perch on the ground for a bit and then rise up again and disappear into the distance. Hopefully he makes it to Mexico. On a lighter note, we saw two juvenile Golden Eagles in the same field of view. It gives me shivers every time I think about it. They are such wonderful birds! Besides the lack of team, the birds were fantastic. No pizza bird yet...I bet they'll get it tomorrow. A particular fish seems to have really good luck.

-Rachel

Daily HawkCount
(data have not been entirely checked contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture-96
Osprey
White-tailed Kite-2
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier-23

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk-17
Cooper's Hawk-6
Northern Goshawk

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk -1
Broad-winged Hawk-1
Swainson's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk-303
Ferruginous Hawk
Rough-legged Hawk
Golden Eagle-2

Falcons American Kestrel-4
Merlin-1
Peregrine Falcon-1
Prairie Falcon

Unidentified Accipiter-2
Buteo-2
Eagle
Falcon-1
Raptor-1

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 322
Rate of sightings: 53.6 hph
# Species seen: 11

Fly to the Top

November 18, 2004

Hawk Hill was the only place in the bay area not covered in fog today, so we enjoyed clear sunny weather, but limited visibility. The Hawk count started out pretty busily, with Northeast breezes, lots of RTs piling up and spilling over the hill, and several Accipiter ID studies to keep us busy. But the last 3 hours of HawkWatch were slow, slow, slow. Slight to nonexistent winds came from the South. Highlights for the day were a last minute Peregrine on the fast track through south quadrant and over the Golden Gate, and an adult female Northern Harrier perched on Rocky Ridge in the west quadrant. Earlier in the morning, we saw and heard hundreds of white-throated swifts all over the hill. Try as we might, we could not convince our recorder that we’d seen a Rough-leg, because, well, we hadn’t. Reliable sources say that RLs have been seen of late in the Solano County area, so don’t give up hope!

Hayley

Daily HawkCount
(data have not been entirely checked contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture 48
White-tailed Kite 3
Northern Harrier 20

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk 12
Cooper’s Hawk 2

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk 2
Red-tailed Hawk 173

Falcons
American Kestrel 6
Merlin 1
Peregrine Falcon 1

Unidentified
Accipiter 1
Falcon 3
Raptor 3

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 275
Rate of sightings: 45.8 hph
# Species seen: 10

Fly to the Top

Hawkwatch Today: November 17, 2004

ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS were not seen today. We started the beautiful morning off complaining that it was very slow despite a strong wind from the East. The lesson I learned was: complain, and you shall receive.

The day and the birds picked up quickly. They didn’t stop flowing until late in the afternoon. In one magical hour, the 2-3 hour, we had 90 Red-tails, 1 Peregrine, 1 Kestrel, 1 Merlin and 2 BWBs (big white birds, aka Ferruginous Hawks). Well, it was closer to 3 BWBs, since 1 Red-tail had an unusual white pattern on its primaries.

On the ride back to Fort Cronkhite, we complained that we didn’t see any Red-shoulders. Again, the complaining thing worked for us. In two different places along the road we spotted radiant adult Red-shoulders perched on power poles.

I need to do some more complaining about not seeing a ROUGH-LEGGED.

Warmed at 70 degrees,

Kerry Neijstrom (haha New Yorkers!)

Daily HawkCount
(data have not been entirely checked –contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture - 105
Osprey - 1
White-tailed Kite - 2
Northern Harrier - 13

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 46
Cooper’s Hawk - 4

Buteos & Aquila
Red-tailed Hawk - 243
Ferruginous Hawk - 2

Falcons
American Kestrel - 7
Merlin - 3
Peregrine Falcon - 2

Unidentified
Accipiter - 5
Buteo - 2
Falcon -2
Raptor - 2

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 439
Rate of sightings: 439 hph
# Species seen: 11

Fly to the Top

November 16, 2004

Daily HawkCount
(data have not been entirely checked -contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture-108
Osprey
White-tailed Kite-1
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier-18

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk-13
Cooper's Hawk-5
Northern Goshawk

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk
Broad-winged Hawk
Swainson's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk-106
Ferruginous Hawk
Rough-legged Hawk
Golden Eagle

Falcons
American Kestrel-4
Merlin-1 Peregrine Falcon-3
Prairie Falcon

Unidentified
Accipiter-7
Buteo-3
Eagle
Falcon
Raptor-2

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 271
Rate of sightings: 45.17 hph
# Species seen: 9

Fly to the Top

November 15, 2004

No report filed.

Fly to the Top

Date: November 14, 2004

Sunday 1 team was finally rewarded with a bright sunny day. The haze that covered the East Bay could not darken our spirits. The breeze was a little chilly, but not nearly cold enough to warrant covered shoes. We had a lively day with Hawks flying by regularly, plenty of savory and sweet snacks, and good company. Next time is our last! C’mon teams, let’s bring in a Roughie! Tempt that northern visitor with a hot pizza pie.

Susan Culliney

Daily HawkCount

(data have not been entirely checked –contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture-185
White-tailed Kite-1
Northern Harrier-25

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk-35
Cooper’s Hawk-16

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk-4
Red-tailed Hawk-131

Falcons
American Kestrel-14
Merlin-3
Peregrine Falcon-3

Unidentified
Accipiter-10
Buteo-1
Raptor-1

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 426
Rate of sightings: 71 hph
# Species seen: 10

Fly to the Top

Date: November 13, 2004

So, I bet everyone is wondering....did they see the Roughlegg yet? The answer to that question is...well...you guessed it....no. However, we were presented with another fabulous bird that made up for the void we felt from the lack of Roughlegg....a juvenile Bald Eagle. The weather was beautiful, warm and sunny finally. It makes me think about how cold my family and friends probably are back in Michigan while I'm living it up in sunny California in the winter...they must be freezing. Anyway, we had a perfect day with a ton of birds. We've been due for a big day. Some other highlights were the Merlins, Peregrines, a couple dark morph Red-tailed Hawks, Red-shoulders, Sharpies and Coops. It felt almost like a peak day today, minus hundreds of Accips flying around.

-Rachel

Daily HawkCount
(data have not been entirely checked contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture-187
Osprey-0
White-tailed Kite-2
Bald Eagle-1
Northern Harrier-28

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk-19
Cooper's Hawk-6
Northern Goshawk-0

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk -13
Broad-winged Hawk-0
Swainson's Hawk-0
Red-tailed Hawk-201
Ferruginous Hawk-0
Rough-legged Hawk-0
Golden Eagle-0

Falcons
American Kestrel-6
Merlin-5
Peregrine Falcon-4
Prairie Falcon-0

Unidentified
Accipiter-5
Buteo-7
Eagle-0
Falcon-1
Raptor-2

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 487
Rate of sightings: 81.2 hph
# Species seen: 11

Fly to the Top

Daily HawkCount - November 12, 2004

(Disclaimer: there is no Owl Watch at Hawk Hill …. yet…..)

A friendly tip to other teams, if you want to see raptors, it is highly advisable that you look for them when it is not raining. Sorry, I couldn't resist. Today, with sunny skies, we heard our opportunity knocking. We also heard Red-tails kerring and Peregrines kakking right above our heads!

Those who missed coming up to the hill missed donuts and Red-tails of all sorts of flavors. Some had Red-tails, some had sprinkles of rufous and others were chocolate flavored. One even came in vanilla. Well, its head was very light and had very dainty patagial marks. Not to be outdone, the donuts came in different flavors too.

In addition to our 12 dark morph Red-tail sightings, we also savored some falcons, Harriers and a few Accipiters. I heard someone yelling about a very big Accipiter, and I was fully prepared to feast my eyes on a Goshawk. But it was only a beefy Cooper’s Hawk.

Another day, maybe. Oh, and speaking of unusual sightings, did anyone else see that gorgeous Gyrfalcon fly by? Or was that when I had dosed off as it started to get dark at 3 o’clock? Next time I’ll pay attention so that the Owl Watch people don’t have to wake me up.

~ Kerry Neijstrom

(data have not been entirely checked –contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture - 94
White-tailed Kite - 1
Northern Harrier - 13

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 19
Cooper’s Hawk - 7

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk - 3
Red-tailed Hawk - 221
Rough-legged Hawk – big fat 0

Falcons

American Kestrel - 6
Merlin - 2
Peregrine Falcon - 5
Gyrfalcon – 1 in my dreams

Unidentified
Accipiter - 1
Buteo - 1
Falcon - 3
Raptor - 4

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 380
Rate of sightings: 63.3 hph
# Species seen: 10

Fly to the Top

Date: November 11, 2004

Rained out!

Fly to the Top

Date: November 10, 2004

Rained out!

Fly to the Top

Date: November 9, 2004

Our complete count for today was made up of 60% Turkey Vultures. Now if that doesn't tell you how the day went then I don't know what will. We had no COHA's or Red-shoulders today. Probably the most excitement we had on the hill was watching the Peregrines on the bridge dive bomb a foreign juvenile Peregrine. Edgar and Allen are still awaiting a certain black-dot specialists return to the hill for more peanuts. That's all for now....better luck tomorrow!

-Rachel

Daily HawkCount
(data have not been entirely checked contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture-125
Osprey-0
White-tailed Kite-2
Bald Eagle-0
Northern Harrier-20

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk-7
Cooper's Hawk-0
Northern Goshawk-0

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk -0
Broad-winged Hawk-0
Swainson's Hawk-0
Red-tailed Hawk-47
Ferruginous Hawk-0
Rough-legged Hawk-0
Golden Eagle-0

Falcons
American Kestrel-4
Merlin-0
Peregrine Falcon-4
Prairie Falcon-0

Unidentified
Accipiter-2
Buteo-0
Eagle-0
Falcon-0
Raptor-0

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 211
Rate of sightings: 35.17 hph
# Species seen: 7

Fly to the Top

November 8, 2004

Weren't nuthin' doin' today. To give you an idea, just one bird tilted the team towards one quadrant for a look-see, and it was a Hermit Thrush. We did drive up to a promising sight -- two Peregrines flying charismatically about Kirby Cove and over Hawk Hill -- but that was about all the excitement we could expect for the day.

The weather was chilly and overcast and the winds stayed in the SW. After we enjoyed the usual opening performances of our local Harriers, RTs and TVs, we then used up all our good-humored quips about "keeping up with all the Hawks" and of our new jobs on "Bay Watch." Around the time the drizzling started, most team members must have resembled bored, caged animals, fidgeting and pacing in our quadrants. Our wise and benevolent dayleader cut us loose around 1:30.

Next time, there will be birds, oh yes, there will be birds. And even if there aren't, we'll have food! (Hard to believe the season's winding up and teams are already planning that last day potluck!)

Check out these ASTOUNDING numbers!

Hayley

Daily HawkCount
(data have not been entirely checked contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture 33
White-tailed Kite 1
Northern Harrier 10

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk 5
Cooper’s Hawk 1

Buteos & Aquila
Red-tailed Hawk 26

Falcons
American Kestrel 2
Peregrine Falcon 5

Daily HawkWrap
Sightings: 83
Rate of sightings: 21 hph
# Species seen: 8

Fly to the Top

November 7, 2004

Today started out with a bang as kettle after kettle boiled over with dozens of Red-tails (mostly juvs, of course). They were truly spectacular to behold, and a bit of a challenge to keep track of as they rose and fell, in an out of our range of vision, and then exploded in different directions. Also in the RT department were a good handful of lovely “speckle-bellies.”

The action simmered down in the afternoon, when our most taxing task was watching what I like to call the “traveling Circus” isn’t that the same juvenile Harrier we just counted? One never can assume we did see two together, much to our surprise, in the last hour.

Weather-wise, one could not complain: the air was cool but the sky was mostly clear. Winds were from the South most of the day, however, and when they did shift to the Northwest in the afternoon, they didn’t bring us anything but numb noses and froze toeses.

I’m starting to recall the movie “Waiting for Guffman” as the days go by and we all get more and more anxious for the legendary Rough-leg and Goshawk to show up so we can dazzle them with the hawk-watching skills we’ve been rehearsing all season. But, hey, don’t get me wrong; “glam-bird” or not, a day on the hill is always a pleasure, and the Sunday II team had a very happy one today.

Hayley

Daily HawkCount
(data have not been entirely checked contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture 70
White-tailed Kite 1
Northern Harrier 26

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk 26
Cooper’s Hawk 8

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk 6
Red-tailed Hawk 211

Falcons
American Kestrel 8v Merlin 3
Peregrine Falcon 4

Unidentified
Accipiter 5
Raptor 5

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 373
Rate of sightings: 62.17 hph
# Species seen: 10

Fly to the Top

Saturday, November 06, 2004

Daily HawkCount
No official count due to fog, yes, fog, just like September.

Daily HawkWrap
The fog played peekaboo with us on the Hill today, so we never made it there. We settled in at the Annex - a turnout along Conzelman Road above Kirby Cove, and saw dozens of hawks in three hours - Redtails, Shoulders, Accipiters, Kesses, Vultures, and . . . one juv Broadwing, which MAY have been the rehabbed Broadie we released in Rodeo Valley two days ago. (This bird was in captivity for the previous month due to a run-in with a car in SF on Oct. 4th.) We also got close looks at a coyote and mock-fighting bucks, and - unusual for Hawk Hill area - four American Crows. Hawk Hill closed in again by 1:15 PM and we called it quits not soon after.

- Allen Fish

Fly to the Top

Saturday, November 05, 2004

No report filed.

Fly to the Top

November 4, 2004

This count brought to you entirely by the fearless Thursday II HawkWatchers, minus their intern. I stayed off the hill most of the day because I'm a wimp and can't seem to fight off this darn cold. The extremely chilly and windy conditions the HawkWatchers put up with today seemed an unwise remedy. I paid my penance for wimpiness by missing out on a viewing of a juvenile dark morph Ferruginous Hawk! The HawkWatchers probably felt at least a psychological raise in temperature at the sight of the deliciously unusual sighting. Other than that, the count was a bit on the scanty side, but boasted pretty good diversity with 8 species. Red-tail numbers were high, Merlin and Peregrine helpings were pretty generous, but Accips were few and far between.

By the way, regarding that "5-Goshawk day" on Monday...I've sent the Blog report out for analysis and it seems that the error was entirely mine, contrary to my hopes that hackers from outer space were attempting to alter Earth's scientific data and had somehow stumbled upon the GGRO web page. My first instinct is to laugh and say "I meant to do that," as if that would make me sound clever instead of careless, but then I realize that such a joke would probably get me beat up and/or fired, so, let's just leave it at a typo, shall we?

Oops.

Hayley

Daily HawkCount
(data have not been entirely checked -contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture 75
White-tailed Kite 2
Northern Harrier 12

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk 23
Cooper's Hawk 1

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk 3
Red-tailed Hawk 184
Ferruginous Hawk 1

Falcons
American Kestrel 6
Merlin 2
Peregrine Falcon 7

Unidentified
Accipiter 4
Buteo 2
Raptor 2

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 324
Rate of sightings: 54 hph
# Species seen: 11

Fly to the Top

November 3, 2004

The storm is coming! After a nice day filled with hawks, the raptor activity slowed to a halt. Instead, we turned our attention to watching the bolts of lightning in the north saddle instead. Fantastic light show! Then we thought about the network of metal that runs through hawk hill and made a quick exit down the mountain. Now, safe in building 1064, we can hear the thunder outside.

Before the weather drama, we had a number of interesting birds, most of them were very high and we needed to keep looking over our heads to notice those passing Hawk-spots For unusual birds, we had a Ferrug go high over head, a Golden Eagle out at Hill 88, as well as a couple Merlins and Peregrines.

