This last week consisted of lots of fun milestones as our capture numbers continue to steadily increase. Just a couple days after our last blog update we caught our 100th bird of the season which also happened to be our first male Sharp-shinned Hawk! We also caught this seasons 3rd Broad-winged Hawk and it was a beautiful adult bird. These birds are one of the less commonly caught species at this site so it’s been fun to be able to band 3 of them!
Another highlight this week was an adult male Northern Harrier. This “grey ghost” was the 60th Harrier ever caught at this site!
Nick returned to the blind this weekend with some transmitters for Red-tailed Hawks. He’s now focusing on tagging juvenile birds to learn more about how their movements and route usage change as they gain experience and age. We were able to deploy 1 transmitter on this individual and we will now be able to track it’s movements as it heads north!
Our season total now sits at 127, surpassing last years total by 4 birds! Despite our delayed start this year, we are continuing to have a productive season and we are excited to see what the last few weeks have in store for us!
Season Totals:
Red-tailed Hawk – 70
Sharp-shinned Hawk – 42
Northern Harrier – 5
Merlin – 3
Broad-winged Hawk – 3
Coopers Hawk – 2
Red-shouldered Hawk – 1
Rough-legged Hawk – 1
Total: 127