31 October 2007

Highlights: CLIFF/CAVE SWALLOW (1), RED-THROATED LOON (1)

WEATHER: The day started out as a cloudy morning with strong winds out of the SW. However, a front came through by the 4th hour giving us constant rain showers and even stronger winds out of the west. When the freighters choose to anchor in the harbor, you know the weather is about to get foul! Temperatures started at 13 Celsius but ended the day at 7 Celsius.

OVERALL MOVEMENT: The winds out of the southwest seemingly limited migrants today (either that or pushed the ducks beyond vision). Less than 200 birds were seen total. Notable absences included Bufflehead. No species was seen every hour but Long-tailed Duck and Common Goldeneye came the closest (seen 6 of the 8 hours). The most numerous species was Long-tailed Duck with 80 seen.

DUCKS & GEESE: Just a few dabblers were seen today; over a dozen MALLARDS and a single AMERICAN BLACK DUCK. A few SCAUP passed by in the last hour while 1 WHITE-WINGED SCOTER and 1 SURF SCOTER were seen during the first half of the count. Otherwise, 80 LONG-TAILED DUCKS, over 50 COMMON GOLDENEYES, and 30+ RED-BREASTED MERGANSERS were seen.

LOONS & GREBES: Numbers were low. Six COMMON LOONS and 1 RED-THROATED LOON passed by in the first 3 hours while only 5 RED-NECKED GREBES and a single HORNED GREBE were seen.

RAPTORS: A couple species of raptors were seen during the first half of the count. They included RED-TAILED HAWK, ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK, BALD EAGLE, and a couple NORTHERN GOSHAWKS.

A CLIFF/CAVE SWALLOW was seen during the late morning.

Some of the other species seen from the waterbird shack included SAVANNAH SPARROW, SNOW BUNTING, DOWNY WOODPECKER, HAIRY WOODPECKER, BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE, COMMON RAVEN, and COMMON REDPOLL.

WEATHER FORECAST FOR TOMORROW: There is a 50% chance of snow along with a breezy northwest wind. Forecasted high of 45 F.

Thanks for checking in,

Cory Gregory
arcticory@gmail.com