Susan Culliney

Daily HawkCount
(data have not been entirely checked –contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture-77
White-tailed Kite-2
Northern Harrier-10

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk-20
Cooper’s Hawk-14

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk-2
Red-tailed Hawk-133
Ferruginous Hawk-1
Golden Eagle-1

Falcons
American Kestrel-6
Merlin-3
Peregrine Falcon-5

Unidentified
Accipiter-5
Buteo-10
Falcon-4
Raptor-9

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 299
Rate of sightings: 54.36 hph
# Species seen: 12

Fly to the Top

Date: November 2, 2004

I'd have to say that Merlins are one of the most magical Raptors around without sounding too corny. Somehow they dive and twist through the air almost effortlessly and can catch dragonflies and small birds on the wing. We've been pretty lucky seeing so many lately. We had a total of nine for the day. We barely saw any Peregrines...only our resident couple on the bridge. I heard a rumor that a Prairie Falcon was in our midst but we didn't have any luck finding it. There were however a couple of Kestrels that seemed to be harassing each other along Rocky Ridge all day long. No Roughlegs either...I'm still waiting for the big day....

-Rachel

Daily HawkCount
(data have not been entirely checked contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use) Other

Turkey Vulture-123
Osprey-0
White-tailed Kite-1
Bald Eagle-0
Northern Harrier-15

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk-29
Cooper's Hawk-19
Northern Goshawk-0

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk -6
Broad-winged Hawk-0
Swainson's Hawk-0
Red-tailed Hawk-248
Ferruginous Hawk-0
Rough-legged Hawk-0
Golden Eagle-0

Falcons
American Kestrel-10
Merlin-9
Peregrine Falcon-0
Prairie Falcon-0

Unidentified
Accipiter-12
Buteo-4
Eagle-0
Falcon -2
Raptor -1

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 479
Rate of sightings: 79.8hph
# Species seen: 9

Fly to the Top

November 1, 2004

What a great day just to be thankful for our eyeballs. The visibility was unbelievable and there were some great birds in the air to boot. Another 1-dozen Merlin day. Many of those little magicians gave us a nice look at their skillful dragonfly snatching right over the hill. A handful of Peregrines cruised by, their slate-gray backs and bright yellow ceres brilliant in the superb lighting. Young Harriers were a common sight, and a good number of our Sharpies were beautifully colored adults. Also notable, the numbers of Juv Red-tails was pretty high. Guess it’s that second peak time. The winds were mostly out of the NE but swung around to the S and W in the afternoon, and totally vanished during the last hour of the count, when bird activity pretty much stopped. A great day, but the HawkWatchers are getting ever more antsy to witness those last elusive birds on our list of expected species so check those ‘Red-tails’ for carpal patches and watch out for unusually bulky ‘Coops!’

Hayley

Daily HawkCount
(data have not been entirely checked contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture 148
Osprey
White-tailed Kite 4
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier 16

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk 35
Cooper’s Hawk 15
Northern Goshawk

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk 3
Broad-winged Hawk
Swainson’s Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk 156
Ferruginous Hawk
Rough-legged Hawk
Golden Eagle

Falcons
American Kestrel 13
Merlin 12
Peregrine Falcon 5
Prairie Falcon

Unidentified
Accipiter 7
Buteo
Eagle
Falcon 4
Raptor 5

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 423
Rate of sightings: 76 hph
# Species seen: 10

Fly to the Top

October 31, 2004

After being fogged out twice in a row, the Sunday 1 HawkWatch team finally made an appearance on the hill today. And what a spectacular day it was! The weather was fine, the Raven entertainment made us laugh, the non-raptors were migrating, and interesting Raptors made appearances all day.

I'd have to say that, although the coolest bird of the day was a Raptor, it wasn't found in our Hawk guides. A Short-eared Owl graced us with its company by circling directly over Hawk Hill, while attempting to rid himself of Raven baggage.

We also had many Merlins, only a few of which turned into Kestrels and male Sharpies. A couple Peregrines gave us good looks. And the Bald Eagle spotted over Angel Island, while only a dot, was much a much bigger dot than the Turkey Vulture dots in its company. Other birds were also making migratory movements. Canada Geese sailed on by, honking softly. Double-crested Cormorants, flocked in long sinewy lines, flew overhead.

Thank you sun, Hawks, Owls, and other birds for a great day, and thank you to the two foodies for supplying the team with snacks without overdosing us on sugar.

Susan Culliney

Daily HawkCount

(data have not been entirely checked –contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Short-Eared Owl-1
Turkey Vulture-160
White-tailed Kite-7
Bald Eagle-1
Northern Harrier-23

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk-17
Cooper’s Hawk-14

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk-8
Red-tailed Hawk-124

Falcons
American Kestrel-17
Merlin-12
Peregrine Falcon-8

Unidentified
Accipiter-9
Buteo-5
Raptor-4

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 409
Rate of sightings: 68.2 hph
# Species seen: 12

Fly to the Top

Date: October 30, 2004

Skunked Again! We have been waiting patiently for that first Rough-legged Hawk to show up and it just won't happen. Those Roughies must have a different agenda. We thought that just maybe....if we saw one...that Allen would come dashing out of the bushes with a hot pizza in hand; yeah right! The weather was beautiful but there was no wind to be had for a while. I think we would have seen more birds if the wind had been blowing all day. Don't forget all you hawk fans, this is the last weekend for the docent chats up on the hill...Tomorrow's talks should be spooktacular! Hawk Talk at noon and Banding demo at 1pm on Hawk Hill. Merlins seemed to be flying everywhere and we had great looks at each one of them. They seemed to be the highlight of the day. Only a few more chances to get a pizza on Saturday I....we'll have to try extra hard next time.

-Rachel

Daily HawkCount
(data have not been entirely checked contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture-170
Osprey-0
White-tailed Kite-3
Bald Eagle-0
Northern Harrier-21

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk-25

Cooper's Hawk-19
Northern Goshawk-0

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk -5
Broad-winged Hawk-0
Swainson's Hawk-0
Red-tailed Hawk-149
Ferruginous Hawk-0
Rough-legged Hawk-0
Golden Eagle-0

Falcons
American Kestrel-4
Merlin-11
Peregrine Falcon-3
Prairie Falcon-0

Unidentified
Accipiter-13
Buteo-8
Eagle-0
Falcon -1
Raptor -6

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 438
Rate of sightings: 73 hph
# Species seen: 10

Fly to the Top

Daily HawkCount for October 29, 2004

Hungry for pizza, but with no Rough-legged around, I attempted to snatch up some flying insects for a healthy snack. The Merlins were much better at it than I. The secret must be in those vampy tomial teeth they have. Speaking of sharp teeth, we saw many of pointy falcon wings today. Adult Peregrines were out and about.

Also parading about the hills was a Golden Eagle and a Ferruginous. One individual Red-tail won the prize for Most Striking Dark Morph. If she had been any darker, I would have sworn that the Earth’s shadow was causing an eclipse over her.

Something must have been up with the cosmos, because our count went shooting up into the 500’s. Our day was filled with ID’ing birds... and letting our feelings be known to people walking off-trail and over fences. Hey, we all need to protect the Headland’s natural habitat.

Because Hawk Watchers deserve a nice view when there aren’t as many birds to look at as there were today.

~Kerry Neijstrom

(data have not been entirely checked –contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture - 137
White-tailed Kite - 1
Northern Harrier - 22

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 46
Cooper’s Hawk - 46

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk - 4
Red-tailed Hawk - 246
Ferruginous Hawk - 1
Golden Eagle - 3

Falcons
American Kestrel - 5
Merlin - 11
Peregrine Falcon 7

Unidentified
Accipiter - 7
Buteo - 2
Falcon - 1
Raptor - 4

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 543
Rate of sightings: 90.5 hph
# Species seen: 12

Fly to the Top

October 28, 2004

TWO Golden Eagles today! The first, a juv was off in the distance near Mt. Tam, dukin' it out with a Raven. Guess the Raven won because the Golden high-tailed it back North. The second, an adult, perhaps had more experience with the pugnacious Corvids and didn't let the pestering sway it from its path straight for Hawk Hill. We got a great look at it as it sailed high over the pines and flapped off across the Golden Gate. Other highlights, making up for low numbers, were very satisfying views of Peregrines, Merlins, a few adult Accipiters, a Varied Thrush, and a flock of Red Crossbills. Winds were mostly from the South, moving into the Southwest in the afternoon. Some threatening dark clouds passed over in the morning and left a clear and pleasant afternoon. And as usual, our jolly Thursday I team feasted -- soup and froufy cookies made for happy HawkWatchers all day long!

Hayley

Daily HawkCount
(data have not been entirely checked –contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture 70
Osprey
White-tailed Kite 5
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier 19

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk 12
Cooper’s Hawk 14
Northern Goshawk

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk
Broad-winged Hawk
Swainson’s Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk 134
Ferruginous Hawk
Rough-legged Hawk
Golden Eagle

Falcons
American Kestrel 4
Merlin 7
Peregrine Falcon 10
Prairie Falcon

Unidentified
Accipiter 5
Buteo 4
Eagle
Falcon
Raptor 1

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 290
Rate of sightings: 48.3 hph
# Species seen: 11

Fly to the Top

Date: October 27, 2004

The cold blustery wind kept the HawkWatchers bundled up. Mittens were a must. A Swainson's Hawk, and a Golden Eagle were among the afternoon delights, and the day was liberally spiced with adult Sharpies and fast flying Merlins. No Rough-legged Hawk yet, so keep your eyes to the sky. These wintry winds could make those northerly Buteos feel right at home.

Susan Culliney

Daily HawkCount
(data have not been entirely checked –contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture-137
Osprey-2
White-tailed Kite-2
Northern Harrier-10

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk-32
Cooper’s Hawk-12

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk -4
Swainson’s Hawk-1
Red-tailed Hawk-106
Golden Eagle-1

Falcons
American Kestrel-7
Merlin-4
Peregrine Falcon-8

Unidentified
Accipiter-6
Raptor-6

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 334
Rate of sightings: 55.7 hph
# Species seen: 13

Fly to the Top

Date: October 26, 2004

We were quite surprised that we made it up to the hill today. A huge storm blew through last night and a rainstorm had been predicted for the whole day. But we woke up to clear partly cloudy skies. The birds were slow at taking flight but we did see a few birds. There were a few Merlins, Peregrines, Kestrels, Harriers among the other local residents. No Eagles today...and no Rough-legs today....boooo! We even put in our pizza order with Allen early because we thought for sure we'd see one today. Better luck next time I guess.

-Rachel

Daily HawkCount
(data have not been entirely checked contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture-92
Osprey-0
White-tailed Kite-3
Bald Eagle-0
Northern Harrier-11

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk-15
Cooper's Hawk-15
Northern Goshawk-0

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk -4
Broad-winged Hawk-0
Swainson'ss Hawk-0
Red-tailed Hawk-79
Ferruginous Hawk-0
Rough-legged Hawk-0
Golden Eagle-0

Falcons
American Kestrel-2
Merlin-3
Peregrine Falcon-10
Prairie Falcon-0

Unidentified
Accipiter-5
Buteo-3
Eagle-0
Falcon-0
Raptor -1

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 243
Rate of sightings: 41.66hph
# Species seen: 10

Fly to the Top

October 25, 2004

Our numbers may be getting more modest lately, but we've certainly been treated to sightings of birds that were few and far between during the illustrious Peak Week. Today was a great day for Merlins and Peregrines (12 and 10, respectively). In the late afternoon, a Golden Eagle flew directly over the lower portion of Hawk Hill. It tried to sneak by under the guise of its vulture traveling companions, but the Hawk Watchers were not fooled (not for too long, anyway). Also not fooling the Hawk Watchers were 23 Red-shoulders; they only look like Accips for a second and only from a distance, right? Weather-wise, a clear and mild day with light south or southwest breezes until the last hour when a biting West wind picked up and had us begging for mercy and relishing the warmth of our car when we came down from an overall lovely October day.

Take care of yourselves during the next bit of weather...we can't have our HawkWatchers home sick after it clears and all the Goshawks and Rough-legs start pouring in!

Hayley

Daily HawkCount
(data have not been entirely checked contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture 81
Osprey 2
White-tailed Kite 1
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier 18

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk 41
Cooper’s Hawk 32
Northern Goshawk

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk 23
Broad-winged Hawk
Swainson’s Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk 153
Ferruginous Hawk
Rough-legged Hawk
Golden Eagle 1

Falcons
American Kestrel 2
Merlin 12
Peregrine Falcon 10
Prairie Falcon

Unidentified
Accipiter 6
Buteo 2
Eagle
Falcon
Raptor 1

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 389
Rate of sightings: 64.8 hph
# Species seen: 12

Fly to the Top

October 24, 2004 - No report filed.

Fly to the Top

Date: October 23, 2004

Falling drops of water! At the office this morning, the Hawk Watchers joined hands with the Banders in a large communal circle and sang "Rain, rain, go away. Come again another day." It didn't work. For those that stayed, we enjoyed some rainy day fun. We told stories, read books, played with a flying pig toy. I attempted a bird walk around Fort Cronkhite and actually managed to see a wet adult Red-shoulder, a wet male Kestrel and our friendly, neighborhood, wet juvie Red-tail. And then I came back in because I was wet.

Stay dry,
Kerry Neijstrom

Webmaster note: Run between the drops! (The webmaster was out in the rain today too.)

Fly to the Top

Date: Friday, October 21, 2004

Buteos galore! Well, we had quite a day with lots of Red-tails, a few Red-shoulders and two Broad-wings. We had a great look at one of the Broad-wings. It appeared to have caught a thermal from Kirby Cove and circled up to the hill. Merlins were buzzing around everywhere... possibly the highest day we've had for the lil' buggers. I'm definitely getting the sense that the migration is winding down...not as many Hawks in the sky as September. Lots of visitors today...a couple of them making trips from far away to come see the Raptors. Who wouldn't want to come see them?! Feels like it's going to rain tommorrow... my elbow is aching...lol. Cool breezes blowing from the southwest all day. Until next time....

-Rachel

Daily HawkCount
(data have not been entirely checked contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture-65
Osprey-1
White-tailed Kite-5
Bald Eagle-0
Northern Harrier-15

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk-24
Cooper's Hawk-10
Northern Goshawk-0

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk -9 Broad-winged Hawk-2
Swainson's Hawk-0
Red-tailed Hawk-117
Ferruginous Hawk-0
Rough-legged Hawk-0
Golden Eagle-0

Falcons
American Kestrel-4
Merlin-11
Peregrine Falcon-2
Prairie Falcon-0

Unidentified
Accipiter-4
Buteo-2
Eagle-0
Falcon-0
Raptor-0

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 271
Rate of sightings: 46.46 hph
# Species seen: 12

Fly to the Top

October 21, 2004

There should have been a cover charge for the Merlin views that the volunteers, visitors and about 25 Headlands institute kids got today. Of the 7 sightings throughout the day, at least 3 of them were memorable overhead flights that had everyone's binoculars vertical. Other highlights were equally memorable Peregrine fly-by's, a dark adult Red-tail, and of course lovely crisp, clear fall weather. The winds, however, were pretty weak for most of the day and kept bird activity low overall until the last few hours. Still waiting on that Rough-leg...keep your eyes peeled.

Daily HawkCount
(data have not been entirely checked contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture 132
Osprey 3
White-tailed Kite
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier 13

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk 17
Cooper’s Hawk 12
Northern Goshawk

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk 8
Broad-winged Hawk
Swainson’s Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk 114
Ferruginous Hawk
Rough-legged Hawk
Golden Eagle

Falcons
American Kestrel 4
Merlin 7
Peregrine Falcon 5
Prairie Falcon

Unidentified
Accipiter 3
Buteo
Eagle
Falcon
Raptor 6

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 324
Rate of sightings: 54 hph
# Species seen: 10

Fly to the Top

October 20, 2004

The super soup group was at it again. We were fortified during the chilly midday with minestrone soup courtesy of David and Lynn Jesus. Thank you past and present soup makers! It warmed up later in the day. The wind never really got going and shifted directions all day.

In between slurps of veggie soup goodness we were able to admire the huge billowing cumulus clouds that seem to have followed the rainstorms earlier in the week (or do they foretell more rain? one can never tell.) We also occasionally counted raptors, including one juvie red tailed hawk jet. He came shooting over the hill, wings back and feet dangling, nearly brushing the tops of our heads, then dove unhesitatingly down into the west valley, putting all man-made flight machines to shame.

