Allegheny Front Hawk Watch

Sat, October 22, 2011, 8:00 am
Yellow Creek Park Office
Outing Leader: Gloria Lamer

Description

Meet at the Yellow Creek State Park office at 8:00 a.m., to carpool to the Allegheny Front Hawk Watch.

Trip Report

Extremely windy weather with gusts to 47 mph at the Allegheny Front Hawk Watch on October 15 gave us good reason to reschedule our trip. Unfortunately, the following Saturday was not open for many of those who had planned to attend. Gloria Lamer, Roger, and I met at the Yellow Creek State Park office at 8:00. Activity around the office included Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Black-capped Chickadees, 2 White-breasted Nuthatches, Brown Creeper, 2 Golden-crowned Kinglets, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, and 2 Am. Robins.

Along Rt. 422 near Ebensburg we spotted a flock of about 150 Common Grackles. In Somerset County we added about 80 Canada Geese.

When we arrived, we were pleased to find that the dayï¿½s counters were Gene and Nancy Flament, who used to come on our Yellow Creek outings. We had not seen them for quite a while. The first raptor we observed at the hawk watch was the first of the dayï¿½s two Merlins. It was a tad chilly sitting on the wooden platform, but a good supply of snacks kept us busy between birds. Red-tailed Hawks and Turkey Vultures were moving. Around 10:00 Dan and Marcy Cunkelman arrived. The sighting of a Peregrine got our adrenalin going. A silent Common Raven passed by overhead. Suddenly we heard the double chip of a Winter Wren in the shrubbery to our right. We approached the shrubs and spotted the wren as he alternately fed and called. Other raptors sighted while we were there included Cooperï¿½s Hawk, 2 Northern Harriers, and 3 Am. Kestrels. A probable Ring-billed Gull and a flock of 13 Double-crested Cormorants were additional migrants. Other birds listed at the hawk watch included Downy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Pileated Woodpecker, Cedar Waxwings, and Yellow-rumped Warblers. We ended the day with a list of 30 species and a stop at the Main Moon in Johnstown for dinner.

Submitted by Margaret Higbee

If you participated in this trip, you may add an outing report.