September 2021 Bird Migration Count & Banding Summaries
September Raptor Count Summary
The month of September on Hawk Ridge begins with the subtle tones of summer still lingering in the air while finishing with nearby trees beginning to transition gently into a blend of oranges and reds as autumn takes hold. This month accounts for the bulk of the season total for several raptor species including Broad-winged Hawk, American Kestrel, Peregrine Falcon, and Osprey. A total of 300.58 count hours over 30 consecutive days of counts were logged throughout the month. A total of 58,425 migrant raptors of 15 species were tallied from the observation platform between 1 and 30 September.
Sept 1-4 The first count day of September began with a 100+ BALD EAGLE flight (1 Sept: 108), coming on the heels of August’s two recording breaking daily counts. Only three additional count days in the month would exceed the 100-bird mark for the species. Several strong SHARP-SHINNED HAWK days (1 Sept:119; 2 Sept: 120; 4 Sept: 349) were tallied early on while the occasional juvenile BROAD-WINGED HAWK continued to appear, usually single birds for the entire day. A total of 10 raptor species were documented in the first week of the month, albeit in relatively lower numbers, as the remainder of the season continued to gain momentum.
Sept 5-11 The second week of the month brought the first multi-thousand BROAD-WINGED HAWK days, notably 8, 9, and 11 September (3163, 9162, 1972 respectively). By now, both adults and juveniles were pouring in from the northern forests and forming massive kettles throughout the lake side valley adjacent to the ridge as well as several days with large kettles forming in the distant valley to the west. SHARP-SHINNED HAWK continued to gain momentum over the week with a 546 birds/day 7-day average. The largest sharpie flight on the month came on 8 September (1328) paralleling the first large Broad-wing Hawk flight – large mixed kettles of both species filled the skies throughout the count period! The first and last days of the week brought the first and second records of SWAINSON’S HAWK on the season. The earlier bird being a juvenile and the latter being a dark morph adult. The first early signs of TURKEY VULTURE migration were documented on 8 September as well, mixing in kettles throughout the day. The two largest AMERICAN KESTREL flights (103 and 127) for the month came during the same two-day window (8 and 9 Sept). The first NORTHERN GOSHAWK tallied on the season came before the week’s end while 8 and 9 September saw some of the highest COOPER’S HAWK daily counts (8 and 9) for the month.
Sept 12-18 PEREGRINE FALCON began being more consistent daily records during the third week, with at least one bird being seen each day. The week began with strong northwest winds which produced another large BROAD-WINGED HAWK flight (Sept 12: 5321) separated by a brief lull of minimal migratory movement during the midweek until the next large flight (Sept 17: 5515), with the latter day bringing the third SWAINSON’S HAWK on the season, too. Two of the largest MERLIN flights on the month came during the beginning of this week and end of the previous one (12 Sept: 12; 11 Sept: 10). Several days were filled some RED-TAILED HAWK movement, mostly young birds, while the bulk of the season total is usually tallied later next month in October and early November.
Sept 19-25 The fourth week of the month began with two days of southerly wind and rain that shut down the count period. The poor weather did not produce much of a flight however the days that followed provided incredibly favorable conditions and the largest BROAD-WINGED HAWK daily count on the season (21 Sept: 13821), pushing the season total well over the 40,000 bird mark! The same day brought the second-only 1000+ SHARP-SHINNED HAWK daily count (1122) on the month (516 birds/day 7-day average over the week) as well as good flights of NORTHERN HARRIER (37), OSPREY (10), and TURKEY VULTURE (47). The final day of the week brought the largest NORTHERN HARRIER daily count on the month (25 Sept: 39). Sept 26-30 By the final week of the month, the BROAD-WINGED HAWK numbers had begun to wane but not before providing well over 42,000 birds on the season! This was the largest September and season total for this species since 2004. Between the third week and this one, NORTHERN GOSHAWK began making more daily appearances along the ridge with 13 being seen between 24 September and the end of the month.