Susan Culliney

Daily HawkCount (data have not been entirely checked contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other Turkey Vulture-96
Northern Harrier-11

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk-12
Cooper’s Hawk-3

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk-5
Red-tailed Hawk-95

Falcons
American Kestrel-2

Unidentified
Accipiter-2
Buteo-1
Raptor-1

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 224
Rate of sightings: 37.33 hph
# Species seen: 7

Fly to the Top

October 19, 2004

No report filed.

Fly to the Top

October 18, 2004

Hello....hello....is there anybody out there? Any hawks to count? Any...one? The last thing I remember were turkey vultures circling over my head, they're coming closer....closer. Then, a blinding light! The light is in front of me! It looks familiar, slightly blue...like, a computer screen! Oh no!!!!!!

Needless to say, our day progressed at an snails pace. The ants were marching all over the donut offerings. The Turkey Vultures thermaled lazily, the Kirby Cove adult Red-ail got counted 17 times (I know, I KNOW, if you're not sure, then you count it again, I was kidding, jeez.) In the absence of adrenaline producing Hawks, HawkWatchers felt their tired legs, their sore knees, and squinted their eyes into the bright white overhead clouds, desperate to pull a Sharpie from on high. Even the wind was lazy. The only creature in the headlands who seemed free of this sleeping beauty spell was the gorgeous adult female Cooper's Hawk who graced the banding demo with her presence. Wow, was she beautiful, and loud. She voiced her opinion clear across Rodeo Valley, arguing in favor of habitat conservation so she and other Hawks wouldn't have to have time taken out of their day to get a band attached to their legs. She has a point.

Susan Culliney

Daily HawkCount

(data have not been entirely checked –contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture-99
Northern Harrier-12

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk-18
Cooper’s Hawk-7

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk -5
Red-tailed Hawk-80

Falcons
American Kestrel-3
Peregrine Falcon-3

Unidentified
Accipiter-8
Falcon-1
Raptor-7

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 243
Rate of sightings: 47.03 hph
# Species seen: 8

Fly to the Top

October 17, 2004

Sunday I HawkWatch team was fogged and rained out today. Luckily we had coffee and donuts. While we wait for the rain to pass, keep warm and ponder these insightful sayings:

"It is hard to catch hawks with empty hands."
"It's pleasant to look on the rain, when one stands dry."
-Dutch proverbs.

Susan Culliney

Fly to the Top

Date: October 16, 2004

ACCIPITER SLOWDOWN: We've definitely seen a decline in Accipiters this past week. Today wasn't an exception. I can count on my hand how many we had. It's an extreme change from the flurries we were having two weeks ago. We could barely keep them straight. We had a better day on the hill today than yesterday. The fog was still looming about but we actually had a high cloud ceiling with sparse white stuff. At one point it actually felt like it was going to rain. The sky spitted at us a couple of times but never hawked a huge loogui. Who would've thought with the bad weather there'd be so many people on the hill hungry for Hawks? Quite a few people showed up to my Hawk Talk...hopefully I didn't confuse anyone too much. There were lots of Red-tails and Turkey Vultures spotted with a handful of Peregrines milling about the hill. We became a bit paunchy towards the end of HawkWatch due to a lull in birds but still had a good time. It's always a good time on Saturday I regardless if were about to get heatstroke or if we're wearing every piece of clothing out of our bag. Rock on Saturday I!

-Rachel

Daily HawkCount
(data have not been entirely checked contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture-174
Osprey
White-tailed Kite -2
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier-4

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk-7
Cooper's Hawk-1
Northern Goshawk

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk-1
Broad-winged Hawk
Swainson's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk -123
Ferruginous Hawk
Rough-legged Hawk
Golden Eagle

Falcons
American Kestrel-6
Merlin
Peregrine Falcon-6
Prairie Falcon

Unidentified
Accipiter-3
Buteo-3
Eagle
Falcon-1
Raptor-3

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings:334
Rate of sightings:55.66 hph
# Species seen: 9

Fly to the Top

October 15, 2004

F.O.G.!!!!!! What a disappointing day. The white stuff just wouldn't leave us alone. Even the birds knew it was going to be a bad day because they hardly showed up. We had only 4 species the whole day...booo! I think I saw more Band-tailed Pigeons than hawks...pit-i-ful! We decided to quit about 1:30pm. At that point the fog was so bad, we could barely see each other. Well, lets hope for a better day tomorrow.

-Rachel

Daily HawkCount (data have not been entirely checked contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture -25
Osprey 0
White-tailed Kite 0
Bald Eagle 0
Northern Harrier-0

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1
Cooper's Hawk -5
Northern Goshawk-0

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk-0
Broad-winged Hawk-0
Swainson's Hawk -0
Red-tailed Hawk - 45
Ferruginous Hawk-0
Rough-legged Hawk-0
Golden Eagle-0

Falcons
American Kestrel-0
Merlin -0
Peregrine Falcon-0
Prairie Falcon -0

Unidentified
Accipiter - 4
Buteo-0
Eagle-0
Falcon - 1
Raptor -0

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 81
Rate of sightings: 31.35 hph
# Species seen: 4

Fly to the Top

October 14, 2004

No report filed.

Fly to the Top

Date: October 13, 2004

Nothing goes better with HawkWatching then greasy, gooey apple fritters! Thanks Steve! After my eyes were ruined from the smoke yesterday, I didn't even mind subjecting my body to further destruction by clogging my arteries. It’s worth it.

The highlights of the day included seeing some Accipiters that looked like hybrids between Sharps and Coops and seeing some Turkey Vultures. I love being so frustrated by those in-between Accips! Some of the Vultures came right by the hill. Man, what a great look at them! They were so close we could see their eyes! Then we saw some perching on the ground. No one can deny that they’re the cutest birds. Their glowing red heads pulling along their overly massive dark chocolate bodies, bobbing around in the breeze. Their nostrils permanently flared so that you can see straight through them. The way they’re always searching. Searching and searching. Truly the most wildly romantic bird.

Others on the team also liked looking at the distant Golden Eagles or the nearby Ferruginous Hawk. They’re nice, too. We also saw an adult Red-shoulder up close. I looked for the chess pieces on the wings, but there wasn’t a single pawn. They’re nice birds as well. In fact, I would compare the Red-shoulder to the Golden Retriever of Hawks. But I won’t because I think it would be unscientific to make such a comparison. And I would never write anything without the strictest science backing it up.

The Ferruginous came in with 20 minutes of recording time to spare and she must have wanted the last apple fritters. The last one was as warm as if it had been kept in an oven. Wait, were we in an oven?

-Vote for Kerry! (Neijstrom – make it a write-in!)

Daily HawkCount
(data have not been entirely checked –contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture - 203
White-tailed Kite - 4
Northern Harrier - 13
Allen Fish - 3

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 41
Cooper’s Hawk - 31

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk - 16
Red-tailed Hawk - 186
Ferruginous Hawk - 1
Golden Eagle- 2

Falcons
American Kestrel - 5
Merlin - 1
Peregrine Falcon - 3

Unidentified
Accipiter - 7
Raptor - 2

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 515
Rate of sightings: 85.8 hph
# Species seen: 12

Fly to the Top

Date: October 12, 2004

Oh my precious eyes! I can't even see what I am writing right now. We had a problem with a lot of smoke blowing in from the North and our visibility was limited to 9 miles maximum today. But we didn't want to get smoked out so we persevered and saw Ospreys, Merlins, Harriers, Male and Female Kestrels and White-tailed Kites among the usuals. At the end of the day we could hardly see anything and the hawks counted plum-did-it. Was it because our eyes were red and choking on the dust, or rather that the raptor activity level dropped? Some of us could only see two really big birds. They came all the way over to the pines to reward us for a long hot day (88 degrees- hot diggity dog!). Got Visine? -Kerry

Daily HawkCount
(data have not been entirely checked –contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other Turkey Vulture - 10
Osprey - 2
White-tailed Kite - 2
Northern Harrier – 16
Owllyn Fiche- 1

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 82
Cooper’s Hawk - 45

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk - 11
Red-tailed Hawk - 134
Golden Eagle – 2!!

Falcons
American Kestrel - 10
Merlin - 1
Peregrine Falcon - 1

Unidentified
Accipiter - 14
Buteo - 1
Falcon - 1
Raptor - 1

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 431
Rate of sightings: 71.83 hph
# Species seen: 12

Fly to the Top

Monday, October 11, 2004

Fogwatch was unfortunately canceled today due to an abundance of sunshine and hawks. That's right. The sun was sunning, the watchers were watching, the counters were counting, the ravens were raving, and the raptors were...rapping (you know, Stoop Hawky-Hawk.) After near gale force winds in the morning, the breezes died down enough to give both the Hawkwatchers and the hawks some stability. Among others we had an overhead juvie peregrine and a wonderful Ferruginous hawk who rose out of Kirby cove. This stunningly white Buteo floated out of east quadrant and everyone got a very good look. We also had a huge band of ravens, technically known as an unkindness of Ravens, or a parliament of Ravens, or a conspiracy of Ravens (unfair terms if you ask me) who were doing barrel rolls in the high winds.

Susan Culliney

Daily HawkCount

(data have not been entirely checked –contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture 94
Osprey 2
Northern Harrier 7

Accipiters Sharp-shinned Hawk 108
Cooper’s Hawk 83

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk 20
Red-tailed Hawk 287
Ferruginous Hawk 3

Falcons American Kestrel 12
Merlin 2
Peregrine Falcon 4

Unidentified
Accipiter 31
Buteo 5

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 656
Rate of sightings: 109.33hph
# Species seen: 11

Fly to the Top

October 10, 2004

The air wasn't moving too much today, and neither were the birds, but we had fun anyway. There was a little spurt of Accipiters in the late morning and a late-day Golden Eagle to make the trek up to Hawk Hill very worthwhile. Also, Merlins and Red-shoulders are becoming a more common sight these past few days. The team enjoyed sunny weather and managed to communicate through the fair-weather weekend crowds.

Daily HawkCount

(data have not been entirely checked contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture - 131
Osprey - 2
White-tailed Kite - 6
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier - 6

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 71
Cooper’s Hawk - 50
Northern Goshawk

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk - 16
Broad-winged Hawk
Swainson’s Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk - 136 Ferruginous Hawk
Rough-legged Hawk
Golden Eagle - 1

Falcons
American Kestrel - 8
Merlin - 2
Peregrine Falcon - 1
Prairie Falcon

Unidentified
Accipiter - 29
Buteo - 5
Eagle
Falcon - 1
Raptor - 2

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 468
Rate of sightings: 78 hph
# Species seen: 12

Fly to the Top

Date: Saturday, October 9, 2004

It was a day of monumental numbers! We had almost 100 counted for one hour. Most of those counted were wearing binoculars. We had the peak numbers of human visitors to the hill. It was almost as if someone alerted them to the presence of the cupcakes, blueberry coffeecake and chocolate cake brought to the hill. It was a lot of cake. You'd think we'd be celebrating two Hawk Watcher's birthdays!

It was so thick with human bodies sweating for every glimpse of a passing raptor that you could smell the fumes. Unless those were the fumes from the jets in the air show I was smelling...In any case, those present were treated to a soaring Merlin at four separate times in the day. I guess this Merlin hadn't been properly programed to zip by this mass of stationary people.

Another unusual observation of the day was the repeated acts of hawks bravely tangling with Ravens. Or maybe it was stupidity. It's hard to tell the difference sometimes. We kept cheering for The Hawks. A Cooper's Hawk seemed to be faring fairly well one-on-one against a Raven. The Raven kept testing the sharpness of his opponent's talons. Score at the end of the day: Ravens: 3, Raptors: 1.

But maybe they were in cohorts to earn back our attention stolen by a large crowd, large ship vessels, aircraft and people inconsiderate enough to be born on this date.

Happy Birthday Allen and Donna!

~~Kerry

Daily HawkCount

(data have not been entirely checked –contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture - 169
Osprey - 3
White-tailed Kite - 4
Northern Harrier – 14
Allen Fish - 4

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 43
Cooper’s Hawk - 47

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk - 36
Broad-winged Hawk - 1
Red-tailed Hawk - 142

Falcons
American Kestrel - 4
Merlin - 4
Peregrine Falcon - 2

Unidentified
Accipiter - 9
Buteo - 6
Falcon - 2
Raptor - 1

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 487
Rate of sightings: 81.2 hph
# Species seen: 12

Fly to the Top

Friday, October 8, 2004

Daily Blog:

Twitchers Away! Well, I actually learned something new today. Others might know this little tidbit but for those of you who don't, did you know that bird watchers are called twitchers in England? I definitely like that term better. Maybe it sounds a little more sophisticated or something?! Anyway....WE WERE FOGGLED...slowly...fog crept up on us and eventually engulfed us completely and forced the team down the hill. For a while we thought it would clear, but no such luck!

During our one hour of visibility, we watched some magnificent kettles of hawks; like the ones you only see and read about in books. At one point there were two kettles: a tiny one over Slacker Ridge and then another over the gate right at the fog-bank with about thirty birds in it...Turkey Vultures (20) accompanied by a few Red-tailed Hawks, some Red-shouldered Hawks and a B.E.A.utiful Broad-winged Hawk. Our team was only on the hill for about three and a half hours. We hung in there as best we could. That just means more hawks for the Saturday II team I guess. Totals are low, so don't be too upset...this is fair warning. Oh yeah, one more thing. We made it down to Kirby Cove and saw quite a few raptors hanging out: American Kestrels, Gas-hawks-(the Canadian Snow Geese variety), Turkey Vultures, Red-tailed Hawks, a White-tailed Kite, Sharp-shinned Hawks and Cooper's Hawks. Some passerines we saw: Wrentits, Bushtits, Red-shafted Flickers, Townsend's Warblers, Chestnut-sided Chickadee, California Towhee, Pygmy Nuthatches, California Quail, Black Phoebes, Heerman's Gulls, Western Gulls and another lifer for me, a Western Grebe ...woohoo!

Rachel Norris

Daily HawkCount
(data have not been entirely checked contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture- 49
Osprey 0
White-tailed Kite 2
Bald Eagle 0
Northern Harrier 0

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk 17
Cooper's Hawk 19
Northern Goshawk 0

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk 5
Broad-winged Hawk 2
Swainson's Hawk 0
Red-tailed Hawk 37
Ferruginous Hawk 0
Rough-legged Hawk 0
Golden Eagle 0

Falcons
American Kestrel 0
Merlin 0
Peregrine Falcon 0
Prairie Falcon 0

Unidentified
Accipiter 5
Buteo 0
Eagle 0
Falcon 0
Raptor 1

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 137
Rate of sightings: 39.14 hph
# Species seen: 7

Fly to the Top

October 7, 2004

"Clear today, fog tomorrow..." Is there just fog in my ears, or is that how the old adage goes? If so, yesterday's clear skies would have predicted today's onslaught of thick, wet, drippy white stuff. Despite the dismal weather, the Thursday II team arrived at 1064 this morning wearing the most optimism I've ever seen on such a day and we headed straight up the hill with hopes of a sudden clearing. No such luck. The 5th quadrant was blue for a little while, but all the other quadrants were a flat gray and stayed that way. Our scopes and binos got the bath they probably didn't need, and the team toughed out about an hour before retreating to the warm glow of a slide projector back at 1064. Too bad. Just goes to show you never can tell with this crazy Headlands weather. Better luck next time. HawkWatch out.

Hayley

Fly to the Top

Date: October 6, 2004

Peak-a-boo!!!! A peak day was sent our way! The Hawk Goddess must have answered our prayers and received our blessed sacrifices. She squashed the fog and raised her lovely Buteos and Accipiters into swirling kettles. She made the 12 Turkey Vultures passing overhead from dropping any…uh…unpleasant white decorations from falling upon us. She sent out the Red-shoulders en masse. Normally you can get the attention of most of the Watchers’ attention by yelling out, “Red-shoulder”! Today, I was not able to use that call for attention. No one cared that there was yet another one flying around. Blast! But those who saw Broad-wings and a Ferruginous were still successful at swinging scopes and turning binos.

It was a great day for many visitors who dared to risk their health to come to the hill. The surgeon general should warn that Hawk Watching is may cause serious side-effects. There’s the risk of developing binocular rings around the eyes and a risk of becoming addicted. The excitement we had may be too overwhelming for pregnant women and men. Also, I feared for some that they might be hit in the head by a passing Accipiter. Maybe we should wear helmets. Plus, the Vultures may not be so polite next time.

