Hawkwatch Winding Down April 10-13, 2013

April 13:
Leader:
Hal Cohen

Migration:
Turkey Vultures-34

Discussion:
The hawkwatch is winding down for the season. Only a few Swainson's and TV's have migrated through the area recently. Today, April 13, 34 TVs moved through. This is the last blog for the season. I am off to Chicago for the summer. I will work on a summary after the season ends next week. Check out the youtube of TV's today. I was hoping for a Zone-tailed Hawk-no luck.

http://youtu.be/zQaMCpHtFTM

A few of the TV's 4/13/13-HC

April 10, 2013, Still a Few Swainson's Coming Through

Leader:
Laura Webb
Assisted by:
Joe Hopkins, Hal Cohen

Migration Today:
Swainson's Hawks-3
Turkey Vultures-2
Possible Osprey

Discussion:
Sunny, no clouds and temperatures ranging from 60's to upper 70's. Three Swainson's lifted off from the Date Farm. An Osprey observed at the The Springs RV Park began to migrate at 9:50A.

Here is a link to a recent article in the San Diego Tribune about the hawk watch. Please ignore the king comment.
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/apr/08/tp-watchers-disappointed-by-hawks-low-numbers/

Evening Watch:
No evident migration into town this evening.

Osprey-4/10/13-HC

Cross-eyed Osprey-4/10/13-HC

Aborted Hawkwatch April 8, 2013

No watch on April 8. We had a huge sand/wind storm all day. Below is one of the you tubes from the hawk watch.
Leader April 9:
Steve Bier
Assisted by:
Joe Hopkins

Migration Today:
Turkey Vultures-7
Osprey-1

Discussion:
The wind on Monday finally calmed down today. Attached is a link to a short youtube of the watch site yesterday. Wind gusts to 83mph were reported. I have a request for a close up of a Swainson's Hawk. Below is a shot of captured Swainson's Hawk.

http://youtu.be/I2mRttDZWi4

Evening Watch:
Only 1 Swainson's Hawk was reported from the watch this evening. Some TV's came in but might be residents. Only a few days left in the season.

Swainson's Hawk captured for banding-HC

Lots of TV's Today-April 7. 2013

Leader:

Herb Stone

Assisted by: 

Judy Davis, Wes Hetrick

Migration Today:

Swainson's Hawks-3

Turkey Vultures-82

Red-tailed Hawk-1

Sharp-shinned Hawk-1

Discussion:

Partly sunny with light wind from the south and temperatures from mid 60's to high 70's. Lift off from the Road Runner Club at 8:20A. Two large kettles were observed at 8:30A including the TV's, SW's and the Redtail. At 9:45A a lone Sharp-shinned Hawk migrated up Coyote Canyon. 

Evening Watch:

Not much to report. Only 1 Swainson's Hawk was observed and the resident TV's

Closeup of a TV-4/7/13-HC

Resident TV's coming to roost-4/7/13-HC

Things Picking Up This Evening-April 6, 2013

Leader:
Wes Hetrick
Assisted by:
Pam Albers, Joe Hopkins, Herb Stone

Migration Today:
Swainson's Hawks-5

Discussion:
The hawks moved very late, 10:50 and 10:57A. This tends to indicate that our missed hawks during this period have been moving later in the day. We may have been missing our birds because they are not stopping to roost in the valley. If they are moving through in the middle of the day it would be difficult for us to see them as thermals will have allowed them to fly at very high altitude.

Today I went to Anza to check out the terminus of Coyote Canyon. Within a few hours I watched Red-tailed Hawks, Red-shouldered hawks and a Sharpshin pass through the area. We believe most of our hawks depart Coyote Canyon at Anza to our north.

Evening Watch:
75 Turkey Vultures and 10 Swainson's Hawks came into the Date Farm this evening. The watchers had good looks at the SW's in trees and on the ground.

Prediction:
We may be getting some strong wind by morning. If so, the TV's and SW's will depart early. Hopefully the wind will hold off and the raptors will lift off at a reasonable hour such as 8A.

Where to View:
The evening watch might be the best viewing spot tomorrow.

Exit from Coyote Canyon at Anza-4/6/13-HC

Red-tailed Hawk-Anza-4/6/13-HC

Red-tailed Hawk-Anza-4/6/13-HC

Another 0 Day-April 5, 2013

Leader:
Bob Theriault
Assisted by:
Wes Hetrick, Pam Albers, Anne Reilly, Joe Hopkins

Migration Today:
0

Discussion:
Weather was 63-77 and partly cloudy with wind 15-17 mph NNW. No Swainson's Hawks were observed today. Several resident TV's lifted off at 9A. 3 Red-tailed Hawks and a Harrier were seen in flight.

We have entered uncharted waters. In no other season have the Swainson's Hawks numbers dropped so rapidly during this period (March 31 to April 5). So far we have not had an explanation for the dramatic change in the migration pattern.

Evening Watch:
No apparent hawks arriving this evening. We did have 3 Redtails above the Date Farm but no Swainson's Hawks.

