Its been a very frustrating fall for Jo Hays Vista – winds coming out of the SW have really brought our count down. Luckily, today we had nice, cold NW winds; exactly what we need for a nice push of raptors this time of the year. Tim Shreckengost started off the day at 10, joined by Chet and Sue Gottfried … Read More
Jo Hays Vista – October 2011 Report
On the first day of October, we had counted 2048 migrate past Jo Hays Vista, the best fall flight at  this site ever recorded. I was really excited to see what would happen in October, after all last year we really didn’t even start hawk watching seriously up at JHV until October and we were rewarded with a wonderful flight … Read More
Jo Hays Vista: Snow Buntings and Golden Eagles
North winds were predicted for today at Jo Hays Vista, so Drew and I were excited to get up there and hopefully see some raptor migration, since the past month has been poor wind and weather conditions to encourage raptors to fly along Tussey Ridge. Drew and I got to JHV at 10:00am and things looked good. The winds were … Read More
Jo Hays Vista – Big Osprey Flight!
Today up at Jo Hays Chuck Widdman, Chet Gottfried, and IÂ dealt with on-and-off rain showers and heavy fog cover to try and catch some of the migrants passing by. We had 47 raptors pass, which we thought was pretty great considering the weather conditions. A nice kettle of 12 Broad-wings plus a few singleton Broad-wings made them the most numerous … Read More
Jo Hays Vista – September 2011 Report
Coming into September with only 100 raptors, the other primary Jo Hays hawkwatchers and I were ready to see things heat up. We put in a total of 13 days (51.75 hours) worth of observation time at Jo Hays which resulted in 1888 raptors being counted during the month! Due to the limited visibility at Jo Hays, northwest winds are … Read More
Jo Hays Vista – 2000th Raptor of the Season!
Until around 1:30pm today, Jo Hays Vista was pretty well fogged in, but then the clouds got higher and the rain stopped and birds poured through, particularly falcons and Osprey. Joe Verica, Ian Gardner, and I were there from 1:30 till 3:45 and had 29 raptors migrate past; 7 Osprey, 2 Bald Eagle, 4 Cooper’s Hawks, 6 Broad-winged Hawks, 3 … Read More
Jo Hays Vista – 120 Raptors and an up-close Kestrel
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 … Read More
Jo Hays Vista – Another nice Broad-winged Count
I spent 8 hours today hawk watching at Jo Hays Vista. The weather was nice and birds were on the move, despite almost the very light wind speed throughout the day. Chuck Widdman, Ian Gardner, Joe Verica, and many others stopped by throughout the day to help with the count. We ended the day with 353 raptors migrating past. Of … Read More
Jo Hays Vista – 574 Migrant Raptors!
Today we had 574 raptors migrant past Jo Hays Vista, the biggest one-day count during the fall ever at JHV. The flight was dominated by Broad-winged Hawks, but seven other species of migrant raptor also made appearances. Most of the birds were either really high up or really far out to the north. Although, almost all of the kestrels flew … Read More
Jo Hays Vista – 469 Migrant Raptors Today!
I got a late start today at Jo Hays Vista, but it didn’t matter because the valley was covered in a thick blanket of haze until about 3:40. Â I arrived at 12:00, and I was joined by Chuck Widdman shortly after. Â The wind was nonexistant, and local Turkey Vultures weren’t even flying around. Â Monarchs just seemed to float in mid … Read More
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