HOOK MOUNTAIN UPDATE: Year of the Bald Eagle

HOOK MOUNTAIN UPDATE, October 24, 2009
2009 Count

YEAR of the BALD EAGLES - a Record Year! 101 by Oct. 23rd!

We have not only broken the Bald Eagle record of 82 last year, but we have counted 101 Bald Eagles, as of Oct 24^th! That is certainly more than I ever expected, just a few years ago. Wow, has the BE recovered from its endangered state back in the 1960s! We have counted BEs on 35 of the 48 days of coverage (73%), with 7 BEs on three different days this year: Sep 16, Oct 6, and Oct 11. And, there may still be big Bald Eagle days yet to come this season. Last year our highest count was 10 on Nov 17.

2009	307.5	28	459	257	101	63	1520	147	3	39	6803	75	0	0	149	30	25	11	9710	Red: higher than ave
Date	HRS	BV	TV	OS	BE	NH	SS	CH	NG	RS	BW	RT	RL	GE	AK	ML	PG	UR	TOTAL	Blue: lower than ave
10/24	307.7	9	179	250	56	101	1903	188	2	40	3148	56	0	2	247	47	17	42	6279	5yr Ave to 10/24

Other Species Above the 5 Year Average: Black Vulture and Turkey Vulture

Other species above the 5 year average include Black Vulture and Turkey Vulture. Our TV record is 557 in 2006. With 459 already, and November still to come, we might still count another 99. During the time period from Oct 24 to Nov 22, we only counted 57 TVs last year and 40 in 2007. But we counted a whopping 444 for the same period in 2006. We will all have to stay tuned to see if 2009 also becomes the Year of the TV.

NORTHERN GOSHAWK - We have 3 Goshawks to Oct 24! Keep watching those skies so we can count more!

Species Below the 5 Year Average: Harrier, Kestrel, and Merlin

Unfortunately 2009 does not appear to be a good year for three species: Northern Harriers, American Kestrels, and Merlins. Harriers are 38% below their 5-year average, Kestrels 40%, and Merlins 37%.

The most worrisome is the Kestrel, which has been in a steady decline since 1971, and a strong decline since 1999. This years total of 149 to Oct 24 is just 3 less than our total for 2008, so it almost seems as if there is some improvement. But the 2008 count of 152 was our lowest ever! Historical averages for Kestrels are: 489/yr since 1971, 461/yr since 1985, and 353/yr since 1999. See HM trends and interpretive analysis at FI.

Be sure to come up to Hook to help us count. Our mission is conservation of raptors. We keep the count to monitor population trends of raptors. Celebrate our counters!

Trudy Battaly, compiler

NEHW