Hey birders,

We had our best day of hawkwatching of the fall yesterday with 9 species represented by 38 individuals.  The cold front was also moving hundreds of thousands of dragonflies and hundreds of monarchs.  The biggest highlight was our first fall record of Mississippi Kite which passed over shortly before 1pm.  I was regrettably in class and missed it, but several of our trained observers had great views of this bird as it went over.  Other species included Osprey, Bald Eagle, Merlin, and Peregrine Falcon.

So far this fall we have seen 130 raptors.

Happy birding!

Chad Heins

Mankato