- Kerry

Daily HawkCount
(data have not been entirely checked –contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture -97
Osprey - 2
White-tailed Kite - 4
Northern Harrier – 15
Buzz Hull - 3

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 169
Cooper’s Hawk - 202

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk - 69
Broad-winged Hawk - 5
Red-tailed Hawk - 293
Ferruginous Hawk - 1

Falcons
American Kestrel - 3
Merlin- 2
Peregrine Falcon - 2

Unidentified
Accipiter - 73
Buteo - 1
Raptor - 1

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 939
Rate of sightings: 156.5 hph
# Species seen: 13

Fly to the Top

Tuesday, September 5, 2004

FOGGLED AGAIN! I totally thought I was going to get away with not getting fogged out again. I was so wrong! We were socked in like you wouldn't believe. We dodged the cruel and unusual slide show thank goodness. Our team managed to hike down to Kirby Cove in hope's of seeing the Peregrine Falcon nest. We were successful at finding the nest but out of luck for actually seeing the falcon pair. We did however see two Red-tailed Hawks and a handful of Turkey Vultures. We had a couple great sightings of songbirds: Brown Creepers, Northern Flickers, Pygmy Nuthatches, White-crowned Sparrows, Hermit Thrushes, Chestnut-backed Chickadees, and Golden-crowned Sparrows. Kirby Cove is such a great little haven for birds. No wonder the raptors seem to funnel into the cove as they spiral past us on the hill. All in all it was a good day.

Rachel Norris

Fly to the Top

Monday, October 4, 2004

Like a grumpy intern who hasn't gotten enough sleep, Hawk Hill simply didn't want to get up from underneath its foggy blanket this morning. It seems that now, at 1pm, the hill has finally decided to greet the day, just as our team has given up on the sleepy eyed mountain. But it seems it is too late, for it has already turned into a day for coffee, for ginger snap cookies, for questioning where things like cell phones really come from and at what cost, and for discovering a familiar book among the volumes at the GGRO library. I leave you with a hope for an earlier rising hill tomorrow, and with this quote which expresses perfectly the dilemma of our time.

Susan Culliney

"Like winds and sunsets, wild things were taken for granted until progress began to do away with them. Now we face the question whether a still higher 'standard of living' is worth its cost in things natural, wild, and free. ... These wild things, I admit, had little human value until mechanization assured us of a good breakfast, and until science disclosed the drama of where they come from and how they live."

-Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac

Fly to the Top

Sunday, October 3, 2004

No data taken. I'm just warning you that no numbers follow this qualitative account of our day.

It must be Fogtober. After milling about the annex in the mists, scarfing down brownies and organic chocolate truffles while discussing politics, we eventually decided to see what we could see from Hawk Hill. We just wanted to make absolutely sure that we couldn't see 30 feet. We couldn't. But it really wasn't that bad...in the east quadrant at least. Those poor souls in the north kept disappearing from view. A Merlin popped up for a second to see what we were up to, a couple of Sharpies were chasing each other in and out of the clouds, and the Ravens circled, crying "nevermore!" though they didn't elaborate on what would happen nevermore.

We stayed for the banding demo. It was wonderful to see visitors and some HawkWatchers witness a Raptor up close for the first time. It's a great reminder of why we're here, why we're keeping track of specks on the horizon, why we have to keep our egos from clashing with other peoples' egos, why we brave the fog and wind and cold. We're here for the birds. It also made me realize how important it is to share this reason with the public, person by person. Maybe slowly we can get people to think differently about the value of the natural world. That's the only way anything will change.

Susan Culliney

Fly to the Top

Saturday, October 2, 2004 - -What a day! I was almost blown off the hill several times due to the high winds and thick fog. Talk about extreme conditions for birding. The extreme conditions actually made for a perfect day for Hawk migration. We saw over 700 birds...wow. Those birds are dedicated to migration! We were graced with a bit of sunshine for about two hours and then it disappeared. Hawks seem to appear out of no where sometimes. A prime example was when the hill was getting socked in..surprise surprise, and then suddenly an adult Broad-winged Hawk materialized out of the fog. HawkWatchers started shouting as loud as possible..."Broadwing, Broad-wing!" As the hill tilted towards the west quadrant, we all were given a great look at this beautiful bird. It just so happened that the weekend HawkTalk was going on at the same time and all 30 people attending simultaneously raised binos toward the sky as this Buteo circled above us for about five minutes. It's moments like these that make me truly happy to be a HawkWatcher. Once the bird vanished into the fog, the hill became balanced again and we went back to the task at hand.

Sharpies were everywhere. We had a few sneak attacks by these fine feathered friends. The kettles were numerous and seemed a bit chaotic but we managed to get each bird counted with the help of some regulars and our fearless leader Bob Power. Some great birds of the day: Red-shouldered Hawks, Broad-winged Hawks, Ferruginous Hawks and a few American Kestrels. Man those males have gorgeous blue wings! Until next time hawk fans....

Rachel Norris

Total Hawks: 755
Hawks per Hour: 125.83
Species: 11

Fly to the Top

Date: Friday, October 1, 2004

Pay attention to the clouds. They carry raptors inside of them!

Unless we’re mistaking a Great Blue Heron for a Coop with a huge crop.

Perhaps it was a heron that he ate. But don’t fret for the egrets, it’s just as likely he ate a meteor.

The only sign that saved me from thinking I was back in upstate NY this morning was that the flickers were Red-shafted instead of Yellow. However, by the end of the day everyone had at least the hallucination of a blue sky. For those of you unfamiliar with upstate NY weather, there is one word: overcast and cold. You just normally don’t bother saying anything after the first word. It is assumed.

But how dare I complain when we were seeing birds and not fog? No one could complain today. We weren’t allowed. Dayleader Kim Meyer demanded that we have FUN. No amount of groaning changed his mind. So we went out and enjoyed zippy Merlins and tenacious Broad-wings. There was nothing tenacious about the Broad-wings really. It’s only a FUN word to use. And it was very FUN to see an adult Broad fly above us. It clearly had black and white striped tail.

I’m not sure about calling raptors as adults anymore. And I don’t say this in the same respect that I’m personally unsure about calling distant Sharps from Coops. But I’ve always been told, “you’re not an adult until you act like one!” Sometimes, take today for an example, when a supposed “adult” Red-tail chased and picked on a “juvenile” Red-tail, I don’t think it’s fair to classify the older Red-tail as an adult based on its behavior. Bullies are not mature.

I say all of this, Kim, in the name of FUN.

~Kestrry Neijstrom

Daily HawkCount

(data have not been entirely checked –contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture - 189
White-tailed Kite - 2
Northern Harrier - 5
Allen Fish - 0

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 123
Cooper’s Hawk - 110

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk - 17
Broad-winged Hawk - 4
Red-tailed Hawk - 129

Falcons
American Kestrel - 1
Merlin - 3
Peregrine Falcon - 1

Unidentified
Accipiter - 27
Buteo - 1
Falcon - 3
Raptor - 6

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 624
Rate of sightings: 104 hph
# Species seen: 12

Fly to the Top

September 30, 2004

The Thursday I team arrived at 1064 expecting to settle in for some 2D HawkWatching We had barely gotten into the "Cruel and Unusual" slide collection when Hawk Blind radioed a suddenly clear Hawk Hill, and the team flushed out of the building like a covey of quail. When we arrived, the scene was dim but not hopeless: a low ceiling of fog with a gray haze everywhere. After a visit by a White-tailed Kite and his little vole breakfast, bird sightings were few and far between. The fog threatened to fall back down on us, but the threat was empty and by early afternoon, a definite clearing trend had begun. The 1-2 hour -- always a winner -- boasted 110 HPH and throughout the day were treated to 3 Red-shoulders, 3 Merlins, 3 Broad-wings, 4 Peregrines, a Swainie (!), and of course the regulars. So the day definitely ended on a lovely note, and I wish to personally thank the bringers of delicious goodies, including hot soup, for helping us through the cold, dreary morning.

Hayley

Daily HawkCount
(data have not been entirely checked contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture - 162
Osprey
White-tailed Kite - 2
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier - 4

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 68
Cooper’s Hawk - 45
Northern Goshawk

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk - 3
Broad-winged Hawk - 3
Swainson’s Hawk - 1
Red-tailed Hawk - 106
Ferruginous Hawk
Rough-legged Hawk
Golden Eagle

Falcons
American Kestrel - 1
Merlin - 3
Peregrine Falcon - 4
Prairie Falcon

Unidentified
Accipiter - 16
Buteo - 1
Eagle
Falcon
Raptor - 1

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 420
Rate of sightings: 76.36 hph
# Species seen: 12

Fly to the Top

Date: September 29, 2004

On our commute in to 1064 this morning, whether by bike, by car, or by tortoise, we all witnessed the clear hill and had high hopes in getting out to count Hawks. We hurried up only to find the hill buffeted by winds and a thick form of precipitation. We found the telemetry team there as well, a hardier bunch than ourselves, as they were diligently keeping track of Quentin who was hunkered down among the misty pines at the top of Hawk Hill.

So, leaving Quentin and his entourage to their drippy fates, we retreated to the relative warmth of the lower headlands and took a walk up the Bobcat Trail. There weren’t many birds down in the valley either, only a Harrier, a Kite or two, a raggedy Red-tail, and a Shrike who occasionally shook the accumulated raindrops off his feathers. No Owls, though owl pellets were abundant and were enough to convince Ann that indeed Owls had been in the eucalyptus grove at one time. We debated precipitation terminology. Some of our group believed the moisture that surrounded us constituted as rain. Others, from distant lands, wisely assessed the droplets as mist, or at most, drizzle.! Whatever form the water took, it was enough to keep us from our purpose in life (counting Raptorial types), and enough to get us slightly damp as we trudged homeward, listening to bored banders on the radio.

Susan Culliney

Fogged Off, no data taken.

Fly to the Top

Date: September 28, 2004

Just because you believe that goblins exist, doesn't mean that they exist. Similarly, if you believe the fog is going to lift, it does not mean the fog will lift.

We were like a snowy egret, continuing to feed despite a broken wing. AND, coincidentally, we happened to see an egret just like that on the lagoon before heading up to the hill. There were patches of sky (or patches of fog, it's like the whole glass and water thing) when we got there. So we were pretty optimistic. Big mistake! We started our count with some brave, flappy accips flying by. We also saw a hoard of 20+ Turkey Vultures that headed our way. Perhaps they knew, with their mighty turkey-sense that we would soon be gobbled up by the fog. About 45 minutes into our data collection, we were devoured. Our neighborhood Say's phoebe tried to keep our spirits up, and stories of bat-eating frogs and bat-eating raptors passed the time. But the time came to realize we had to pack our scopes away.

Alas, even the annex had little to offer today.

-This is Kerry Neijstrom, signing out and drinking tea. ahhhhh.

Fly to the Top

September 27, 2004

The team managed to get in about 3 1/2 hours of very chilly HawkWatching today, starting at noon. The scene was an intermittently foggy and consistently blustery hill staffed by hearty, well-bundled HawkWatchers, undaunted by the cries of "now you see me, now you don't" uttered by every passing UFA (Unidentified Flying Accipiter) that fell out of the fog. It was clear enough every few minutes to keep the team on the hill, but foggy and windy enough to make HawkWatching a very challenging task. In general, the fog was high, and the Accipiters were as thick as it was -- when we could see them. The folks in the north quadrant were rewarded for their stoic performance with a brief visit by a Merlin sometime between 2 and 3PM. Hopefully, our team will get some warm weather the next time around 'cause we've earned it!

Daily HawkCount (data have not been entirely checked contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture - 39 Osprey -
White-tailed Kite -
Bald Eagle -
Northern Harrier - 1

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 100
Cooper’s Hawk - 48
Northern Goshawk

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk
Broad-winged Hawk
Swainson’s Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk - 28
Ferruginous Hawk
Rough-legged Hawk
Golden Eagle

Falcons
American Kestrel - 3
Merlin - 1
Peregrine Falcon
Prairie Falcon

Unidentified
Accipiter - 20
Buteo - 4
Eagle
Falcon
Raptor - 1

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 245
Rate of sightings: 89 hph
# Species seen: 7

Fly to the Top

September 26, 2004

Dare I say it? There were TOO MANY birds flying today. Seriously, our poor Sunday II team, whom fate had fogged out every day this season until today, had to hit the ground running to keep up. And they did. There was glorious nonstop shouting and there were scones and the Hawkwatchers valiantly plugged through a very, very busy day. There were on average 152 hawks whizzing by each hour, and at the end of it our brains were spinning from deciphering coops and sharpies, and from attempting to count, pass and receive hawks all at the same time. But that's what we love and that's why we do it. Plus, we were treated two a 13 species day with highlights being the TWO Ferrug sightings, FIFTEEN Broad-wings (one dark!), a Golden Eagle, and a Merlin! The weather was pretty special, too. One of those days brilliantly clear days with fluffy snowy fog that just stayed low and looked pretty in the valley and over the water and never got up the nerve to creep up the hill and spoil our fun. Congratulations to the Sunday II team for a great job today and demonstrating what GGRO volunteers are made of!

Hayley Ross

Daily HawkCount
(data have not been entirely checked contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture - 127
Osprey - 3
White-tailed Kite - 3
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier - 11

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 295
Cooper’s Hawk - 161
Northern Goshawk -

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk - 9
Broad-winged Hawk - 15
Swainson’s Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk - 198
Ferruginous Hawk - 3
Rough-legged Hawk
Golden Eagle - 1

Falcons
American Kestrel - 9
Merlin - 1
Peregrine Falcon
Prairie Falcon

Unidentified
Accipiter - 61
Buteo - 4
Eagle
Falcon - 1
Raptor - 3

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 913
Rate of sightings: 152.2 hph (high 227 hph: 1-2PM)
# Species seen: 13

Fly to the Top

Date:

Saturday, September 25, 2004

We saw blue sky and many different birds today! Of course, the blue sky was slightly surrounded by FOG, and we didn't get near Hawk Hill, BUT it was a fabulous day nonetheless. Our team remains positive and no one is shrike. Our pleasant walk took us along the Bobcat trail and a Bobcat was delivered. We saw 11 species of raptors. Red-tails, Coops, Sharps, Kites, Harriers, Kestrels, Osprey, Merlins, Turkey Vultures, Great-horned Owls and a Shrike. I may be a bit of a shrike to be declaring some of these species Raptors, but aren't categories arbitrary

anyways? Since I'm being liberal, I might as well add a Green Heron. Although we did poach that bird from another group of shrike Bird Watchers. And as usually happens when two groups of people who all possess binoculars collide, we managed to lose one of ours in the mangle. Luckily, Julian was able to escape and rejoin our team. Now you know why GGRO volunteers are suppose to always be wearing their name tags. Maybe we should employ a buddy system as well.

Although we did not take data today, we were able to get practice ewwing and ahhing at Raptors and we all feel more experienced at that. I also learned what I will be doing in the future as a former intern. Apparently, I will spend my time hiding behind trees and waiting for the shrike Allen Fish to come around the corner to jump out and scare him. Good job, Eric! I hope that someday I can make Shrike HawkWatchers wet their pants too!

Meanwhile, back at the Annex, we were able to see what everyone had all expected to see today. A migration! Who needs Hawk Hill? Especially with the top vanishing again! Speaking of which, if anyone does happen to find it lying around in the Bay area somewhere, it would be appreciated if they would return it. And soon.

~Kerry

Fly to the Top

Date

Friday, September 24, 2004

FALCON FOLLY! Hey all you HawkWatchers! Well...it might be disappointing...but we only saw one species of falcon today...which was the American Kestrel right towards the end. The blue winged fellow showed up at around 3pm and then another flitted by at around 3:10pm. It was quite hot on the hill, so I forced myself down towards the pines to take a shade break. Not too much happened. Lack of wind was the culprit for a slow day of hawks. We saw a distant Broad-winged Hawk and a dark chocolatey brown morph Red-tailed Hawk. We had a bear bones team today but with the help of the black dot specialists we pulled off the quadrant system without a hitch. Here's the species break down..... Until next time!

