Hey birders,

No rare birds to report, but I wanted to share our season totals with you.  Our counters just turned in their data sheet from the day, thus completing our fall count (Aug 15-Dec 15).  Raptor migration in the Minnesota River Valley at Mankato was pretty phenomenal this year.  The Bethany Hawkwatch counts raptors migrating through two points in Mankato.  One site is at Bethany Lutheran College on the eastern bluff; the other site is Land of Memories Park near the confluence of the Blue Earth and Minnesota Rivers.  Raptors do not pass through both sites so there are no duplicates in our count.  The last two years we have averaged about 4,330 birds so this year was a bit of a shock; we saw record numbers for all species but Peregrine Falcon.

Turkey Vulture—1,810

Osprey—49

Bald Eagle—3,183

Northern Harrier—60

Sharp-shinned Hawk—792

Cooper’s Hawk—65

Northern Goshawk—2

Red-shouldered Hawk—4

Broad-winged Hawk—3,766

Swainson’s Hawk—14

Red-tailed Hawk—1,945

Rough-legged Hawk—45

Golden Eagle—1

American Kestrel—46

Merlin—33

Peregrine Falcon—21

Unidentified raptors—45

August—86

September—5,308

October—2,529

November—3,339

December—618

Season total—11,881

Bethany Lutheran College—5,916 birds of 15 species from 366 hours of observation

Land of Memories Park—5,965 birds of 15 species from 435 hours of observation (better site for days with south winds of which we had many this fall)

Happy birding!

Chad Heins

Assistant Professor of Biology

Bethany Lutheran College

700 Luther Drive

Mankato, MN 56001

Office: 507.344.7327  | Toll Free: 800.944.3066

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