Hawk Watching, Owl Banding, and the Big Sit

This weekend I once again traveled down to Bedford County, PA. Friday afternoon and Saturday I hawk-watched. Friday was pretty slow, but Saturday was good with 73 raptors flying past at Tussey Mountain, which was 10 more than what they had at the Allegheny Front. Saturday night we attempted to capture and band Northern Saw-whet Owls, but the wind was very, very strong, so only one owl was caught all night and it was after I had already left at 2:30am. Saturday night straight through till Sunday morning we banded owls. We managed to capture 23 saw-whets! Most were hatch-year birds and one was a recapture from another banding site. Sunday I hosted a "Big Sit" at the Allegheny Front Hawk Watch which is also where we were banding. I was at the site for 20 hours total and managed to find 56 species of birds from within a 17 foot diameter circle! Highlights were all three falcons, all three accipiters, and a Ruffed Grouse. We also found 9 species of butterflies. Some photos from hawk watching this weekend are below.

Turkey Vulture missing all its tail feathers

adult Peregrine Falcon

juvenile Cooper's Hawk

Here is the complete list of species seen (and how many of each were seen) at the Big Sit:

Canada Goose 3
Ruffed Grouse 1 red phase
Wild Turkey 4
Turkey Vulture 20
Osprey 1
Northern Harrier 2
Sharp-shinned Hawk 32
Cooper's Hawk 10
Northern Goshawk 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 19
American Kestrel 2
Merlin 1
Peregrine Falcon 1
Rock Pigeon 1
Great Horned Owl 1
Barred Owl 2
Northern Saw-whet Owl 23
Chimney Swift 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 2
Downy Woodpecker 2
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 10
Pileated Woodpecker 1
Eastern Phoebe 1
Blue-headed Vireo 2
Blue Jay 150
American Crow 50
Common Raven 2
Black-capped Chickadee 20
Tufted Titmouse 10
White-breasted Nuthatch (Eastern) 50
Brown Creeper 2
Golden-crowned Kinglet 3
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 8
Eastern Bluebird 6
Veery 2 flight calls
Swainson's Thrush 4 flight calls
American Robin 50
Gray Catbird 1
European Starling 20
Cedar Waxwing 100
Cape May Warbler 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 10
Pine Warbler 4
Eastern Towhee 1
Song Sparrow 1
White-throated Sparrow 6
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) 1
Red-winged Blackbird 20
Common Grackle 75
Brown-headed Cowbird 50
Purple Finch 8
House Finch 20
American Goldfinch 40