Rachel Norris

Daily HawkCount
(data have not been entirely checked contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture 110
White-tailed Kite 2
Bald Eagle 0
Northern Harrier 8

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk 109
Cooper's Hawk 59
Northern Goshawk 0

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk 7
Broad-winged Hawk 1
Swainson's Hawk 0
Red-tailed Hawk 149
Ferruginous Hawk 0
Rough-legged Hawk 0
Golden Eagle 0

Falcons
American Kestrel 2
Merlin 0
Peregrine Falcon 0
Prairie Falcon 0

Unidentified
Accipiter 19
Buteo 4
Eagle 0
Falcon 0
Raptor 5

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 477
Rate of sightings: 79.5 hph
# Species seen: 10

Fly to the Top

Date

Thursday, September 23, 2003

Sorry for the late entry, folks. You know, stuff happened, and then that other thing and...well, I forgot.

It was a busy day. Nothing to write home about in terms of species -- the usual suspects -- but as of this day we topped the season for total sightings! The weather was lovely, but we definitely could have used more wind. We had to make sure somebody had at least one eye up in the "fifth" quadrant all day because in the still air, the birds were sneaking by, flying high. It was a good day to work on our hawkwatcher's tans as well as our Accipiter ID skills.

Daily HawkCount
(data have not been entirely checked contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture - 219
Osprey - 1
White-tailed Kite - 2
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier - 8

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 173
Cooper’s Hawk - 132
Northern Goshawk

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk - 9
Broad-winged Hawk - 1
Swainson’s Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk - 243
Ferruginous Hawk
Rough-legged Hawk
Golden Eagle

Falcons
American Kestrel - 3
Merlin
Peregrine Falcon - 1
Prairie Falcon

Unidentified Accipiter - 65 Buteo - 12 Eagle Falcon Raptor - 6

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 875
Rate of sightings: 146 hph
# Species seen: 11

Fly to the Top

Date

Wednesday, September 22, 2004

As those in the birding world know, the one thing birders can never be accused of being is competitive. But our team seriously kicked Red-tail today! We knew we had to beat yesterday’s high number of species and sightings and we accomplished this goal. 725 sightings and 14 species! We win!

First off, I’d like to thank the raptors flying in overhead. We could have never done it without you. And it was very gracious of Mr. or Miss. juvenile Golden Eagle to sail directly over our heads. A perfect photo-op. The work the Ferruginous and Broad-wing did is much appreciative, and the always delightful Merlins made some cameos. The dazzling display of extras we encountered, the hundreds of Red-tailss, Accips and Turkey Vultures were outstanding.

Thank you to my wonderful fellow cast and crew members up on the hill. People think it’s a glamorous job to be a HawkWatcher, but the truth is, it’s sometimes down and dirty. Standing through the thick and thin ("thick and thin" what? well, normally fog but today I'd go with smog) and trying to keep track of all these worshipped creatures can be exhausting. I think everyone's eyes were spinning in their sockets by this afternoon.

It’s nap time.

P.S. I’d like to throw out a personal message to a visitor on the hill today. Plato, the juvenile Red-tail recently employed to be our next radiotelemetry bird, please go somewhere interesting because I’m tracking you tomorrow!

Daily HawkCount

(data have not been entirely checked –contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)
Other
Turkey Vulture - 149
White-tailed Kite - 7
Northern Harrier – 4
Allen Fish - 2

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 123
Cooper’s Hawk - 130

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk - 10
Broad-winged Hawk - 1
Red-tailed Hawk - 213
Ferruginous Hawk - 1
Golden Eagle - 1

Falcons
American Kestrel - 5
Merlin - 4
Peregrine Falcon - 1

Unidentified
Accipiter - 60
Buteo - 6
Raptor - 1

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 725
Rate of sightings: 120 hph
# Species seen: 14

Fly to the Top

Date

Tuesday, September 21, 2004

DARK MORPH HEAVEN! Well,as you can tell from the title we had a few dark morphs today. It wasn't that there was a tremendous amount but the species that appeared as dark morphs were surprising. We watched several dark-morphs: a Broad-winged Hawk, a few Red-tails and even a Swainson's Hawk. The day was one of the highest for species number this season, a total of 13 species. WOW!

During one of the rotations during HawkWatch, I was put into the East Quadrant to help out. Good thing I was in the right place at the right time because I spotted a juvenile Ferruginous Hawk....it rocked! I was so excited I could barely utter words and finally managed to get it out. Of course that caused a ruckus and a lot of people came running over to the East Quadrant. It was the best look I've ever had at a Ferruginous... they are such gorgeous birds! Of course I didn't get a look at the Broad-wing (as always) but managed to get a good look at the two Swainson's Hawks that appeared over the hill today. Accipiters were flying all over that place, along with Red-shoulders and Red-tails. Definitely a great day on the hill!

Rachel Norris

Daily HawkCount
(data have not been entirely checked contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other Turkey Vulture 156
White-tailed Kite 2
Bald Eagle 0
Northern Harrier 3

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk 76
Cooper's Hawk 98
Northern Goshawk 0

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk 10
Broad-winged Hawk 1
Swainson's Hawk 2
Red-tailed Hawk 150
Ferruginous Hawk 1
Rough-legged Hawk 0
Golden Eagle 0

Falcons
American Kestrel 6
Merlin 0
Peregrine Falcon 2
Prairie Falcon 0

Unidentified
Accipiter 54
Buteo 9
Eagle 0
Falcon 1
Raptor 3

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 576
Rate of sightings: 96 hph
# Species seen: 13

Fly to the Top

Date

Monday, September 20, 2004

A Coop Swoops,
reaches for a quail,
and snatches only its breath,
finishing
her split-second sprint
from the secret insides of the oak tree
in empty taloned defeat.
The darkness under her arrowed wings
flashed checkerboard and streaks
in her sudden turning retreat.
The long striped tail feathers twist,
maneuvering for control.

The next instant she has vanished,
a spirit of the woven forest and speckled leaves.
She has stolen my own breath,
carrying it away in her sharp grasp,
leaving me standing sill,
peering into the pockets of sky between branches.

Susan Culliney

And now the numbers

Daily HawkCount

(data have not been entirely checked –contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture 136
White-tailed Kite 4
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier 6

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk 32
Cooper’s Hawk 38
Northern Goshawk

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk 8
Broad-winged Hawk
Swainson’s Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk 132
Ferruginous Hawk
Rough-legged Hawk
Golden Eagle

Falcons
American Kestrel
Merlin
Peregrine Falcon 3
Prairie Falcon 1

Unidentified
Accipiter 10
Buteo 1
Eagle
Falcon 1
Raptor 1
Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 329
Rate of sightings: 59.5hph
# Species seen: 10

Fly to the Top

Date

Sunday, September 19, 2004

The astonishing morning rain tapered off quickly and allowed us a full day of Hawk watching. Hawkwatchers and other birders were out in force, but the Raptors didn't seem to know they were expected to show up as well. We had slow quadrants all day, and just barely scraped together 9 species. But really, who can ever tire of watching a Red-ail stilling over the Headlands?

We had some interesting behavioral displays from some adult Red-ails. Early on, we had one adult Tail stoop and hit the ground not far past the fence off the east quadrant. He rose a few seconds later clutching a clump of grass, which is to say the least, weird. Later, we witnessed two stilling Red-tails, one with such an enormous crop, someone remarked that it looked like a Stork. The

Red-tailed pair was calling to each other, then they fell from the sky, chasing each other through the west quadrant in a truly beautiful display of playfulness.

Accips seemed to have dried up after falling from the sky earlier this week. Coops seemed to come often in pairs...or (as Jim Ross mentioned), a two for one coop-on. hyuk hyuk.

Catch ya later hawk fans.

Susan Culliney

Daily HawkCount
(data have not been entirely checked –contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture 126
White-tailed Kite
1 Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk 24
Cooper’s Hawk 38
Northern Goshawk

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk 3
Broad-winged Hawk
Swainson’s Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk 115
Ferruginous Hawk
Rough-legged Hawk
Golden Eagle

Falcons
American Kestrel 2
Merlin
Peregrine Falcon 3
Prairie Falcon

Unidentified
Accipiter 16
Buteo 3
Eagle
Falcon
Raptor 3

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 336
Rate of sightings: 56hph
# Species seen: 9

Fly to the Top

Date

Saturday, September 18, 2004

BUMMED OUT! Well we truly thought today was going to be a huge day, but it turned out that it was a little disappointing. The weather bit the big one. It felt like Michigan fall weather to me. I think at one point today I had six layers on! Talk about going from extreme to extreme. Last Saturday 1 it almost reached 100 degrees and today it felt like it almost reached 0 degrees with that crazy wind! Not many Accipiters today....only a few highlights. The Ferruginous Hawks were in effect- we counted two juveniles on the hill and then had a couple of Peregrines. Some honorable mentions: Red-tailed Hawks (all flavors) and male American Kestrels. Maybe we'll have a nice medium of weather tomorrow that will bring in more birds. Rachel

Norris

Daily Hawk-count
(data have not been entirely checked contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture 183
White-tailed Kite 3
Bald Eagle 0
Northern Harrier 5

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk 30
Cooper's Hawk 23
Northern Goshawk 0

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk 2
Broad-winged Hawk 0
Swainson's Hawk 0
Red-tailed Hawk 134
Ferruginous Hawk 2
Rough-legged Hawk 0
Golden Eagle 0

Falcons
American Kestrel 4
Merlin 0
Peregrine Falcon 3
Prairie Falcon 0

Unidentified
Accipiter 12
Buteo 0
Eagle 0
Falcon 0
Raptor 3

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 404
Rate of sightings: 67.33 hph
# Species seen: 10

Fly to the Top

Date

September 17, 2004

ACCIPITER FLURRY! Well, if you weren't unsure about Accipiters on the hill before peak you definitely would have been today. Man, those little buggers can sure fool ya...I definitely need to spend more time in the slide room and on the hill. We had a great day today all things considered. Some miraculous Ferruginous Hawks showed up...all juvies but beautiful just the same. We almost were fogged off the hill for part of the day due to that crazy white stuff that would just not leave us alone. And I thought we were through with fog!

The fury began with an amazing pair bonding performance by the Peregrines on the bridge. We didn't have as great of day as yesterdays team due to a south wind....booo. But, the winds changed half way through the day and brought the accips in full force around 11am and then died off at about 3pm. Here's hoping we see a Merlin tomorrow! or even a Broadwing!

Rachel Norris

Daily HawkCount
(data have not been entirely checked contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture 86
White-tailed Kite 2
Bald Eagle 0
Northern Harrier 4

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk 108
Cooper's€™s Hawk 79
Northern Goshawk 0

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk 2
Broad-winged Hawk 0
Swainson's Hawk 0
Red-tailed Hawk 165
Ferruginous Hawk 3
Rough-legged Hawk 0
Golden Eagle 0

Falcons American Kestrel 3
Merlin 0
Peregrine Falcon 5
Prairie Falcon 0

Unidentified
Accipiter 25
Buteo 1
Eagle 0
Falcon 2
Raptor 3

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 496
Rate of sightings: hph 82.67
# Species seen: 11

Fly to the Top

September 16, 2004

Daily HawkBlog

If the words "Ferruginous" and/or "Broad-winged" make your ears perk up, then you certainly missed an eventful day on the hill today. Not only were our Accipiter numbers through the roof, but these two exciting Buteos graced us with their glamorous presence today. The Ferrug showed up around noon over Rocky Ridge and was promptly harassed by a Raven that inspired the young bird to show us an impressive sideways somersault. It stayed low and crossed through the North quadrant and out of the Headlands, while the entire team wished it well on its journey. The next sweet bird passed through sometime in the following hour, casually disguised as just another Coop soaring around under that Red-tail high above the North Platform. When it was correctly morphed into a Juv Broad-wing, the entire team again convened for a moment of mutual Buteo appreciation. The weather was lovely: crystal clear sky almost all day long, with more or less westerly winds prevailing, and showers of Sharpies continuing throughout the late morning and early afternoon. The heavy stream of birds and 6 Accipiter ID studies (one of which was actually a Juvenile Peregrine study) kept our team on its toes until about 2:30 when some force, inaudible to the human ear, yelled "HIDE!" and all the birds disappeared. For the last hour, most HawkWatchers quietly relived their Ferruginous moments or just reCooped from the busy, fun day.

Daily HawkCount
(data have not been entirely checked contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other Turkey Vulture - 1
27
Osprey -2
White-tailed Kite - 2
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier - 3

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 184
Cooper’s Hawk - 122
Northern Goshawk

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk - 3
Broad-winged Hawk - 1
Swainson’s Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk - 205
Ferruginous Hawk - 1
Rough-legged Hawk
Golden Eagle

Falcons
American Kestrel - 10
Merlin
Peregrine Falcon - 2
Prairie Falcon

Unidentified
Accipiter - 22
Buteo
Eagle
Falcon
Raptor

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 684
Rate of sightings: 114 hph (high 186 hph: 1-2PM)
# Species seen: 12

Fly to the Top

Date

September 15, 2004

Daily HawkBlog

A morning gentle East wind flipped to a strong West-NW in the afternoon and resulted in an excellent peak week flight of Accipiters, Redtails, and assorted critters. No Broadies yet. Nothing off the charts. After the official count ended at 330 pm, a juv Ferrug swept around the Headlands and banders caught their 6th Prairie F of the season. On the non raptor front, a few small flocks of White-throats and Vaux Swifts around in the am, some flybys of Downy W'pecker, Pygmy Nuthatch, Townsend's Warb, and a ½ dozen Blue-gray Gnatcatchers.

Daily HawkCount
(data have not been entirely checked -contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture 147
White-tailed Kite 4
Bald Eagle 0
Northern Harrier 4

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk 112
Cooper's Hawk 94
Northern Goshawk 0

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk 8
Broad-winged Hawk 0
Swainson's Hawk 0
Red-tailed Hawk 126
Ferruginous Hawk 0
Rough-legged Hawk 0
Golden Eagle 0

Falcons
American Kestrel 2
Merlin 0
Peregrine Falcon 1
Prairie Falcon 0

Unidentified
Accipiter 28
Buteo 0
Eagle 0
Falcon 0
Raptor 0

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 530
Rate of sightings: 88.3 hph
# Species seen: 10

Fly to the Top

September 14, 2004

Daily HawkBlog

It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood, and many Accipiters decided to be our neighbors, if just for a few seconds. For a while the Pines on the west side of Hawk Hill were giving birth to Sharpie after Sharpie. The Sharps played follow the leader in a general southbound direction. I even saw a Sharpie split into two Sharpies over the water. They’re not multiplying in the old-fashioned way anymore.

Speaking of Accipiters, I was wondering what kind of a message they might be sending. Are their flaps and glides merely a way of moving through the wind? Or are they using them as some sort of secret code, similar to the Morse code? Flap, flap, glide. Flap, flap, flap, gliiiiiiide. I would like to know. Or maybe I really don’t want to know.

Some of the cool sightings today were a Merlin (which few of us actually saw – as it was a case for the Black Dot Specialists), a few Peregrines, a Broad-winged Hawk (oops, nope, that was another Red-tail), and an Allen Fish perched on the ground nearby. He eventually flew off to the other side of the hill. Another Allen Fish was sighted later in the day – which brought up the usual discussion of whether or not he was the same Allen Fish we had already counted. Since we are measuring activity levels and not individuals we put down another tick mark.

Flap, glide, flap,

Kerry

Daily HawkCount
(data have not been entirely checked –contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture - 103
White-tailed Kite - 5
Northern Harrier - 6
Allen Fish - 2

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 69
Cooper’s Hawk - 38

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk - 11
Red-tailed Hawk - 116

Falcons
American Kestrel - 8
Merlin - 1
Peregrine Falcon - 3

Unidentified
Accipiter - 13
Buteo - 3
Raptor - 3

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 379
Rate of sightings: 63.17 hph
# Species seen: 11

Fly to the Top

Monday, September 13, 2004

Daily HawkBlog:

For those HawkWatchers with Eagle eyes, today's treat was a late afternoon Bald Eagle (juv or subadult) circling high over Bolinas Ridge among some TVs and Red-tails. In the brief viewing I got in the scope, I was able to witness an adult Red-tailed Hawk diving on the Eagle. On an otherwise slowish day, it's easy to wish a far-off bird into something cool, so it was great to see the size comparison as a reassurance that this bird, a speck twice the size of the Red-tailed Hawk speck, was indeed an Eagle. Mr. Behr caught the white carpal lines and flat wings in time to convince the team that it was indeed a Bald to boot.

