Registrar: Mary Beth Kooper
Participants: 20
Weather: Mostly sunny, 66F, 10mph NW winds
Bird Species: 30
With northwest winds forecast for this hawk watch, we expected to tally buteos such as Red- Shouldered and Red-Tailed Hawks, along with accipiters such as Sharp-shinned Hawks, as well as our resident Cooper’s Hawks, and Falcons including our resident Peregrine Falcons and Kestrels.
But our primary aim was to find Golden Eagles soaring over Manhattan, and Bald Eagles too. We did not get the Gold, but we had pretty much everything else we were hoping for. We all had a marvelous time because Phil and Anne did a wonderful job of instructing the group on how to search for hawks in the sky and explaining fine identification tips, and they expertly spotted hawks at great distances. Highlights were eight Red-shouldered Hawks, including one that flew right over our group at Belvedere Castle, and a Bald Eagle that made a very close flyby as well. It was a great way to cap our series of hawk watches for the season.
Species Lists
Birds
Northern Shoveler
Mallard
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Cooper’s Hawk
Bald Eagle
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Peregrine Falcon
Eastern Phoebe
Blue Jay
American Crow
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Brown Creeper
European Starling
American Robin
Cedar Waxwing
American Goldfinch
Dark-eyed Junco
White-throated Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Palm Warbler
Northern Cardinal
