WEATHER: The winds started as moderate out of the west but they later shifted to strong out of the NW. Skies were completely clear for the first 4 hours but the last several were very cloudy and it actually downpoured during the last hour of the count. The temperature ranged from 8-10 Celsius before it started to drop late in the count.
OVERALL MOVEMENT: The numbers today were lower than expected, just about 200 migrants total. We were skunked the last two hours, no migrants passed by at all! Hence, no species was seen every hour but Red-breasted Merganser and Red-necked Grebe came the closest; seen 6 of the 8 hours. The most numerous species was Red-breasted Merganser with 50 counted.
DUCKS & GEESE: A couple flocks of SCAUP passed by totaling over 50 birds whereas scoter numbers were thin; only 5 WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS passed by. Otherwise, COMMON GOLDENEYE (10+), BUFFLEHEAD (20+), and LONG-TAILED DUCK (4) were counted. Fifty RED-BREASTED MERGANSERS were seen while only a few COMMON MERGANSERS were tallied.
LOONS & GREBES: It was very slow with loons today. One COMMON LOON and 1 RED-THROATED LOON passed during the first hour of the count. The westerly winds helped the grebes today; over 30 RED-NECKED GREBES were counted in addition to 1 HORNED GREBE.
RAPTORS: The only raptors seen today were a couple of RED-TAILED HAWKS (see photo below) and 1 NORTHERN GOSHAWK.
Some of the other species seen from the waterbird shack included PINE GROSBEAK, BOHEMIAN WAXWING, AMERICAN TREE SPARROW, SNOW BUNTING, COMMON REDPOLL, COMMON RAVEN, and both DOWNY and HAIRY WOODPECKERS.
Tomorrow is the last day of the Fall 2007 Waterbird Count.
WEATHER FORECAST FOR TOMORROW: Snow is expected along with gusty north winds and a high near 34 F. Better dress warm!
Thanks for checking in,
Cory Gregory
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