Other highlights were two close Osprey in one view and a fair number of Accipiters. It seems the Coops have fallen off radar recently, as almost every Accipiter we saw over the hill today turned out to be a Sharpie. Still on the milk cartons are the missing Buteos: Ferruginous, Broad-wingeds, and Rough-leggeds. The Broad-wings should be returning any day now,so keep your binos around your neck and at least one eye on the sky!

Daily HawkCount
(data have not been entirely checked contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture 125
White-tailed Kite 2
Bald Eagle 1
Northern Harrier 2

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk 26
Cooper’s Hawk 26
Northern Goshawk

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk 4
Broad-winged Hawk 0
Swainson’s Hawk 0
Red-tailed Hawk 139
Ferruginous Hawk 0
Rough-legged Hawk 0
Golden Eagle 0

Falcons
American Kestrel 6
Merlin 0 Peregrine Falcon 1
Prairie Falcon 0

Unidentified
Accipiter 6
Buteo 2
Eagle
Falcon
Raptor 1

Total sightings: 342
Hawks per Hour: 57
Species: 10

Hayley Ross

Fly to the Top

Sunday, September 12, 2004 - E-mail problems have been keeping the HawkWatch reports in the Headlands.

Fly to the Top

Saturday, September 11, 2004

Daily HawkBlog

The team that shops together, stays together. This morning we were skeptical of the banders' prediction that the fog was burning off quickly (what can I say? we have trust issues). So we drove up to the visitor's center to go for a short walk and to check out the new GGRO shirts (Yes! They're now in! Get them while they're hot, hot, HOT!). The highlight of the walk was seeing a few Angels (or White-tailed Kites, if you prefer - Black-shouldered, White-tailed, why not just change their name to Angels?). We did not see any bobcats, as we did not go on Bobcat trail, nor any wolves, as we did not go on Wolf Ridge trail. We learned at the visitor center that you should stare at a mountain lion, avoid eye contact with a coyote and wink at an eagle. Should you confuse those....well, you don't want to confuse those.

When we finally managed to meander up to the hill, lo and behold, we had blue sky! The banders weren't pulling our legs, after all. It was a great day for Red-tails and Accipiters. We saw more Sharpies than we have been, which I was told would happen (but again with the trust issue, I didn't believe it). I'm also told there's many more to come! There was even a Coop as a guest at the Banding Demo thanks to the Banding squad. The Hawk Talk and Banding Talk went very well and seemed to get some visitors interested. Hehehe, awesome...more potential recruits into the GGRO cult.

The fog started creeping into some of the quadrants later in the day. Apparently, some people haven't heard of leaving a quadrant better than you found it. But before the fog showed, we were able to spot some Red-shoulders, some Ospreys and dark-morph Red-tails. I think one dark-morphs was very proud of its mutation - excuse me - individuality, as it circled nearby around eye-level. Show-off. I must admit I'm jealous.

Someone, and I'm not going to report who this time because he supplied me with chocolate, reported an unidentified raptor! Oh, the shame! A raptor that they could not identify! Normally we'd throw him off the hill!

Join us next time, same place, same Saturday II. But please, B.Y.O.B. (bring your own birds),

~Kerry Neijstrom

Daily HawkCount

(data have not been entirely checked –contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture - 72
White-tailed Kite - 2
Northern Harrier - 1
Allen Fish - 0

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 16
Cooper’s Hawk - 11

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk - 2
Red-tailed Hawk - 99
Imaginary Rough-legged Hawks - 17.3

Falcons
American Kestrel - 6

Unidentified
Accipiter - 10
Buteo - 1
Falcon - 3
Raptor -1!!!

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 226
Rate of sightings: 64.57 hph
# Species seen: 9

Fly to the Top

Friday, September 10, 2004

THE FOG IS BACK! Yes folks, it's true the fog is back and you can certainly tell by our numbers today that it made for a bad day of hawk watching. Although we all enjoyed each others company, we were about to call it quits a few times due to fog. Gusts reached up to 20 mph. However, we made the best of the situation and tried entertaining ourselves.

The fog lifted a little by about 1:30pm, enough so we could actually see Berkeley and Mt. Tam. Then it happened!!! A Prairie Falcon was captured by the skilled team at Hawk Blind...and thus began an exciting day..or what was left of it. Some northwesterly winds brought in the accipiters...and a glorious appearing of a Red-shouldered Hawk. The highlight of our day was most likely the Prairie and of course watching a very bold juvenile Cooper's Hawk chasing a Raven. As Ann so eloquently put it; it was like we were watching hawk road rage. All I have to say is...the fog better go away ...or else!

Rachel Norris

Daily Hawk-count
(data have not been entirely checked contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use) Other
Turkey Vulture 82
White-tailed Kite 0
Bald Eagle 0
Northern Harrier 3

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk 3
Cooper's Hawk 12
Northern Goshawk 0

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Broad-winged Hawk 0
Swainson's Hawk 0
Red-tailed Hawk 82
Ferruginous Hawk 0
Rough-legged Hawk 0
Golden Eagle 0

Falcons American Kestrel 1
Merlin 0
Peregrine Falcon 0
Prairie Falcon 0 (note: We couldn't count this falcon because it was not spotted before it was captured at Hawk Blind. We only got a glimpse when the bird was released at a point where we could see it.)

Unidentified
Accipiter 6
Buteo 2
Eagle 0
Falcon 0
Raptor 0

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 192
Rate of sightings: 32 hph
# Species seen: 6

Fly to the Top

Thursday, September 9, 2004

Daily HawkBlog

Today flew by like a pair of Kestrels at Happy Hour. The HawkWatchers were greeted in the morning with refreshments: cinnamoninously yummy "monkey bread" (from a bakery on West Portal) and FOG. Yes, after these last few days of taking HawkWatch data under the influence of sun-induced delirium, a little fog was welcomed. After the first hour, the skies were crystal-clear, the wind that brought the fog through kept the team cool and sane, and the birds were flying. Species-wise, not a huge day, but all quadrants were busy for most of the morning and early afternoon spotting and passing Red-tails, TVs, Cooper's Hawks, and the occasional Kestrel, Sharpie or Osprey. We also had the opportunity sharpen our Sharpie reflexes as we participated in four Accipiter ID studies. Come mid-afternoon, the westerly wind we'd been enjoying all day picked up with a vengeance and sent a stink from the stables our way but not much else. All in all, though, it was a fun and smoothly run day: a great end to the heat spell and a good warm-up for the quickly approaching "peak weeks."

~Hayley Ross

Daily HawkCount
(data have not been entirely checked contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture 147
White-tailed Kite 1
Bald Eagle 0
Northern Harrier 0

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk 8
Cooper’s Hawk 10
Northern Goshawk 0

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Broad-winged Hawk 0
Swainson’s Hawk 0
Red-tailed Hawk 201
Ferruginous Hawk 0
Rough-legged Hawk 0
Golden Eagle 0

Falcons
American Kestrel 6
Merlin 0
Peregrine Falcon 0
Prairie Falcon 0

Unidentified
Accipiter 4
Buteo 2
Eagle 0
Falcon 0
Raptor 17

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 404
Rate of sightings: 67.3 hph
# Species seen: 8

Fly to the Top

Wednesday, September 8, 2004

Daily HawkCount

(data have not been entirely checked –contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)

Other
Turkey Vulture: 146
Osprey: 2
White-tailed Kite: 4
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier: 2

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk: 2
Cooper’s Hawk: 14
Northern Goshawk

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk
Broad-winged Hawk
Swainson’s Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk: 177
Ferruginous Hawk
Rough-legged Hawk
Golden Eagle

Falcons
American Kestrel: 6
Merlin
Peregrine Falcon
Prairie Falcon

Unidentified
Accipiter: 2
Buteo: 3
Eagle
Falcon
Raptor: 4

Daily HawkWrap
Sightings: 362
Rate of sightings: 62.96 Hawks per Hour
# Species seen: 8

Fly to the Top

Tuesday, September 7, 2004 - Hey all you hawk fiends! Well..no surprise, today was another hot one. We didn't have a good breeze until about 1pm; boy were we thankful for it when it came. Mary was great about letting us all take a rest in the shade. Today was kind of a disappointer! We only saw 8 species, with the majority of the count being Turkey Vultures and Red-tailed Hawks. But we made the best of the day and had a good time bird watching.

We spotted some smaller Buteos today hoping that maybe we'd get the first Broad-winged Hawk of the season, but unfortunately lighting was not on our side. The Raptor was pretty far out but we followed it until it disappeared and just couldn't get any field marks whatsoever to make a positive ID. So our feathered friend went down in GGRO history as an undoc Buteo...poor little fella. I'm aching to see a Broadwing and a Merlin so maybe it'll happen soon. Some honorable passerine mentions today are as follows: Cedar Waxwings and Blue-gray Gnatcatchers.

Rachel Norris

Daily HawkCount
(data have not been entirely checked contact Buzz Hull at bhull@parksconservancy.org for final results and for permission to use)
Other
Turkey Vulture 150
Osprey 3
White-tailed Kite 2
Bald Eagle 0
Northern Harrier 6

Accipiters
Sharp-shinned Hawk 0
Cooper's Hawk 3
Northern Goshawk 0

Buteos & Aquila
Red-shouldered Hawk 2
Broad-winged Hawk 0
Swainson's Hawk 0
Red-tailed Hawk 90
Ferruginous Hawk 0
Rough-legged Hawk 0
Golden Eagle 0

Falcons
American Kestrel 1
Merlin 0
Peregrine Falcon 0
Prairie Falcon 0

Unidentified
Accipiter 4
Buteo 2
Eagle 0
Falcon 0
Raptor 0

Daily HawkWrap

Sightings: 291
Rate of sightings: 48.5 hph
# Species seen: 8

Fly to the Top

Monday, September 6, 2004

Labor Day

Eh.

Let’s not beat around the bush, pretty boring day. Warm weather (81-91 degrees) and steady breezes, however, kept the team in very jolly spirits.

Due to the lack of “glam hawks” to impress me, I’d have to say that today’s highlight happened midmorning, in the hottest part of the day before the breezes picked up: Jim Brulet, after going missing for a spell, reappeared on the hill, unveiled a cantaloupe, and kindly distributed slices all over the hill. Soon, hot and weary HawkWatchers were all nibbling on their pieces of fruit like happy toddlers. Thanks, Jim. And we can’t forget our fearless dayleader’s shade contraption for data recorders. It was like being whisked away to a resort on a tropical island for an hour.

Aside from Turkey Vultures and Red-tailed Hawks, birds seen today were 2 Osprey, 1 White-tailed Kite, 6 Harriers, 1 nice showing of a very low 5th quadrant Juv Sharpie, 3 Coops, 5 Kestrels and a very far-off Red-Shouldered Hawk.

Total Sightings: 304
Hawks per Hour: 50.7
Species: 9

Hayley Ross

Fly to the Top

Sunday, September 5, 2004 - Sun. Thirst. Heat...from the shining orb above and the baking earth below. Though my natural instincts screamed at me to remove myself from the scorching daylight and retreat to the cool shade, I recalled vaguely that I had a reason, a purpose for standing there in the blazing light...it's coming back to me...of course...counting birds of prey!

But no one could have withstood the no wind and 95 degree heat alone. Bless the watermelon bringers! Thank your lucky scope for the sliver of shade it provides! Sing praise for the miracle of sunscreen and wide brim hats!

Whether brought on by delerium or by our heat-stroke hawkwatching skills, we saw a lot of birds. TVs and Ret-Tails were rampant, despite the heat. Many Red-Tails seemed to be taking advantage of the hot air lift and were seen high in the 5th quadrant, sailing over our heads in what must have been a nice cool altitude. Northern Harriers skimmed along the sun burnt land, Coops and Sharpies and Kestrels were seen as well as a few Red-shouldereds. The only Hawk who seemed as beat by the heat as ourselves was the White-tailed Kite who sat in a tree all day.

The photo today was brought to you by Sunscreen, don't go Hawkwatching without it. And...dare I say it?...Bring back the (high) fog and cold west wind!!!!

Total Sightings: 432
Hawks per Hour: 72.3
Species: 10

Susan Culliney

Fly to the Top

Saturday, September 4, 2004 - HOT,HOT,HOT! It reached a high of 94 on the hill today...woah! The weather certainly brought in the birds and the visitors to Hawk Hill. I actually added a bird to my life list today; a juvenile Swainson's Hawk. It was far away but I got a good look in the scope at it once it had been identified by the North quadrant. We tried hydrating as best we could and lathered ourselves up with sunscreen to protect against the sun...but the sun is way better than the fog I must say.

Hawk Talks and Banding demos started today. They went quite smoothly except that the banding docent was unable to get a bird without a full crop at the proper time; but hey, there's always next week.

After a death-defying climb onto the platform next to the West Platform, I managed to get the banding demo sign down...it was quite a trip. Thanks again to Bridget for helping me get a lift up to the platform! The birds were plentiful and we were quite happy...but everyone was aching to see a Prairie Falcon. I tried to make one appear a couple times by turning some gulls into Prairies but no one was buying into that bit.

Some raptor flavors of the day included: the Swainson's Hawk, a juv. Peregrine, lots of Cooper's Hawks, billions of TV's, many Red-tails and some Sharpies. It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood, put quite nicely by the man himself...Mr. Rogers!

Rachel Norris

Total Sightings: 399
Hawks per Hour: 66.5
Species: 11

Fly to the Top

Friday, September 3, 2004 - We didn't start the fire, but it was always burning, at least during the hour I was on the North quadrant. I heard it was started by a GGRO volunteer dressed up in a Smokey the Bear costume and burning his cell phone because it wouldn't stop playing the tune to "The Itsy-Bitsy Spider". But don't believe everything that you hear, just everything you read.

We identified about 5 Canine domesticus that were hanging out around the rifle range, until remote control vehicles scared them off. As you can imagine, the noise pollution level was high today. It was scaring away all of our raptors!

Then our resident bobcat went chasing after the remote control vehicles because it knew we were having difficulty finding much excitement in the sky. Thanks, buddy.

However, this was a case of a good deed gone awry. From out of the East, I was able to spot a Prairie falcon which stooped down on the unsuspecting cat, lifted it up into a nearby candy apple tree, and had cat and fish for dunch (or linner if you prefer). When it finished up it washed its talons for hygienic purposes and flew away. That's when others verified my Prairie sighting. It did not wipe its beak on a napkin like a polite bird would do. That juv must have been raised by Ospreys, of which we spotted quite a few.

I saw a Sharp-shinned that was otherwise known as a Cooper's to some on the hill. And then later a Cooper's was seen which was also known as a Sharpie to others. But then later I pondered over it some more, and realized that what we really witnessed was a bird who likes to go by Baby Cakes and another that likes to be called Puddin'.

It was 91 degrees on the hill and there is such a thing as getting too much sun.

Total count: 351
Hawks per hour: 58.5
Number of species: 11

^^^ Kerry Neijstrom

Fly to the Top

Thursday, September 2, 2004 - Today was a low-key day. It was warm and sunny and lovely, like a photograph, and with just about as much movement. In between the highlights -- some great close-ups on some juvie Coops, an Osprey, and a Prairie Falcon (!) -- it was a nice day to play "ID the Bander" or to practice your HawkWatcher Yoga. Other raptors witnessed today were the usuals: Red-tailed Hawks, Turkey Vultures, Kestrels, Osprey, White-tailed Kites, Northern Harriers, two Red-shoulders, and a Sharpie. We also saw a couple of large flocks of White-throated Swifts and Cedar Wax-wings.

