Flock of Snow Geese
Want to check out some of the best bird-watching spots in North America this fall? We asked eight of the nation’s top birders to share their favorite places for watching the great avian spectacle of fall migration. Their destinations span the continent—and provide an assortment of options for a bird-packed getaway.

1. Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge, Missouri

Ornithologist Paul Johnsgard, an emeritus professor at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, has spent 42 years "drinking in the sights and sounds" of migrating snow geese. "There are lots of places in the Great Plains to watch snow geese, and I’ve probably been to all of them." But Squaw Creek is a favorite, he says: "This is classic Great Plains marsh—natural-looking habitat, where you feel that the geese are in the right place."

Marshlands dominated by cattails and American lotus form the heart of the 7,350-acre refuge, which is ringed by oak-hickory forest. Honking streams of snow geese en route from their North Dakota nesting grounds to southern wintering areas touch down here starting in early October. To learn more about the refuge, visit http://midwest.fws.gov/SquawCreek.

2. Point Pelee National Park, Ontario

Jutting south into Lake Erie, Point Pelee is the southernmost extension of Canada’s mainland. Most birders come here in spring, hoping bad weather will force northbound migrants to bail out on the first bit of land they encounter. Bird expert and field guide author Kenn Kaufmann prefers to come in fall, when the birds are equally abundant but you don’t have to shoulder so many people aside to see them.


Early September is a good time to visit. Weather makes a difference in what birds you’ll see. "I have the best success on days with clear skies in the wake of a cold front," says Kaufmann. "Warblers of all kinds are going through—blackpoll, bay-breasted, Blackburnian—really good variety!" To learn more, visit http://parkscanada.gc.ca/pn-np/on/pelee/index_E.asp.

3. Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, Texas

During autumn migration, Santa Ana’s 2,088 acres along the Rio Grande River is the favorite destination of Father Tom Pincelli, an avid birder and pastor at Saint Anthony’s Church in Harlingen, Texas. The refuge is located at an "ecological crossroads," where subtropical, Gulf Coast, Great Plains and Chihuahuan Desert climates come together.


Within its borders, Santa Ana offers a stunning variety of birds—nearly 400 species. About half are residents. The rest are migrants passing through as they follow the Central and Mississippi Flyways on their way to Central and South America. Waves of raptors, waterfowl and shorebirds show up at Santa Ana in fall. To learn more, visit  http://southwest.fws.gov/refuges/texas/santana.html.
 
4. "Sky Islands," Arizona

Some of the bird species native to Mexico’s Sierra Madre can also be found farther north, marooned on little "sky islands" of habitat—the mountain peaks of southeast Arizona. "Here you can see birds that occur nowhere else in the United States," says naturalist Sheri Williamson, director of the Southeastern Arizona Bird Observatory.

"On a typical late-August morning this place is swarming with hummingbirds," Williamson says. Common visitors include rufous, calliope and broad-tailed hummingbirds. But you may also spot rare species such as violet-crowned and Lucifer hummingbirds. Also watch for flocks of lazuli buntings, warblers and flycatchers. To learn more, visit www.sabo.org/birding/huacspv.htm.

5. Cape May, New Jersey

Thanks to geography, Cape May Point is a migration hot spot, says Pete Dunne, a writer, avid birder and director of the New Jersey Audubon Society’s Cape May Bird Observatory. That’s because the point is a bird’s last chance to rest and refuel before making the 14-mile flight south over Delaware Bay. When the weather’s unfavorable for flying across open water, vast flocks of migrants get "bottled up" at the point.

This can lead to exciting sightings. Once, Dunne saw a group of 80 northern harriers take flight together. It’s possible to spot 14 raptor species in a single day—sometimes in startling proximity. The point is also a hotspot for migrating warblers, sparrows, thrushes and owls. To learn more, visit http://www.birdcapemay.org/.
 
6. Sunrise Coast, Maine

It’s called the Sunrise Coast because the sun’s rays first touch the United States there each morning. The bird-watching in fall is just as spectacular as the sunrise views, says former NWF Chief Naturalist Craig Tufts. In northern Maine, boreal forest is juxtaposed with seacoast, which means birders can see not just clouds of migrating shorebirds but also resident "specialties," such as spruce grouse that live here year-round.

Tufts likes to visit in early September, when the weather is still good and seabirds are on the move. He heads first for Quoddy Head State Park. "If the weather has been right, there should be waves of migratory land birds coming through," says Tufts. Scan the trees for warblers, but keep an eye cocked toward the water for chance sightings of common eiders and bald eagles. Tufts also recommends a visit to nearby Cobscook Bay State Park to look for boreal birds like the black-backed woodpecker and boreal chickadee. For learn more, visit www.state.me.us/doc/parks.

