Sunny, 70, and a NE
wind
The title may have you
believing that we had more ravens than hawks today at the watch on Bear
Mountain. Not quite. In fact, we had 79 hawks including 9
Bald eagles today. We only had a
half dozen or so Common ravens, but they were uncommonly low and in close and
made for some enjoyable observations.
One bird actually did an inverted flight display for us as seen in this
shot.
In terms of sheer numbers, we
probably had more migrating Blue jays than any other species, and to be
perfectly honest, we had more “stink bugs” than any other species of critter on
the mountain today.
The stink bug, is an insect
that is native to China, Japan, and Korea. It was
accidentally introduced into the United States in 1998. The name comes from the rather nasty
habit of emitting a noxious odor from holes in its abdomen normally as a
defense mechanism against would- be predators. We often see the stink bug in our homes around this time of
year as they invade through any opening available to avoid the cold autumn
nights. They can actually survive
through the winter in the warmth of homes and other buildings. Well, they are not inside yet, that’s
for sure. We had hundreds of them
all over the mountain today.
As for the hawks, the dominant species was the sharp-shinned followed by
Broadwings. The most unexpected
species was the occurrence of several Red-shouldered hawks, a real treat for
us. The Red-tail I photographed which was also around today is a much more common hawk observed at the watch.
Tonight, strong storms
with plenty of rain are due and they are expected to last through tomorrow, so
what we will encounter tomorrow and where remains to be seen. Tune in to find out what is happening
on this stormy day.
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