The last week of March proved to be the best so far. The weather to start the week might have been a bit horrendous, but it ended with a beautiful spring day. The week started off with a rainy morning, a day that I thought would be a complete wash out. But, it quickly turned to sunny skies and strong south wind that brought way more raptors than I expected to see that day. The next few days were quieter, with less bird action and bitter cold, strong gusty winds. When the winds died down, I had a few days of 100+ birds. The first of April was the first warm day in a long time, and it was well appreciated. A total of 737 new raptors this week brought the final March total up to 1,065, the largest March total this site has seen (previously 563 in 2021)! The season total is currently at 1,207.
The vast majority of birds so far have been Red-tails (at 502) and Turkey Vultures (at 292), which is to be expected for this time in the season. Numbers of these two species have skyrocketed this past week, and I am expecting these numbers to increase greatly over the next few weeks. Accipiters have also started up, with more Sharp-shinned Hawks and Cooper’s Hawks popping up every day. American Goshawks have been putting on a good show, with the best looks that I have ever gotten of these birds occurring just this past week.
Numbers for most species are average or above average, and those that are below average (Sharp-shinned Hawks and American Kestrels) are not down by much. I am happy to see how well this season has turned out so far, and it is exciting to see this count get so much action! The season total for American Goshawks has already broke the record at 5 (previously 4 in 2021), and the season total for Golden Eagles is only three away from a new record high.
This next week does not look super promising, with poor weather expected over the next few days. This upcoming weekend looks absolutely gorgeous, but the predicted north wind may prove to be bothersome to the birds. But, if there is a back up of birds, it could produce some pretty spectacular migration days!
