Yesterday on Brockway was the Laurie Binford Memorial. About 30 people came up to the mountain to share their stories and memories of Laurie. Laurie’s Magnum Opus “Birds of the Keweenaw Peninsula” is the definitive work regarding bird records in the Keweenaw. A great piece about Laurie’s days in California can be found here:
Who Was Who in California Birding
Laurie Binford on Brockway Mountain in 2009. Photo by Joe Kaplan
Winds yesterday were strong out of the south for most of the day. There was a decent push of immature BALD EAGLES throughout the day, primarily 1st year birds. Totals for the day, month and season are below.
------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 20 193 637 Osprey 3 15 36 Bald Eagle 25 116 717 Northern Harrier 1 9 141 Sharp-shinned Hawk 40 870 1546 Cooper's Hawk 0 12 19 Northern Goshawk 0 6 27 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 1 9 Broad-winged Hawk 224 3517 3697 Red-tailed Hawk 5 86 633 Rough-legged Hawk 0 16 122 Golden Eagle 0 7 31 American Kestrel 1 28 99 Merlin 2 18 38 Peregrine Falcon 1 11 20 Unknown Accipiter 0 4 20 Unknown Buteo 0 61 108 Unknown Falcon 0 4 10 Unknown Eagle 0 0 16 Unknown Raptor 0 5 16 Swainson's Hawk 0 4 5 Total: 322 4983 7947 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
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Thanks for posting the article about Laurie Binford’s accomplishments. I didn’t know Laurie very well and was unaware of his many contirbutions to California birding, including his very significant role in discovering the Pt. Diablo hawk flight. I also enjoyed reading about the “infamous skylark episode.” (http://creagrus.home.montereybay.com/CAchronoSkylark.html) That story is both a testament to Laurie’s birding prowess and a cautionary tale for all of us who could easily succumb to an erroneous consensus about the identification of a rare bird.