7. Point Loma, California

Civil engineer and birding enthusiast Guy McCaskie specializes in vagrants—the birds that shouldn’t be there. His favorite fall birding spot is Point Loma, not far from San Diego: "It sticks out in the ocean a bit, so it concentrates migrant land birds in the fall." Years of experience have brought him to expect semi-rarities like American redstarts and black-and-white warblers that have accidentally wandered from the East Coast. Plus the occasional "super-rarity," such as a little bunting—a sparrowlike species that breeds in Siberia.

McCaskie expects to see lost birds on Point Loma any time from the first of September to the fifteenth of November. Good places to look for them include Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery and Cabrillo National Monument.

8. Horicon National Wildlife Refuge, Wisconsin

Horicon Marsh is the largest freshwater cattail marsh in the United States. "In fall, I’ve seen a hundred or more species in a day, no problem," says George H. Harrison, a photographer and author of 13 books on birding. They include: 18 to 20 duck species, a good variety of shorebirds and raptors, and huge flocks of Canada geese. Some 200,000 geese splash down here each year.

A visit in early October is optimal for several reasons, says Harrison. For one thing, hunting season hasn’t opened yet, so waterfowl are less nervous and remain closer to the highway. Also, naturalists staff the marsh viewing platforms during the refuge’s annual fall festival. To learn more, visit http://midwest.fws.gov/Horicon.

Beauty @ nest box
Looking up

Her chest feathers look very dark this am

A group that's always held my interest, even before I was into birding, is birds of prey. When I went on my first hawk watching field trip, I was told it's easiest if you first separate the accipiters from the buteos from the falcons. I just nodded, I'd heard the word falcon before but what were the others mentioned? I had no clue, luckily an old saying came to mind: it's better to keep your mouth shut and let people think you're an idiot than to open it and remove all doubt. So, there I stood, watching specks in the sky and trying to absorb as much of the chatter as possible,

When I got home I quickly looked into buying all the titles of the books I saw floating around and after getting my first hand me down computer I bought a couple of cd-roms with great video-game-like hawk watching quizzes. After almost 20 years, I'm able to identify most hawks that fly over our yard.

Accipiters have relatively short rounded wings and a long rudder like tail that gives them the ability to follow prey through thick bushes. They usually fly with several wing flaps then a glide. We have three species, Sharp-shinned, Cooper's and Northern Goshawk, the most common hawk to see around feeder stations is the Sharp-shinned Hawk, it can be seen scouting around the yard with it's characteristic flight pattern, when prey is spotted a sprint through the trees is likely to follow. Telling the sharpie from its close relative the Cooper's Hawk in considered one of the toughest identifications for the hawk watcher. In general, the Cooper's is larger, but there is overlap, an immature female sharpie might be larger than an adult male Cooper's. They say to rely on several "clues" to come up with your ID.

I still haven't checked off Cooper's on my life list. Maybe I should put that on next year's to do list.

The Northern Goshawk is a little easier to tell apart from the other accipiters, it's larger and thicker, and has a distinctive plumage. They too can be seen around feeder yards, bearing down on an unsuspecting pigeon.

Buteos have broad wings, wide bodies and short tails, they're able to soar for long periods. Buteos are the main subject of most hawk watchers, hundreds can be seen on a one day hawk watching stint as near by as New Horton in Albert County. Locally the buteos include the Red-tailed Hawk, Broad-winged Hawk, Rough-legged Hawk and the occasional Red-Shouldered Hawk.

Most people hear "falcon" and they think Peregrine, but there are three falcons commonly found in New Brunswick, and yes it's great to think of the Peregrine Falcon again as somewhat common. We also get the Merlin, who looks much like a mini Peregrine and the one who nests in houses is the Kestrel, a beautifully-coloured falcon about the size of a robin. Compared to the accipiter, falcons have long tapered cycle shaped wings and a short tail, they fly with constant flapping compared to the intermittent flap glide of the accipiter.

So, if you're on a hawk watch and you hear, "Buteo at 10 o'clock," you can at least narrow your guess down to four species, or less. First, it's not likely a Red-shouldered, Rough-legged overwinter here and leave early. Broad-winged feed mostly on cold blooded animals so they arrive last and leave first. Red-tailed hunt mostly mammals to they will arrive first and leave late. If the first 250 buteos spotted were Red-tailed, you'll likely be safe guessing Red-tailed, but you never know for sure.

* Dwayne Biggar's column appears every Saturday. He can be reached at The Bird Garden, 3203 Rt 114, Edgett's Landing, N.B., E4H 2E9, or at 506-734-2489 or e-mail thebirdgarden@rogers.com.

Well, we can always do the Limbo and see just how LOW we can go - a popular off-season thing to do.   

That's pretty much an all year round activity.....no?