Total sightings: 267
Hawks per Hour: 44.5
Species: 10

Hayley Ross

Fly to the Top

Wednesday, September 1, 2004 - Hey there hawkophiles. We had a great day up on the hill. The morning dawned cool crisp and clear and the fog kept its distance all day. Though the sun beat down on us, we found the cold wind in the west and north quadrants invigorating. So we got sun AND wind burned, hooray!

As for birds, we saw 10 (!) Osprey, mostly small "Ms" on the north horizon, but some gave us good looks. I guess with all those humans on the hill with binocs and scopes, the Osprey smelled something fishy going on and came over to investigate. It was also fun to have all those Coops, 12 in total, fly over and give us some practice before accip season. I think I might just possibly perhaps be able to tell some of the time that it could be a Coop instead of a Sharpie. Turkey Vultures made quite a few appearances, and Kestrels buzzed by frequently, you gotta love those scrappy Falcons. We also had a juvie Ferrug come by the bridge just as we were going to pack it up. And of course who could forget the Tails? They wagged all day.

The photo shows Anne fearlessly recording data whilst sitting amongst the numerous backpacks.

Good day, good fun, good bye.

Total: 333
HPH: 55.5
Species: 10

Susan Culliney

Fly to the Top

Tuesday, August 31, 2004 - Hey all you Hawk-watching Fans! Get ready for this. We had a Juvenile Golden Eagle today as well as a Prairie Falcon on the hill. YOWZER! I was so psyched when we saw it...simply amazing. Jerry brought this amazing minestrone soup that he made...and we shared some great bread and cheese...All I have to say is...thanks to all the volunteers who have ever fed me because I feel like I've been spoiled these past two months...I haven't ever eaten this well. So thanks... anyways.. back to the Hawks...

I would've considered today to have been Red-tail Day...we spotted 174 Red-tails with many juveniles..but lots of adults too. If I had no idea what a Red-tail looked like before today I certainly know what they look like now....we even had a rufous morph and a dark morph. Osprey seemed to be in full force along with the Peregrines on the bridge. I must not have gotten the memo but I think Kestrel Cocktail Hour was canceled today because we only saw 4 of them. We had a great look at a flock of Cedar Waxwings that passed by the hill along with 31 White-Throated Swifts, various swallows and one lonely Rock Wren. The nice weather seems to be bringing in the birds.....finally!

Rachel Norris

Total sightings: 366
Hawks per Hour: 61.0
Species: 11

Fly to the Top

Monday, August 30, 2004 - This intern icecube has finally defrosted her fingers enough to bring you these words. The hill was barely brushing the fog bottoms in the morning, and there was a clearing trend throughout the day, ending with our highest visibility as we were leaving. Highlights were a couple great looks at coops, an osprey who came in close and flashed its carpal patches, and the red tailed acrobat hawks. The coolest thing was the western breeze which we clocked at up to 26mph. And with a still numbed brain, windburned cheeks and frosty but flexible fingers, I bid thee all a good night.

Enjoy the photo of the Steve-o-scope! That must be what we look like to birds!

Total sightings: 268
Hawks per Hour: 44.7
Species: 8
Susan Culliney

Fly to the Top

Sunday August 29, 2004 - The honeymoon's over. We were fogged off the hill today after a ridiculously beautiful weekend of clear sky. But our team spent the day on a lovely stroll on the Miwok to the Bobcat trails and was so lucky as to get a great look in the scope at a Loggerhead Shrike (second sighting this season of a rare bird for the Headlands!) and a Green Heron (also super cool). If you'd like to become a member of my new satellite nonprofit, the Gerbode Valley Non-Raptor Observatory, please send payment directly to me. Send hawks, too.

Over and out.

Hayley Ross

Fly to the Top

Saturday, August 28, 2004 - At the party today, I mean HawkWatch, everyone was able to say farewell to Lillian, the former Saturday II Dayleader. She is leaving us for Cape May, NJ and the sentiment from her returning watchers was that she will be greatly missed. Good luck, Lillian!

I learned that this team is wonderful at preparing delicious cuisine, or at least has great taste in purchasing it. Platters of veggies, chips, dip, quesadillas, baked goods, curry, cookies, chocolates...it was ridiculous how well we ate. And I personally thank the team for supporting my chocolate addiction. Cups of sparkling cider and bubbly (also referred to as champagne by some) were passed around. Because if there are not many raptors flying around, that's one way to try to double them!

And oh yeah, that reminds me, we also looked for raptors. Some of the highlights of the day were good performances by a Cooper's, a White-tailed Kite (or was that an angel?) and an Osprey. But we didn't see any Sharpies. What a bunch of party-poopers.

I don't want to talk about weather anymore, so instead I'll mention that people showed more skin than I'm use to seeing on the hill. Everyone wore t-shirts and shorts and lathered on a certain type of protective lotion. The last half-hour Watchers were more fully dressed. I'll let you figure out why.

Total sighting: 263
Hawks per Hour: 43.83
Species: 9

~Kerry Neijstrom

Fly to the Top

Friday, August 27, 2004 - All I can say is SWEET! We had an awesome day on the hill with another sighting of a Prairie Falcon and a great look at an Osprey overhead in the fifth quadrant. We hosted 18 Kestrels today. Kestrel Cocktail Hour started at about 1pm and ended at around 2pm. By 2pm they probably decided that they had too many grasshopper/songbird cocktails and decided to leave before they became too intoxicated! It seems that Kestrels always show up at around 1pm and 5pm...so we deemed each hour Kestrel Cocktail Hour...makes things more exciting. It was Friday II's first day up on the hill and all went really well. We rocked when it came to passing birds....lots of Turkey Vultures were hanging out today.

I have a suspicion that if I bring more chocolate next time we'll see more Prairie Falcons. I'm beginning to believe the banders when they say chocolate is good luck...it's been good luck every-time that I've been on the hill and banding! Some other great sightings on the hill today were: White-tailed Kites, the very lovable Red-tailed Hawks, a couple Red-shouldered Hawks and lots of Accipiters. It was pretty hot and sunny with a strong wind out of the North-Northeast. I hope my next HawkWatch day is as beautiful as it was today... definitely beats the fog.

Rachel Norris

Total sightings: 267
Hawk per Hour: 44.5
Species: 11

Fly to the Top

Thursday, August 26, 2004 - It was so sunny this morning that I had to wipe the fog of the INSIDE of my window to check the weather. And what a strange new experience, walking outside in a T-shirt at 7:30 AM in the Headlands. On my way to work, it was apparent that I wasn't the only one enjoying the beautiful morning: Rodeo Lagoon was a picture of pure bliss as birds of all kinds with anthropomorphized grins on their faces went about their morning routines against a backdrop of glistening glassy water and a cornflower blue sky. A young snowy plover tip-toed around the mud on the west side of the lagoon. Always nice to start out a rare day with a rare bird.

Now, to the hill! Birds seemed to be popping up in every direction all morning and we'd hit number 9 of our 10 species for the day by noon (the tenth was a distant speck of a Prairie Falcon somewhere near Slacker around 1:30). Two Vaux's Swifts passing by made a nice addition to our tally of raptors, which included the usual multitude of RTs and TVs, also Coops, Sharpies, Red-shoulders, Kestrels, Harriers, a White-tailed Kite, and a whoppin' EIGHT Osprey. One Osprey was so kind as to circle around between North and East quadrants for long enough for everyone to get a great look in the mid-morning light. By the afternoon, bird action mostly slowed down (except for the TVs and RT kids) and my prevailing memory of the rest of the day was the crazy new feeling of the heat of the sun. I'm sure we all looked like we'd spent the day in a toaster and it was definitely time for a siesta after we came down from an outstanding August day on Hawk Hill.

Total Sightings: 375
Hawks Per Hour: 62.5
Species: 10

Hayley Ross

Fly to the Top

Wednesday, August 25, 2004 - Our official Dayleader, David Jesus, has been kidnapped and held for ransom. No need to worry though, Tom Delebo took to the orange hat quite nicely. There may be some problems when the captors release our old Dayleader and he comes back to find his old territory already occupied. Perhaps Tom and David will take to the skies for some great aerial displays of male aggression with razor-sharp talons pointed against razor-sharp talons!

Or maybe I'm just going a little loco from not seeing very much action on the hill.

To everyone who said that today would clear up: I would like to inform you that you are WRONG!

BUT, we did have a great time and a lot of laughs were had by this jolly team. We started the day by watching a naughty video of raptors in the darkened room at the Fort. I won't go into graphic detail, but let's say we saw some bird behavior which was not rated G. My poor, innocent eyes!

We needed to get some air after that, so Tom took us around the lagoon and Richard Ferris gave us some shorebird ID pointers. Within one to two binocular fields we were able to see a Great Blue Heron, a Snowy Egret, a few Killdeer, some Mallards, a Lesser Yellowlegs and a Dowitcher. Susan was busy shooting them. (She didn't have her rifle today so she was only armed with our scope and her digital camera).

We heard rumors over the radio that there might be some clearing on the hill so we headed up. How do these rumors get started? We did get to practice passing birds, and we pretended some pretty incredible ones. For instance, how many other teams have witnessed a Broad-shouldered Hawk and an adult juvenile Harrier in just one day? We also saw a Cooper's Hawk, but I swear we didn't imagine it. Unless we all had lost our minds... It kept flying back and forth, looking like it was stuck in within the fog, not sure where to go. Bad for it, good for us.

Total count: FOG
Fog per hour: 100%
Number of species of fog: 2

~Kerry Neijstrom

Fly to the Top

Tuesday, August 24,2004 - FOGGED OUT!

The fog just won't stay away...however...it did not stop the Tuesday II team from getting outside today. We strategized and decided to go visit the Great Horned Owl's Nest in the Eucalyptus grove off of the Bobcat Trail. As we sauntered up the trail we saw a couple species of raptors: White-tailed Kite, American Kestrel, Red-tailed Hawk, Northern Harrier and Turkey Vultures. I did however, get a nice rump shot of a bobcat today...quite exciting. While hiking we saw a couple songbirds...the most exciting being a Loggerhead Shrike...and ooohwee...did we get a good look-at-it. It's probably still hanging out on the trail marker.

Instead of torturing ourselves with slide quizzes when we got back, we decided to watch good ol' Morley Nelson in a film called "Hawks up Close". We munched on cookies and a fabulous dip with crackers that Pat brought to share. It was still a good day even though we had to call off Hawk Watch.

Rachel Norris

Fly to the Top

Monday, August 23, 2004 - Foggled again. After watching Morley Nelson's "WORLD OF RAPTORS" instead of slides, we trooped over to the Bobcat Trail in hopes of spotting some Hawks lying low. We passed a group of hikers who assured us numerous times that there were Quail on the path up ahead. We did get some views of the fat little birds, as well as some small forest birds among the willows. Later, after watching the Kestrel channel for some time, we were rewarded with the stunning view of a pair of Coyotes on the ridge. One of the canines was wearing a radio collar. Our hike ended near the eucalyptus grove on the Bobcat trail where we spotted not one, not two, but three Great Horned Owls roosting in the breezy trees. We wondered about the screechy angry call one of them was making and whether that made him a juvenile, though all three were clothed in, what looked to us amateur Owlers, adult feathers. Taking a hint from the Owl's irritated noises, w! e left the trio and headed home, the hill still shrouded in mists.

Susan Culliney

Fly to the Top

Sunday, August 22, 2004 - The word on the hill today was: SSSSSSLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOWWWWWWW. Contrary to other days you will read about, the hawks were lying low today. You know it's slow when conversation turns to grammar and a TV sighting is cause for a cheer from all quadrants.

Things began well enough, some red tails, numerous turkey vultures pulling their reappearing acts, a couple kites here and there, and a great look at a juvie Peregrine who probably wondered why the animals on the hill rushed to one side as he flew over. There was more quadrant abandoning as the day slowly progressed and the number of species wouldn't budge. Sometime after noon, the vultures circled directly overhead, and we worried briefly that a HawkWatcher had died of boredom.

By the time the last hour had rolled around, I had turned to observing primate behavior on the roads below. It is quite interesting to note ecological costs and benefits to parking and sibling competition for parental resources. We in the south quadrant were nearly about to drop our binocs (or "bins" for you pros) in despair when we were sustained by the longest line of Pelicans I have ever seen: 42 flying in a row.

But don't despair! There are birds out there, I've seen them! The GGRO doesn't just lure you up to the hill with delectable descriptions of Rough-legged Hawks and Prairie Falcons only to enslave you into counting Turkey Vultures. In the weeks to come there will be enough raptor action to satisfy even the greediest of HawkWatchers. But until then, keep your eyes sharp, and keep counting Pelicans.

Total sightings: 207
Hawks per Hour: 34.5
Species: 7

Susan Culliney

Fly to the Top

Saturday, August 21, 2004- Woohoo! A Prairie Falcon was in our midst today. I didn't get a great look because of the glare of the sun...but a few others saw the dark auxillaries and light plumage. It was truly a great day on the hill. It turned out to be hot and sunny but still with a gentle breeze. We had so many hawks over the hill today..265! It's the highest so far for the season, but I'm positive we'll see more as time goes on.

All I have to say is that Bob Power's Saturday I team rocked today! We had great communication with each other and worked on our passing skills. There were a few warblers that showed up on the hill today; a Hermit Warbler, some Townsend's Warblers and a Yellow Warbler. Some raptor highlights (besides the amazing Prairie) were: Sharp-shinned Hawks, White-tailed Kites, Cooper's Hawks and over 90 Red-tails...yowzer! It finally feels like the migration has started.

Rachel Norris

Total sightings: 265
Hawks per Hour: 44.17
Species: 9

Fly to the Top

We had an awesome day up on Hawk Hill, besides having to endure the fog that appears each morning, on cue, before HawkWatch. But we still saw 9 species today. There were a few highlights. We got a great look at a juvenile Cooper's Hawk that was tormenting the resident ravens on the hill. He sat perched down near the west platform for a while and then flew off. I witnessed some California Quail giving themselves dust baths...which was kinda exciting since I've never seen that before. There were sightings of 4 dark morph Red-tailed Hawks.

We actually thought we were going to get fogged out today. We trudged up to Hawk Hill anyway and endured the weather til it cleared a bit. Fog somehow draws in more raptors; it's a mystery. Some highlights of species: Osprey, White-tailed Kites, American Kestrels, Cooper's Hawks, and a few Red-shouldered Hawks. Edgar and Allen, our two resident ravens, are always a joy to watch...they seem to liven up our sour attitudes when the hill is fogged in. They keep us on our toes and ready for that Prairie Falcon that might just miraculously appear on the hill.

Rachel Norris

Total sightings: 147
Hawks per Hour: 26.73
Species: 9

Fly to the Top

Thursday August 19, 2004 -We blew as hard as we could but we couldn't make the fog go away. The Wicked Fog Machine of the West -- the Pacific Ocean -- hurled that white stuff across the Headlands nonstop from morning till noon when we began to give up hope. Unsurprisingly, there was fun and soup to be had as we whiled away the hours until quittin' time. On our way to search for barn owls in -- go figure -- the barn behind the stables, we spotted an Allen Fish near the lagoon. He was poised with camera in hand, ready to catch Nessy, the infamous G.G.R.O. (Golden Gate River Otter? -- I don't think they exist), and we joined him for awhile. When we remembered that we were here to see raptors, not otters, we moved on to the next logical stop -- the Marin Headlands Visitor's Center. When we were done shopping, and finally made it to the humungous Presidio Stables barn, we didn't find any owls, but a male Kestrel, a juvie Coop, an adult Red-tail, and a Bobcat all made appearances within a few minutes of each other as we walked away from the barn. Next, we all stood mesmerized by the angelic flight of a couple of White-tailed Kites that were hunting above the "Petri Plains" across from the stables. Over lunch (much improved by Ann's outstanding potato leek soup), we deliberated over the decision to brave Hawk Hill or watch a movie. A little eavesdropping on the banders' radio conversations regarding the weather conditions tipped the balance towards the video. And that was our day. Next time, hawks. They will be visible. Oh yes, they WILL be visible. - Hayley Ross

Fly to the Top

Wednesday, August 18, 2004 - We got some amazing looks at raptors today........on the slide show! Then we tried our luck by driving up to the annex.