By 26 September, the AMERICAN KESTREL season total pushed over the 1000 mark while 19 PEREGRINE FALCONS were tallied in the final four days of the month! The momentum of the SHARP-SHINNED HAWK flight continued into the last week with a 436 birds/day 5-day average. One of the final days of the month (29 Sept) brought with it the first GOLDEN EAGLE on the season as well as an adult RED-SHOULDERED HAWK! The young eagle made a quick, low pass along the west side of the ridge while there is a good chance that may be the only Red-shouldered on the season, as only nine seasons out of the last 50 years have records, usually single birds!
Thank you to all who visited the ridge throughout the month and enjoyed the incredible migration. By now many of the Broad-winged Hawks that had passed along Hawk Ridge weeks ago are beginning to pass through more southerly sites, such as Corpus Christi in Texas and Veracruz in Mexico, with hundreds of thousands of others on their way to the Amazon basin. However, we look ahead towards October and impressive flights of larger raptors, such as Red-tailed Hawk and Golden Eagle, leaving northern latitudes as the boreal winter inches closer, as well as Rough-legged Hawks departing their Arctic breeding grounds!
You can follow along daily with the fall raptor count and summaries HERE!
-Jess Cosentino, Fall Counter
September Non-Raptor Count Summary
September at Hawk Ridge is known for its high diversity of migrants and of course some of the biggest flights of raptors such as Broad-winged Hawks. This year we were also fortunate to have many memorable flights and high counts across the board for a variety of passerines and other birds, due in part to excellent weather with westerly winds dominating. We have also seen notably early flights and first arrivals for many species, which leave us wondering what the rest of the season will bring. The following summary will cover our migration count in chronological order with a focus on the morning (or sometimes all day) passerine flights, and notable counts of other species such as shorebirds, waterbirds, cranes, and more.
September 1st-4th: Species total month to date: (81) Species total season to date: (111) The first few days of the month brought some more diversity following the first big flight on August 30th (1250 warblers of 11 species, 53 Palm Warblers, 2 Evening Grosbeak, 37 Red-breasted Nuthatches). A wide array of species abounded including: (Common Nighthawk, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Sandhill Crane, Solitary Sandpiper, Tree, Barn, and Cliff Swallows, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Least Flycatcher, Eastern Kingbird, Philadelphia Vireo, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Veery, Swainson’s and Gray-cheeked Thrush, any and all species of warblers, Purple Finch, Bobolink, Indigo Bunting, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, American White Pelican, Red-necked Grebe, and Common Loon.) 68 species were recorded on the 4th alone. Of particular note were the first flights of Blue Jays on the 1st and 2nd (234 and 631) respectively; a sneak peak to the now record-breaking season. Also, a brief sighting of a likely Selasphorus sp. (Rufous or Allen’s) Hummingbird on the 2nd and a pair of Red-crossbills on the 4th were the first of a few good rarities for the month.
September 5th- 11th: Species total month to date: (105) Species total season to date: (121) The first full week of the month brought a strong early push of migrants, of course including our first big flights of Broad-winged Hawks on the 8th (3163) and 9th (9162), which were surprising for those early dates! This week saw more great diversity for songbirds, starting off with 59 species on the 5th, including 14 species of warblers. We also added some new species for the season such as Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Brown Creeper, Lapland Longspur, and White-winged Crossbill, Cackling Goose, Red-headed and Red-bellied Woodpeckers. One of the major highlights for passerines this week were the huge Blue Jay flights that certainly pushed us over the top for this season, with counts ramping up quickly each day: 1676, 3288, 2085, 3426, 4155, 6188, and finally 7569 on the 11th! The previous season total for Blue Jays was around 51,000, but this week contributed to the new record season total of 59,170 and counting as of Oct. 2nd!
September 12th- 18th: Species total month to date: (120) Species total season to date: (134) Following an exciting week with great numbers and diversity, we had some more strong pushes of migrant raptors and passerines. Blue Jay numbers continued to climb with many days over 3000, and mornings with nearly 2000 warblers! Some notable additions for the season were our first Rusty Blackbird, Lincolns Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Horned Lark, Orange-crowned Warbler, Hermit Thrush, Black-bellied Plover, Semipalmated Plover, Killdeer, and Snow Goose. The biggest surprise came on the morning of the 15th when a Smith’s Longspur flew over the platform and was photographed by Alex Sundvall during the count! This is only the 2nd record for the count and a great rarity for anywhere in the region.
