This morning I helped out with the PSU Forest Festival, and so I didn’t get up to Jo Hays Vista until a little after noon. As soon as I arrived, Broad-winged Hawks were moving past overhead. During the first hour we had 27 hawks fly past, the next hour we had 65. During the 2 to 3 o’clock hour, I didn’t have any hawks migrate past, and the last hour I spent there, I had 28 which ended the day at a nice 120 migrant raptors counted. An adult Bald Eagle made an appearance at 1:39 and flew right overhead and it cruised down the ridge. Luckily, multiple tourists were present to see the eagle pass. I counted 4 American Kestrels in total today, but one in particular flew past very close, allowing for two nice in-flight shots. The real stars of the show today were the Monarch butterflies; I counted 253 migrate past! In total we had 106 Broad-winged Hawks, 6 Osprey, 1 Bald Eagle, 4 American Kestrel, 6 Sharp-shinned Hawks, and 1 unidentified raptor.
American Kestrel - male
American Kestrel - male
Bald Eagle - adult