Jenner Headlands Preserve 9.22.24 Hawk Hike with Sonoma Land Trust
Lots of Coopers Hawks, Sharp-shinned Hawks, American Kestrels, Red-tailed Hawks, Northern Harriers, a few Broad-winged Hawks, a couple Merlins and a White-tailed Kite as well as a Peregrine Falcon. At the Jenner Visitors Center a Bald Eagle and a couple Osprey.
Here is a report from he hawkwatch team on duty:
Hello Everyone, IT WAS AN EPIC DAY up on the Jenner hill! Probably the most Accipiter’s I have ever seen pass through in a single sitting. And…we had 3 Merlin’s and 3 Broad winged Hawks to boot! 8 Species all together!!!! It was an incredible experience. Migration is in full swing!
Bill and I were joined by Mary Killian. Mellissa Witt, and Chris Richmond for the day, and Larry Broderick joined us with his SLT walk through to join us for a time as well- including Vicki Chung
We started out in fog down at the JVC and it stuck with us up the hill. We could see slight clearing overhead but could barely see any of the near trees – just the hill itself. Pretty quickly it started to clear, and we had a growing “fogbow” (Mary knew this term) the continued to intensify in front of us before the fog cleared in the draw below us. Eventually, football and the tree line behind us opened and the birds came flying through. Fast and furious, so quickly in fact, that even with 5 of us counting furiously, we probably missed some of them. Our first Broad winged flew near us so we could get a good look at it. The second two we watched fly right to us from the football field and fly almost overhead. The trailing black wing edge very visible. At the end of the day, the 2 Merlins divebomb each other as we watched them traverse the sky in front of us.
Our final count surprised me- 265 Raptors- and the first hour only held 12!
Turkey Vulture: 56
Northern Harrier : 5 including 1
male and 1 juvenile
Sharp-shinned Hawk: 33
Coopers Hawk: 35
Broad-winged Hawk: 3
Red-tailed Hawk: 75 incl. 31 juvenile
American Kestrel : 13 including 5 males
Merlin: 3
Peregrine Falcon : 2
(below, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Broad-winged Hawk, and Broad-winged Hawks)
Amy Gilgan photos
photos from the day ....
more from the hike
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