September 19th- 25th: Species total month to date: (128) Species total season to date: (142) Late September on Hawk Ridge is known for is spectacular flights and amazing diversity, and this week really brought it home! Of course our biggest flight of Broad-winged Hawks for the season (13,821) on the 21st, was a big highlight, but that wasn’t the only memorable event of the week. The week kicked off with a somewhat slow Sunday due to strong south winds, but a great surprise came in the form of a White-winged Dove that flew by the platform in the afternoon! This southwest desert species has a reputation for vagrancy, with a handful of records for the county, making this the 4th for the count! In terms of migration phenology (seasonal timing), this week was quite interesting, with the count on the 21st showing a rapid shift in the passerine species migrating through the region. The morning brought our first notable flights of some later season species including Rusty Blackbirds (297) and Yellow-rumped Warblers (841). Also notable was our first Black-backed Woodpecker, Fox Sparrow, and 4 very early Common Redpoll! The day ended with a huge push of nearly 500 Sandhill Cranes, nearly all at once! The morning of the 24th was also a significant, with nearly 6000 warblers moving along the lakeshore, most of which were likely Yellow-rumped (we positively identified 1292 as such). Rain showers moved in late morning, but Yellow-rumps, Robins, and others kept on moving!
September 26th- 30th: Species total month to date: (133) Species total season to date: (147) The last few days of September did not disappoint, bringing a few new species for the count and some good counts of later season species like finches. The 26th was a great day, with a surprising count of 873 Purple Finch and the first big flight of American Robins (1882). Blue Jay numbers were low on some days, but we still saw good numbers (1547) on the 27th, showing the transition between these two abundant migrants. Species like Orange-crowned Warbler began showing up more frequently, along with Lapland Longspurs, American Pipits, Dark-eyed Juncos, White-crowned Sparrow, Winter Wren, and the first Trumpeter Swans of the season.
As we end this fast paced and exciting month, we look forward to more of what will come in October and November. The flycatchers, warblers, thrushes, and shorebirds might be on their way out, but late season could bring big finch flights, exciting western rarities, and hopefully a few more good surprises. Follow along with us live on Dunkadoo or on the ridge for another exciting month!
You can follow the count live HERE!
-Julian Grudens, Fall Counter
September Raptor Banding Summary
September provided favorable conditions for the raptor banding project with many days of mild temperatures and westerly winds. While the Hawk Ridge and Moose Valley banding stations started operations in mid-August, the Paine Farm station was set up on August 28 and began operating on September 4. Paine Farm is being run by long-time banding volunteers, David Alexander and Miranda Durbin. Abbie Valine is running the Moose Valley station, while I’m running the Hawk Ridge station with the 3 banding trainees: Emma Regnier, Maggie Brown, & Elle Heiser. This month, we had 76 banding days covered between the three stations.
While the number of Sharp-shinned Hawks banded in August was low relative to previous years, we finally started getting nice pushes of hatch-year females within the first week of September. September 8 was our biggest banding day with 318 raptors banded across all three stations, the vast majority of which were Sharp-shinned Hawks. That first wave of young female Sharp-shinned Hawks was followed by the simultaneous arrival of adult females and hatch-year males around September 13 and an increase in adult males by the end of the month. In addition, we banded 12 Broad-winged Hawks in Sept. which is well above last season’s total of 7.
This September was also a remarkable month for American Kestrels, with 73 banded. The season’s first Peregrine Falcon was a hatch-year bird banded on September 23 at Paine Farm - only the third Peregrine ever banded there! The Moose Valley banding station, which is set up for falcons, has been very productive with 47 Merlins, 56 American Kestrels, and 2 Peregrine Falcons banded, including a beautiful adult female Peregrine banded. We look forward to what October has in store for us!