LIght Intermediate Morph Adult Male

Season Beginning to Wind Down-April 4, 2013

Leader:
Joe Hopkins
Assisted by: Wes Hetrick

Migration Today:
Red-tailed Hawk-1
Turkey Vultures-13

Discussion:
Sunny and 61-88 degrees today. Very light NNW winds throughout the morning. Thirteen TV's lifted off from Ellis Farm at 9:20A and departed the valley. A Red-tailed Hawk migrated through Coyote Canyon.

Is tonight the night? We are hopeful that at some time in the next few days we will have a nice migration of Swainson's Hawks.

We have had nice sightings of Coyote's from the evening site.

Evening Watch:
Once again little to report. One Swainson's Hawk was observed this evening.

Young coyote's across the road from the evening site-4/4/13-HC

March Comparisons-April 3, 2013

Leader:
Laura Webb
Assisted by:
Pam Albers, Wes Hetrick, Joe Hopkins

Migration Today:
0

Discussion:
Once again a 0 day for migration. So far we have no explanation for the lack of hawks lately. The watchers did see a Prairie Falcon, a non migrant.

Below is a look at a comparison of March Swainson's Hawk numbers. You can access all of the count records for the past 11 years at Hawkcount.org. Hit Monthly Summaries and scroll down to Borrego Valley Hawkwatch.

Year              Swainson's Hawks Numbers
2004              3909              
2005              2191
2006              1096
2007              2113
2008              4683
2009              1552
2010              2601
2011              6252
2012              4147
2013              3070

The average number of Swainson's Hawks observed during the 10 full spring counts in March is 3161. This year we are just under the average number (3070 counted this year). This year (2013) is ranked 5 out of the 10 years.

Looking at April, we have had some nice early April counts. In our partial first year of counting, a large tornado of hawks was observed the evening of April 4th. This was our first observation of an evening group coming in to roost. I had happened to be roaming around the valley and was on my way home just after the sun went down. On Di Giorgio Rd close to the Fun Farm road I looked east and was astounded to see a tornado of hawks. After years of experience counting I now believe it numbered around 800-1000. I followed the hawks until it was dark. They moved in a northwest direction toward Coyote Canyon. Some of the hawks appeared to continue into the canyon. I put out a notice to friends in the area and we went out early on April 5th in search of the hawks. We could not locate any hawks in trees or on the ground. We went to Henderson Canyon Rd and Borrego Springs Road and just waited there. By 9A hundreds of hawks streamed overhead. Our final count was  far below the number I believe I observed the evening before.

Other big April Swainson's Counts include:
2003-April 4-204; April 5-595; April 6-186; April 7-186
2011-April 4-592; April 6-381; April 8-105; April 10-150; April 14-144
2012-April 4-102; April 8-247; April 9-85

Evening Watch:
13 TV's flew in to Ellis from the north. No Swainson's Hawk were counted this evening.

What we want to see in the next few days-HC

Some Hawks Moving Today-April 2, 2013

Leader:
Steve Bier
Assisted by:
Wes Hetrick, Pam Albers and Joe Hopkings

Migration Today:
Swainson's Hawks-11
Turkey Vultures-38

Discussion:
A nice kettle of Swainson's that may have roosted at De Anza Country Club. Perhaps this is why we have been missing hawks for the past few days. De Anza is tucked in close to the mountains. The hawks could easily slip out of town from this location.

Evening Watch:
Once again we did not see any hawks from the evening site. However, we did get a report of 15 Swainson's Hawks observed a few miles south of the watch. We never did see these birds at the evening watch. There was another report from this morning of several hawks observed southeast of town.

Question:
Where can I see lots of Swainson's Hawks in fall. Take a trip to Cardel, Veracruz and over 25 species of raptors can be seen including a few hundred thousand Swainson's and Broad-winged Hawks in one day! October 15/just before and after are good dates to consider. Check out Veracruz, River of Raptors at Hawkcount.org. Check Monthly Summaries and scroll down to Veracruz, River of Raptors.

Below is a coyote that bounded across the road near the evening site a few days ago. When I don't have hawk photo's to share I dig deep! The SW's hawk in the photo shows the two tone (dark/gray) topside.

Two-tone top upper wing view-HC

Coyote crossing the road-HC

Continued Slow Migration-April 1, 2013

Leader:
Herb Stone
Assisted by:
Wes Hetrick and Joe Hopkins

Migration Today:
Swainson's Hawks-2

Discussion:
Of the 5 Swainson's observed last night only 2 apparently migrated. It is unusual to have a lengthy period with few birds migrating. The next week will hopefully bring in many Swainson's. Our window of opportunity is closing down. We are still optimistic however. We are beginning to see many grasshoppers, a good sign. Now we just need the SW's to find them.  We've had some nice looks at Red-tailed hawks lately, (resident birds).

Evening Watch:
Tonight only 3 Swainson's Hawks flew into the Date Farm. These could be the 3 that didn't migrate today.

Grey Bird Grasshopper-3/31/13-HC

Red-tailed Hawk-3/31/13