July 14, 2010 - Mississauga - Executive Centre
Tracy Simpson Reports:

Mark Nash received a phone call from  our wonderful supporters at MEC security that a banded juvenile had been recovered on their rounds outside one of the buldings.  The unfortunate juvenile has been identified as 18 over Y better known as Joe.  There was no visible trauma that would indicate what had happened to him yet it was most likely an impact with a window of one of the MEC buildings.

For the juvenile peregrines that have successfully fledged and are now learning the fine art of flight, the dangers can be much greater than when they were floppy first timers.  The juveniles now have a much greater degree of confidence and navigate through their environment at much faster speeds.  This makes collisions with buildings and other objects dangerous and even deadly, as was the case for young Joe.

While I was at the site, the other 3 remaining juveniles were flying around well and landing on MEC 2 and 3 like pros.  We wish them well in their learning and hope that they do well in their travels south this fall.

Posted on August 7, 2010 5:59 pm

Round 2 this season. Meet Ashley

Ashley hatched @ 3:30 this am

http://www.ustream.tv/theowlbox#utm_campaign=www.facebook.com&utm_source=3034451&utm_medium=social  Live cam

Hey! Where is everyone?! Not a thing has appeared on the Forum since 09.00 Falcon-Time in ROC... so I am just checking to see if this message goes through... feelin' a bit lonely over here... 

Slainte!

Bobbie

Oh poor Bobbie, it's actually been quiet all week. Not much happening falcon wise but lots of OT stuff, whoever wants. This is NOT normal. 

Beauty finally shows up
Just what Archer wanted.
Archer leaves and Beauty stays.

Still there waiting for Beauty.  She still on TS NE wing.

Archer at nest

BIRD lovers bid an emotional farewell yesterday to the grand old lady of Scotland's ospreys on what wildlife experts fear may be her final migratory flight from the Highland loch that has been her home for the past two decades.
Six months ago Britain's oldest breeding osprey, known simply as "Lady", astounded staff at a wildlife reserve in Perthshire when she returned and produced eggs for a record-breaking 20th consecutive year after completing an arduous 3,000 mile flight
ADVERTISEMENT
from West Africa.

The osprey - now believed to be 25, more than three times the normal lifespan for the species - successfully raised two chicks in her nest at the Scottish Wildlife Trust's Loch of the Lowes reserve near Dunkeld.

But fears that the bird would not survive her summer stay in Scotland were heightened in June when she spent days in her nest on the banks of the loch, apparently unable to fly.

Hundreds of fans from across the world sent messages of sympathy to an online blog, after viewing the bird on a webcam in the nest. Remarkably, Lady made a full recovery.

But the trust yesterday announced that Lady has now departed from her annual breeding ground on what could be her last journey back to Africa. Her departure has sparked a flood of messages from bird lovers across the world.

Trust spokeswoman Nicola McGovern said: "Experts now say that there is a 50 per cent chance that the bird will return next year.

"However, following ill-heath earlier this year, it is still unknown whether she will be strong enough to migrate successfully."

Peter Ferns, the manager at the Loch of the Lowes Visitor Centre, said watching the osprey leave was "particularly moving" this year.

He said: "This amazing creature has exhibited an unprecedented endurance over the 20 years she has been breeding at Loch of the Lowes, living over three times the average lifespan for an osprey and producing an astonishing 48 chicks. This alone is a significant contribution to repopulating the osprey species, which became extinct in Scotland in 1916."

Charlotte Beskeen, a member of staff at the centre, said: "Usually we see her in the nest about two or three times a day because she was still part of the feeding process for the chicks. However, we haven't seen her since Wednesday morning, which is the longest she's been away."

She added: "It will be quite sad if she doesn't come back because she is obviously a big part of Loch of the Lowes and so many people have been following her story. We will have a long wait to find out though, as Lady doesn't normally return to the nest until late March to mid-April."

The Scottish Wildlife Trust's osprey blog has received almost 400 messages, from as far afield as Canada and Finland, from fans of the "Lady of the Loch".

Martha, posting from America, said: "It seems as if the nest isn't the centre of the osprey universe any more for this year, which is as it should be, I suppose. Let Lady and her family be blessed with good fortune."

Emma Rawling, the Scottish Wildlife Trust's Perthshire Ranger, said: "The support and interest we have received from enthusiasts around the world has been overwhelming and wonderful. It is encouraging to know that so many people care about Scotland's wildlife."

http://news.scotsman.com/scotland/Old-Lady-of-the-Lowes.6462371.jp

M/D 6:21: Beauty on base of Mercury

MAK/Dan 5:54 Broad St bridge: 1 or 2 falcons on Jail Tower
              6:02 1 Falcon under SE wing TS
              6:04 Falcon at nest box
              6:07 Just flew from nest to Mercury