-Frank Nicoletti, Banding Director
September Owl Banding Summary
The owl banding season began on September 13th and the crew has had 16 productive nights since. Mild weather allowed the station to run all but one night and the owls have been plentiful. So far, 547 new Northern Saw-whet Owls have been banded. There’ve also been 27 recaptured owls, including saw-whets originally processed in Minnesota near the Canadian border, on the St. Croix River on the Wisconsin border, and even a 3 year-old bird originally banded near Rockford, Illinois.
A saw-whet first banded as a hatch year in 2015 at Hawk Ridge was also recaptured and released in good health. So far, our captured saw-whets have been predominantly second-year females, although an increase in hatch year birds has been noted in recent nights.
Once again, our resident Eastern Screech Owl was recaptured. That’s the fourth straight year this owl has made an appearance after originally being banded by Kate Maley in 2018. It is still feisty, healthy and continues to treat our banding crew to its call on many nights. No Long-eared, Barred or Great Horned owls have been banded. But, a few have been seen and heard, so it’s only a matter of time until one graces us with its presence.
-Andy Witchger, Owl Bander
September Raptor Banding Totals
Northern Harrier: 15
Sharp-shinned Hawk: 1730
Cooper’s Hawk:13
Northern Goshawk: 3
Broad-winged Hawk:12
Red-tailed Hawk: 36
American Kestrel: 73
Merlin: 81
Peregrine Falcon: 4
Northern Saw-whet Owl: 547
SEPTEMBER TOTAL: 2514
Passerine Banding Summary
The 8th summer of the MAPS project (Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship) was completed at Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve by our dedicated group of passerine volunteers led by David Alexander and Margie Menzies. During one of their July sessions, they had an amazing day with a total of 127 birds. Highlights included Yellow-bellied Flycatchers, Least Flycatchers, Northern Waterthrush, Veery, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, recaptured Hairy Woodpecker, and a family of Golden-winged Warblers. The full MAPS summary will be included in our next newsletter.
Beginning in August, the Fall Passerine Banding Project then begins at Hawk Ridge. As of September 30, 800+ passerines of nearly 60 species were banded, including highlights of Black-throated Blue Warbler, Savannah Sparrow, Northern Parula, and Blackpoll Warblers. An American Woodcock was banded, but at the owl banding station one night.
Hawk Weekend Festival 2021 Summary
Hawk Weekend 2021 (Sept. 17-19) has come and gone, and with it brought many wonderful visitors to Hawk Ridge. It was also a fun, exciting week for migration! During the week preceding and including Hawk Weekend, nearly 15,000 Raptors migrated past Hawk Ridge. Here's a report of the migration highlights of that week from one of our counters, Alex Sundvall: "During this time frame, we had multiple days over 5000 BROAD-WINGED HAWKS, contributing to a season total of nearly 27,000, and on the Friday of Hawk Weekend, a stunning Dark Morph bird graced the ridge and gave amazing views to everyone present. Another raptor highlight was a gorgeous adult Intermediate Morph SWAINSON’S HAWK in a large kettle of Broad-winged Hawks.
Raptors weren’t the only stars of the show this week! BLUE JAY numbers continue to impress with over 19,000 migrating past the ridge over the course of the week (note: as of October, the season total is nearing 60,000 and we have broke the season-high count!). Over 3000 Warblers of 17 different species were recorded in morning flight, with YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS and PALM WARBLERS making up the bulk of the identified species. The main passerine highlights however were the second Hawk Ridge record of SMITH’S LONGSPUR and the fourth Hawk Ridge Record of WHITE-WINGED DOVE, the latter of which blitzed past the platform on the Sunday of Hawk Weekend giving all the staff and onlookers a quick glance before disappearing."
We opened the weekend events with our kick-off social at the Great Lakes Aquarium enjoying the venue and exhibits, including Karl Bardon's "A Life of Birds II" art exhibit, which is stunning. Dr. Jerry Niemi presented a fantastic presentation on boreal birds research and sold out of the new book "Art on the Edge of the Boreal Forest".
