This week of raptor watching...

While I was hoping for a Rough-legged Hawk to make its was down ridge this week, my site wasn't incredibly productive over the last few days for raptors.  Admittedly, less raptors moving through the state in general means that I will probably not see as many as the bigger sites anymore; my site has a poor viewshed, and I count alone, increasing the chances that a few are getting by me. The week started out very warm, and despite the great thermal production, no buteos were taking advantage of them.  I guess in November, warm weather might mean "I made it!" to a raptor. While a lot of raptors end up in South America and southern North America for the winter, a decent number of them actually stay in Pennsylvania and other "northern" states, finding enough food and space to suit their needs.  Meanwhile, most of the local Turkey Vultures have left the area, leaving me with an empty sky. Later in the week a small cold front moved through, but I wouldn't have known it based on raptor numbers, except for the fact that I was freezing my butt off.  Friday and Saturday were the kind of days where you can wear basically every article of winter clothing you own, but the wind still finds its way right through you.  And, November can be a bitter-cold month in PA. The winds are very inconsistent; one second you are enjoying the sunshine like a fat duck sunning on the bank of a pond, and the next second you are nearly knocked over by a 30 mile an hour gust of wind.  If you are lucky, its also snowing, and the fun fluffy snow you were just enjoying, nearly thinking "I love winter!" turns into tiny little ice pellets in a snow squall that seems to find the few places of bare-skin that you haven't covered. Needless to say, at the end of the day you can feel a little frost-bitten.  So, the highlights of this week were not raptors for once.  My first Tundra Swans of the season came through, and Common Loons were fairly numerous.  My favorite non-raptor to watch was a porcupine that wanders pretty aimlessly around the area.  If he's not rustling around the field pulling down the remaining green vegetation he can reach, he's sitting high up in a maple gnawing on its branches. Meanwhile the rut is in full swing, and deer are everywhere.  I've been visited most days this week by a huge 8-point buck, and he is always hot on the trail of any doe that wander by.  There is also a set of older fawns and their mother that visit the nearby field, eating anything left that is green and out of reach of the porcupines. Thankfully for them, I am not a hunter, and I'll continue telling the hunters I see that I haven't seen much of anything besides birds :o)