Last night, after checking the weather, I made the fortuitous decision to visit the Fire Island Hawk-watch today. The wind was out of the n/w for most of the day (I was there from ~ 1000 to 1615) during which the temperature kept getting colder, causing me to keep "layering up", until I "maxed out" !
The raptor total for the day was 122, with 72 of them being Merlins ! So, fittingly, it was a Merlin that had the honor of being the "unofficial" 2000 raptor counted at the FIHW this season. This, of course, was the cause for some celebrating, but as Bob Kurtz was quick to point out, the total at this point on a normal year, should be about double that amount. Although no peregrines were counted at the hawk-watch today, I did see the resident pair atop their favorite haunt, the F.I. Water- tower. Cheers, Bob -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
