Bird Board
Winter Raptor Survey
On December 13, I conducted a winter raptor survey through parts of Palm Beach and Hendry counties (took a few days to compile). This is the third year that I've done it and entered my data at the Hawk Migration Association web site (hmana.org). Seeing that mine are the only entries for a southern tier state -- where a lot of raptors go to winter -- I thought I'd share my results here, maybe encouraging others to try a route.
The route that I do covers about 45 miles of roads, mostly along Miami Canal and Blumberg Roads. This is open country, most of it agricultural. Power lines along the way concentrate many of the hawks. Results were:
Black Vulture - 69
Turkey Vulture - 322
Osprey - 8
Northern Harrier - 23
Bald Eagle - 3
White-tailed Kite - 5
Cooper's Hawk - 4
Red-shouldered Hawk - 22
Red-tailed Hawk - 21
Swainson's Hawk - 13
Crested Caracara - 5
American Kestrel - 87
Peregrine Falcon - 9
Barn Owl - 3
Comments
That's a nice swainson's count. Were those kettling, or individual birds? Any location info on caracara? Not common in dade.
Kurt,
Both species were along Blumberg Road in Hendry co. The Caracaras can be found anywhere along that road, but on this occasion al were concentrated near the northern part of Blumberg. They can also be found along Snake Road / 833. I've found Swainson' s consistently along Blumberg by watching the agricultural burns. I actually had one fly overhead on its way to a distant fire, at which 7 eventually gathered. The others were tallied at other fires. They roam widely, so there could have been overlap. But 13 could be accurate, as two years ago, I observed 15 at once at one of these fires. Vultures (and Caracaras) are also drawn to the fires. It can be a challenge to pick out the Swainson's among the many vultures, especially if the fire is a ways off. And there is smoke to look through. But fun to observe.
I somehow missed the top, where you clearly say PB and Hendry. I thought you found those in Dade! The cane fields are excellent for harriers and swainsons. Nice report
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