Fewer Swainson's Than Expected Today

Migration Today:
Swainson's Hawks-79
Turkey Vultures-18


Discussion:

Swainson's Hawk-3/19/12-Courtesy of Pam Albers

Weather today was sunny with calm wind. Temperature ranged from 60-70 degrees. At 9A the Swainson's kettled up from the driveway of the Fun Farm. At 9:30A Turkey Vultures begin to rise from Roadrunner Club in small groups. Around noon time a late arrival of 45 Swainson's Hawks was spotted near Indian Head Peak. The photo at the right was taken through a scope using a point and shoot camera. 


Question:
I didn't answer the question asked yesterday. Why is there a discrepancy between the number of hawks counted coming into roost in the evening and leaving the following day. Today was an exception. We counted more hawks last night than what we observed leaving today. Perhaps some of the hawks re-located to other roost sites that were not observed from the count site. In actuality most of the time we see fewer in the evening and more in the morning exiting the valley. We believe that hawks continue to arrive after dark. Our perception of darkness and the hawks view are different. Hawks can see far later into the evening hours than we can. 


Evening Watch:
This evening 25 Swainson's Hawks came into the Date Farm to the northwest side. A few TV's also flew into the area. We now have around 6 resident TV's.


Prediction for Tomorrow:
Light winds indicate a late take off, probably around 9A. Again, watching from Di Giorgio Rd near the entrance to the Fun Farm is best.