Winter Finch Forecast is Coming! Red Crossbills!

The Winter Finch Forecast is about to come out which tells you who, what, and where finches will show up this winter. If you haven't heard there has been significant Red Crossbill movement already, especially Type 4 and 2 into the northeast. This photo is of a Red Crossbill who landed at the feet of my coauthor of The Stokes Guide to Finches of the United States and Canada, Matthew A. Young, and I, the first time we met in person. The reason the book exists is because I recorded Red Crossbills during the 2020-2021 finch superflight and sent the recordings to Matt to decode as to call type and that is how we met. So we owe the book to Red Crossbills.
 

Prime Time for Hawk MIgration

On the wing, hawks, monarchs, and me. It is prime hawk migration time. I saw 6,000 plus Broad-winged Hawks at Wachusett Mt. hawkwatch (tower on top of a mountain). In addition to all migrating raptors, they count monarch butterflies. I am on the Hawk Migration Association of North America board, which maintains the awesome website, hawkcount.org, in which sites all across North America report their daily raptor numbers. Go there to learn all about it and find a hawkwatch near you.