Herb Stone
Assisted by: Judy Davis, Hal Cohen, Rose Leong, Wes Hetrick, Laura Webb, Steve Bier
Migration Today:
Swainson's Hawks-379
Turkey Vultures-3
Discussion:
Warm with temperatures in the 70's and a clear sky. Calm wind with some light breezes. A remarkable day for viewing many aspects of Swainson's Hawk behavior. The hawks that flew in last night came down to the ground just after 6A today. Many flew into trees to the east of the day watch site. At least 75 SW's could be found sitting on the cleared ground near the Solar field. Lift off a 9:04A as more than a hundred SW's began to kettle close to the day site. Within a few minutes more than 200 hawks were kettling up and streaming back and forth. Watching from Henderson Canyon Road was mesmerizing. The hawks streamed to the northwest, kettled up at the mouth of Coyote Canyon and then disappeared. Another group of 15 SW's flew by at 10A.
Here is a link to a youtube of today's hawks. Youtube from today: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=le-si8ee3h4
Evening Watch:
At 6:30P a small kettle of Swainson's came in to roost at the back of the Date Farm. We counted around 35 hawks.
Prediction:
The wind should be calm to mild tomorrow AM. At least 35 Swainson's will leave the roost and migrate.
Where and When:
The best spot for viewing the hawks is probably Di Giorgio Rd directly across from the Date Farm. The hawks will be airborne between 8:15 and 9:15A.
I've included a look at two test shots of a morph study.
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| A growing kettle 3/24/13-HC |
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| 24 Swainson's-Looks like 10 light; 5 intermediate; 9 dark hawks-3/24/13-HC |
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| Very close view-Looks like 4 light, 3 intermediate and 3 dark morphs-3/24/13-HC |
Thank you so much for this blog. We are from Riverside and tried to see the hawks last weekend, but missed them as they took off at first light. We've been watching your blog and decided to make the drive out this morning leaving our house at 4am. Arrived very early and were able to get great photos of the hawks still roosting in the trees and enjoy watching as they came to ground at the solar field. Enjoyed seeing others interested in seeing these beautiful birds and getting a bit of education from Hawkguy. Truely a beautiful site and your blog was priceless is educating and motivating us to come and enjoy.
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