[mou] record count at Hawk Ridge

[Kim R. Eckert]

Today, 15 Sept, there was a new record high raptor count at Hawk Ridge in
Duluth. As of 6:00 pm, over 100,000 raptors (over 99,000 of these
Broad-winged Hawks) were counted by Tim Smart (the new Counter at Hawk
Ridge), with assistance from Dave Carman, Frank Nicoletti, and others. Lew
Oakland and Debbie Waters also assisted with keeping track of the hourly
totals.

The previous one-day record at the Ridge was 49,615 on 18 Sept 1993, with
47,922 of these Broad-wingeds. Almost all of today's flight took place
during the afternoon hours. The unofficial totals (a few more may have been
counted after 6:00) were:

T Vulture   33
Osprey   7
Bald Eagle   33
N Harrier   11
Sharp-shinned   445
Cooper's   2
N Goshawk   3
Broad-winged   99,677
Red-tailed   8
Am Kestrel   80
Merlin   4
Swainson's   1

Total   100,304