274 Peregrine Falcon Day

Another excellent shot of a Peregrine Falcon by Kevan Sunderland at the Florida Keys Hawkwatch.

We are finally gaining some momentum: 274 migrating Peregrine Falcons were tallied at the Florida Keys Hawkwatch – Curry Hammock State Park – today 10/08/15, bringing the season’s total to 1240. It was also a decent day for Sharp-shinned and Broad-winged hawks. See the chart below.

Songbirds at Long Key State Park picked up quite a bit from recent slow days. Despite the many thrush vocalizations heard over South Florida last night, none were detected in the park, therefore we assume safe flights beyond the Keys. Warblers were represented in higher diversity and numbers than recent days, including Pine, Prairie, Magnolia, Black-and-white, Black-throated Blue, Palm, Cape May, Yellow-throated and Worm-eating warblers, Ovenbird, Northern Parula, Northern Waterthrush, Common Yellowthroat and 51 American Redstarts.

Gray Catbirds are finally present in our area, and it will be a common species during our surveys for the remainder of the season. However, the least common species this day was a Yellow-headed Blackbird!

Black-throated Blue Warbler by Ted Keyel. Yellow-headed Blackbird by Rafael Galvez.

Counters for 10/08/15 were Ted Keyel, Colleen Kimbert Caudill and Charles Caudill.