First good Broad-wing push

After some rainy weather recently, we finally saw some favorable conditions for raptor migration today. With light and somewhat variable winds and partly sunny skies, most of the birds were riding high on thermals. As a result, most if not all of the hawks showed little hesitation in crossing over the Straits. Several times today, decent-sized Broad-wing kettles were noted including one of about 50 birds and another in excess of 150! I look forward seeing more of this action in coming days. The tally of BWs for the day was 311.

Here is a quick run down on the season’s totals to date:
Turkey Vulture 285
Osprey 25
Bald Eagle 503
Northern Harrier 60
Sharp-shinned Hawk 395
Cooper’s Hawk 2
Broad-winged Hawk 436
Red-tailed Hawk 16
American Kestrel 62
Merlin 41
Peregrine Falcon 5

Total 1830