Castlegar Hawk Watch, September 11, 2026

[Paul Prappas]

Today Carolee and I did the first fall Hawk Watch. We were joined by Floor Terpstra. 

It was cool and windy early on but warmed up throughout the day. As the day progressed, more of the raptors were seen flying at much higher altitudes. 

Here are the totals for the watch. It was never really active, but fairly steady for the first three hours. Then it dropped off and became very quiet. We also kept an hour x hour log, which we'll email Gary.

Turkey Vulture - 17

Osprey - 2

Cooper's Hawk-  - 9

Sharp-shinned Hawk -  6

Sharp-shinned/Cooper's Hawk -  14

Accipitrine Hawks 1

Red-tailed Hawk -  7

Broad-winged Hawk - 2

American Kestrel  - 1

Common Raven - 19

Paul

[Gary Davidson]

Thanks to Paul and Carolee for organising and conducting this survey. 

Since this is one of the few interior locations where raptors seem to pass by annually, repeated monitoring provides valuable information. 

This count yielded 59 raptors in 3.5 hours for an average of 16.8 birds per hour. 

Historically, 9 surveys conducted between 9 and 13 September have yielded an average of 12.2 birds per hour.

So far, 90 surveys have been conducted since 2012.

1-15 September averages 11.4 birds per hour

16-30 September averages 16.0 birds per hour

October surveys average 5.6 birds per hour.

This data might suggest that October surveys are less informative, but Golden Eagles are late migrants and October surveys are necessary to monitor this species.

We hope to do at least 2 more surveys this year. Since the birds are often high and hard to spot, having several pairs of eyes is beneficial. If you haven't joined us for a previous survey, you might want to consider it next time!

Thanks again Paul and Carolee.

Gary

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