Our Saturday evening presentation was equally wonderful with UMD graduate students, Emily Pavlovic, Allie Pesano, and Hannah Toutonghi presenting on their raptor research in conjunction with Hawk Ridge.
The Hawk Ridge Annual Meeting was held Saturday night and honored Dr. David Alexander in receiving his 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award in person, as well as a 10-year service award for his decade serving on the Hawk Ridge Board of Directors. Thank you David for your 25+ years of involvement from banding birds to stewardship work and more!
Field trips and workshops on Saturday and Sunday also reported back with great compliments on leaders, good birding, and camaraderie. We truly thank all of our presenters & field trip/workshop leaders, including Margie Menzies, Jackie Fallon, Dave Carman, Bill Tefft, Laura Erickson, John Green, Alex Sundvall, Dr. Jerry Niemi, Emily Pavlovic, Hannah Toutonghi, and Allie Pesano. A special thanks to the volunteers that helped with the festival weekend! We also especially thank Christine Ebert, Gail Marsman, Jeanne Filiatrault-Laine, and Molly Thompson for help behind-the-scenes and the evening events.
All in all a wonderful Hawk Weekend with beautiful weather and thousands of birds and people!
Meet Our Fall 2021 Hawk Ridge Team
We have a wonderful crew for fall of 2021 of both return and new! You can find out who's who HERE on our staff page. We are all excited to share the magnificent migration of birds with you!
WAYS OF GIVING
Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory thanks all of our supporters. As a nonprofit organization, we are primarily funded by individual gifts to put our bird migration research and education programs in action. Below are ways you can help us keep sharing the magic of the bird migration!
Support Hawk Ridge by Shopping!
Be sure to stop by our gift shop (merchandise trailer) at Hawk Ridge September 1 – October 31 for a variety of Hawk Ridge and other bird/nature-related merchandise. Our featured artist this year is Emma Regnier, who was one of our Bird Migration Count Trainees in 2020 and has returned as one of our Banding Research Trainees for this fall. She created 2 new beautiful designs for our limited-edition shirts for 2021!
Purchase one of our unique artist-designed Hawk Ridge shirts or tote bags online. If you like to shop on Amazon, you can add Hawk Ridge as your charity you support via Amazon Smile and Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory receives a donation of 0.5% of eligible purchases!.
Become A Member Today!
If you're already a member of Hawk Ridge, we sincerely appreciate your support! THANK YOU! If you're not a member and have enjoyed your experience with Hawk Ridge, we invite you to renew or join as a Hawk Ridge member today! Our memberships and donations help drive our bird conservation research and education programs. You can check out our exciting membership benefits and join or renew online HERE!
Books with Portion of Proceeds coming to Hawk Ridge!
Art on the Edge of the Boreal Forest: Alternative Futures for the trees, birds and insects
Original art by ten Minnesota artists
Text by Lee Frelich, Ph.D. and Gerald Niemi, Ph.D.
A group of Minnesota botanical artists applied their skills and knowledge to create a visual archival record of Minnesota's threatened boreal forest. Dr. Frelich, director for the Center for Forest Ecology, and Dr. Niemi, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Biology, University of Minnesota Duluth (and former Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory Board Member & Research Chair), as well as Jane Albers, DNR Forest Health Specialist, contributed research on threatened boreal trees, plants, birds, and insects. This collection is important because the ecology of the boreal forest is undergoing slow and silent but significant change due to disturbances caused by fire, invasive insects and stressful climate conditions. Books for sale online from various sellers, including HERE.
Hawks on High - Everyday Miracles in a Hawk Ridge Season
By Phil Fitzpatrick with drawings by Penny Perry
Phil Fitzpatrick captures the magic of migration at Hawk Ridge and interesting bird bits beyond through his beautiful collection of poetry. Poems are brought to life through the artwork of Penny Perry. Books for sale online and at Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve during the fall season September 1 - October 31.
Simply Donate
You can always simply donate online by clicking HERE or by mailing a check made out to Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory, P.O. Box 3006, Duluth, MN 55803.
.JPG "Northern Goshawk by J Richardson")
.JPG "Brown Creeper (A Geniusz)")