A Buck (deer, not dollar bill) was spotted on the top of a hill. It looked like it was looking at us, and we were looking at it, but two Coyotes were also looking around a few feet from it. It seemed like the Buck might have been protecting its family against these two clowns, but we didn't know for sure because no one went up there to ask them. The Coyotes found something to nibble on and eventually all three sauntered out of sight. A Prairie Falcon might have been flying overhead but we were too busy watching the discovery channel without the television.

Our team lugged our hopeful bodies up for a breathtaking view. It was breathtaking because that steep climb up the hill took our breath away. The east quadrant had the most visual stimulation - unless you are fascinated by the movement of fog.

Some small attempts were made to produce poetry about the predicament, but didn't get much further than:

oh fog
how I loathe thee
let me count the ways
as I'm not counting birds.

There may be some room for improvement.

We headed down only a few minutes before 3:30, laughing about the likeliness of seeing anything else today. Then a Cooper's Hawk flew right beside us as we walked down.

Total sightings: 52
Hawks per hour: 15.8
Species: 5

-Kerry Neijstrom

Fly to the Top

Tuesday, August 17, 2004 - Let me get straight to the point: we saw a Ferruginous and it was Fantastic. The juvenile was showcased twice over the east quadrant smoothly sailing high over the bay. We would have liked to join it, but no one touches THE big white bird.

Most of the morning and later in the afternoon we had to fight off the fog the old-fashioned way - a little kung-fu mixed with some bread and stinky goat cheese.

We also met up with some of the usual suspects around the hill - Red-tails, Coops, Kestrels that swooped right over just to say "Hi," Turkey Vultures, Harrier and an Osprey- heyhey.

Total sightings: 104 raptor sightings
Hawks per Hour: 19.8 hawks per hour
Species: 8

--Kerry Neijstrom

Fly to the Top

Monday, August 16, 2004 - Rejoice, for the HawkWatch season has officially started.

Though the mountain be shrouded in fog, we intrepid Monday I raptor counters will always climb to the top of the hill. The early fog parted periodically dispelling Red Tails to the wind before swallowing them up again. A white tailed kite shook the mists off her feathers long enough to give our hungry eyes a wonderful look at such a beautiful bird. Later, the clouds burned away, offering the spectacular views of the headlands and the bay area, our accipiter skills came in handy as a Cooper's Hawk flew by, later a Sharp-shinned Hawk, and another Coop crowning off our day. Kestrels cavorted in the ever increasing sunshine. Add Turkey Vultures, Peregrines dancing on the horizons, far-off Harriers and a microscopic Osprey to the mix and that would about describe our day. Looking at the data sheet, two Red-shoulder Hawks seemed to have slipped by as well.

Here's to a great season with high numbers of the usuals as well as plenty of vagrants and seldom-seens to spice things up.

Susan Culliney

Total sightings: 144
Hawks per hour: 24
Total species: 10

Fly to the Top

Sunday, August 15, 2004 - You want visibility? I got yer visibility right here! Finally, a misty morning with dubious prospects comes through for the Hawk Watchers, turning into a blissfully clear day. Turkey Vultures and Red-tailed Hawks (especially kids) abounded. A few Harriers, Kestrels, Ospreys, a Cooper's Hawk and a Peregrine graced our presence, but the most unusual sightings for the day were a Black Swift and a Purple Martin. Those Blue-gray Gnatcatchers sure are cheek-pinchin' cute, too. Bird traffic slowed down around 2 PM, but the novelty of weather alone made for a thoroughly enjoyable day. Stay tuned for Prairie Falcons, everyone; the time is ripe for a sandy-colored phantom of a falcon to emerge from against the hillside when you least expect it! Hayley Ross

Now, the numbers:

Total sightings: 65
Hawks per Hour: 21.7 HPH
Species: 7

Fly to the Top

Saturday, August 14, 2004 - A report wasn't filed today but the Webmaster was in the Headlands today and is pretty sure that the fog drove HawkWatch off the hill...if they ever bothered to go up.

Fly to the Top

Friday, August 13, 2004 - We had a great Friday II HawkWatch. I met more volunteers who are from Michigan..go Michiganders!....I'm surrounded, but "it's a good thing" as Martha Stewart would say. However I'm not so sure I wowed my team with my bird identification skills seeing as how I made a piece of seaweed magically turn into a bird sitting on the beach near the lagoon...What was I thinking! After we thoroughly joked about it, we made our way around the lagoon and then up to a near fog-less Hawk Hill (note: we would have gone up earlier but it was too foggy..what a surprise).

As we made our way up to the hill, we were greeted with enthusiasm by the "Black Dot Specialists". There had been a few great sightings of Raptors earlier in the morning, so it gave us some hope. After spending about an hour on the hill, the team made its way down to the Peregrine nest in a "Miata caravan". On our way down we spotted a male American Kestrel and while at Kirby Cove turnout we spotted a female Cooper's Hawk...which was amazing!

Some other birds that were spotted today at Rodeo Lagoon and Hawk Hill: Red-tailed Hawks, Turkey Vultures, Northern Harriers, White-tailed Kite, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Western Bluebird, Dowitchers, Lesser Yellowlegs, Killdeer, Great Blue Heron, the various lagoon gulls, Terns, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Pelicans, White-crowned Sparrow, California Quail and we got a really good look at a Common Yellowthroat. It was great day for birds and I met some amazing people too.

Rachel Norris

Fly to the Top

Thursday, August 12, 2004 - Today I discovered that my binoculars are capable of performing some impressive magic tricks. When I looked outside, the sky was opaque as ever with fog, but the images in my bino field were consistently crisp with bright blue skies and fluffy white clouds in the background. I guess you don't need a clear day on the hill to get back into raptor-IDing mode after a long off-season; all you need is a slide projector and a dark room. Yes, folks, the Thursday II crew wins the prize for slide quiz endurance. Having plugged through not only the easy, intermediate, and advanced slide quizzes, but also the "cruel and unusual" reel, this group is sure to rock like turkey vultures up on hawk hill when the skies are slide-screen-clear and we actually get up there! In the meantime, grab whatever sun you can...happy HawkWatching!

Hayley Ross

Fly to the Top

Wednesday, August 11, 2004 - FOGGED OUT! AGAIN!

Fly to the Top

Tuesday, August 10, 2004 - FOGGED OUT! I swear I can't seem to get away from this crazy fog, however we had a great day. I was able to meet my Tuesday II team and from what I can tell so far we're going to have a great time on the hill this season. There's a lot of energy and spunk in this group! Mary brought bagels, cream cheese and juice...one of my all time favorite breakfast foods. We refreshed our brains by going through a slide show and most everyone was able to figure out what each slide showed.

I found out that I"m not the only Midwesterner at GGRO, which didn't really surprise me too much. By the time we were done with most of the bagels and juice the hill was still super foggy and we resorted to taking a bird walk around Rodeo Lagoon. Attention! The Black Tern has been kidnapped...anyone with possible info about it's whereabouts please call...I'm only joking...however we didn't find the Black Tern in the lagoon, but were able to watch the Caspian Terns, Elegant Terns, Mallards and Great Blue Herons. We also spotted some Western Sand-pipers and some Least Sand-pipers. We dispersed around noon, but were hopeful that next Tuesday II we'd make it up to the hill.

Rachel Norris

Fly to the Top

Monday, August 9, 2004 - Fogged off!

This Monday again dawned with that persistent layer of fuzz over the Headlands, lovely and mysterious for biking to work in, eternally frustrating to HawkWatchers. Introductions and library tour completed, we made our daily check of the Black Tern who was once again gracing the lagoon with its fluttery presence. We may as well become Tern watchers. Also in attendance were the usual suspects: Cormorants, Mallards, Great Blue Herons, Snowy Egrets, Western Gulls, Caspian Terns and ELEGANT Terns (I have learned my Tern terminology since yesterday's entry when I mislabeled the seabird as "elegans", though they bear no resemblance to earthworms.)

Having established that, yes, the Black Tern is still in residence we caravaned to the overlook above Kirby Cove. Our patience was rewarded by spotting one of the Peregrine Falcons in the air. She flew to the catwalk on the north tower of the bridge under which is evidence of their usual roosting. There she sat, preening prettily on her modern cliffside.

After giving up on hawk hill clearing substantially and having made the Black Tern and Peregrine Falcon field trips each of my HawkWatch days, I persuaded Hayley to return to the office. Determined not to reenact the near miss involving the Durango, power brake confusion and Mr. Tim Behr's shiny-as-a-penny Volkswagen of a previous day, I managed to get us safely back to 1064 (I AM a good driver). Several journal articles later, I have sat down to type this account, and the sun teases me through the office windows, warming the air which will surely form fog from the cold ocean by morning.

Susan Culliney

Fly to the Top

Sunday, August 8, 2004 - Fogged Out, no data taken...

Thick fog blanketed the valley and the lagoon, thinning a little towards the midday but never completely lifting.

The Black Tern was again sighted in the lagoon, as well as Elegant and Caspian Terns, Western Gulls, Killdeer, Snowy Egret, Great Blue Herons, Brown Pelicans.

The group did decide to brave the elements and make the journey up to Hawk Hill to get into the habit and to orient ourselves in the quadrants. We did periodically make out some of the bridge or Mount Diablo before the fog once again swallowed the view.

Though 'twould have been fun to watch from our vantage point the banding crews put the finishing touches on the blinds, we could see no one but Turkey Vultures wheeling about in the mists, their silhouettes like ghosts in the vast milky whiteness.

Susan Culliney

Fly to the Top

Saturday August 7, 2004 - It was a beautiful day for HawkWatch today. The fog laid low but the hill was clear. Bob lead today's team first with a practice Accipiter study which was helpful. Kestrels, Red-tails, and Turkey Vultures were plentiful today. We were only on the hill for about 3 hrs and left to go watch the Peregrine nest near Kirby Cove. The season is finally here.

Total count: 68
Hawks per Hour: 23
Species: 3

Rachel Norris

Fly to the Top

(Friday, August 6, 2004 - Well we had a really great day 'til the fog arrived...we should just refer to this month as FOGUST. It must be a curse...because every time I leave bldg. 1064 we get fog and it sticks around FOREVER! Anyway...we shared some oreos and tried to see raptors amidst the fog. We saw the Peregrines on the bridge, some Northern Harriers, some Kestrels and the usual Turkey Vultures. Elvis ended up making an appearance with his blue suede shoes and his guitar, but it was only for a brief second. Hopefully next Friday we'll get to see Elvis for longer and maybe get an autograph.(More hawks would be good too).

Total count: 7
Hawks per hour: 2.3
Species: 3

Rachel Norris

Fly to the Top

Thursday, August 5, 2004 - Fog or no fog, the Thursday I team was determined to be the first on the hill! While we waited for Hawk Hill weather to get with the program and get as outright gorgeous as Rodeo was that morning, we bided our time with our intros, slide quiz, and some loitering around the lagoon. We warmed up with Kestrels, Red-Tails and Turkey Vultures that were hanging out around Fort Cronkhite, then delighted in the mothy cuteness of the Black Tern (who's been around for 3 days now, by the way!). Eager for more raptor action, we stopped at the now famous hole in the wall near Kirby Cove where the Peregrines have been making reliable appearances for fogged-out HawkWatchers for the past week. Around 11am the skies were as clear as could be hoped for and a few Cooper's Hawks flying around Slacker Ridge chased our team away from Peregrine peering and up to Hawk Hill. FINALLY!

Our special guests for the day, 2003 interns Katy Doctor and Sam Stuart, who were stopping by on their respective migrations, were already parked in the North quadrant and we got to work. Clear skies, Kestrels, Red-tails, TVs, Coops, a Sharpie, Harriers and not one, but TWO White-tailed Kites made for a swell first couple of hours on the hill. Now, for all you number loving people out there...

Total minutes: 150
Total count: 68
Hawks per hour: 27.2
Species: 7

By the way, sorry for the late entry folks. There was just too much excitement (first there was sun, then there were hawks, then there was cake) and I just plumb forgot! I know, I know. I'm fired!

Hayley Ross

Fly to the Top

Wednesday, August 4, 2004 - As our team met for the first time, we were greeted by donuts..Mmmmm...donuts...Allen wanted us to answer a bunch of questions to introduce ourselves, but we were all stuck on WHO ARE YOU? and WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? Some of our team ran out of Fort Cronkhite crying and are now reevaluating their lives. The rest of us stayed to endure another cruel exercise thought up by our crazy day leader. We had to count and write down how many birds were on each slide...simple, right?And the first slides had only a few birds, so we were all relieved to find out that everyone could count up to ten. Then came slides of great kettles and flocks of birds, some with hundreds. When we went over the correct numbers, it turned out that many of us overestimated because Allen said that we were likely to underestimate. Seems we have a rebellious team.

We were finally released from the room and went hunting for the notorious Black Tern. It was fluttering around the lagoon just as expected. We then studied Pelican behavior. Most of the time (not all!) they land on the water crashing down bill first and with a slight turn to the left. If you have ever seen Ben Stiller's movie Zoolander, you know that he was also not an ambiturner and would only turn to the left. Pelicans are, after all, really really really, ridiculously good looking.

After that, we went up to see the Peregrine hideout near Kirby cove. There was this white stuff in the air and it blocked our view of the hole at first (what could that stuff be?!?). But unlike Steve Bauer, who we passed going there (and we thought you were hard-core!) we were diligent and waited until that stuff in the air went away and then we could see, not only the hole, but the Peregrine. S/he was perched right on top of her white-wash.

Tune in next time, same raptor place, same raptor channel!

Kerry Neijstrom

Fly to the Top

Tuesday, August 3, 2004 - We were fogged out once again today but managed to get out and bird around Rodeo Lagoon. We met at Bldg. 1064 and had a few introductions, shared some chocolate donuts, milano cookies and some really great bread. Then we took a slide quiz with a few difficult slides mixed in, but all in all it was a good review to get us ready for the upcoming season. After that, we headed to the lagoon, and observed the following: American Kestrel, Caspian Terns, Great Blue Herons, Belted Kingfisher, Black Tern, Elegant Tern, Pied-billed Grebes, Pelicans, Red-necked phalaropes, Western Gulls and some Mallards.

After our trip to the lagoon we ventured up towards Conzelman Road to see if the fog had cleared...of course not! So we stopped to eat a bit for lunch and ventured down the road a piece to watch the Peregrines nesting in the cliff side. It was quite eventful. We saw a few Red-tailed Hawks, a Red-shouldered Hawk, some Crows, the Peregrines of course, Turkey Vultures, and a White-throated Swift. All in all it was a good day for birds and gave us a chance to brush up on our skills.

Rachel Norris

Fly to the Top

Monday August 2, 2004 - First day of HawkWatch! I felt like I was about to head off for my first day of school this morning with my lunch, my extra layers of clothing, my books and that exciting feeling that today something new was starting. Of course, after 4 straight weeks of fog, our hopes weren't too high that we'd actually spending Day 1 of HawkWatch on the hill counting Hawks. Nonetheless, Monday I team made the best of a foggy morning with Wade's wife's wonderful zucchini bread, stimulating slide quizzes, an interview with the film crew, and a fog-canopied walk through Gerbode Valley. Valley bird action included several Red-tailed Hawks, a Kestrel, Turkey Vultures, two roosting Great Horned Owls, some Goldfinches and a Flicker. The young Red-tails are starting to get feisty; we saw one juv relentlessly hassling an adult for what appeared to be a snake. For the afternoon, following a tip from Steve Bauer, part of our team staked out a spot along Conzelman that looked down on a tiny hole near Kirby Cove that was rumored to be providing midday shelter to our Golden Gate Peregrines.

With a fog-capped Hawk Hill in the background, we took turns staring at the hole for a half hour. Suddenly one adult Peregrine snuck up behind us and flew off towards Rodeo Valley. While our backs were turned, the second one became visible in the crevice and hung out until we took off 30 minutes later. Definitely an auspicious way to spend our first day. Also notable: just as we climbed in our cars and began to head out, an Osprey flew by. Now, cross your fingers for some sun!

Hayley Ross

Mail:
Golden Gate Raptor Observatory
Building 201, Fort Mason
San Francisco, CA 94123

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday