1 Million Raptors!
Today, after 6 weeks of counting and the last 2 days of fantastic raptor migration, we have passed the magical 1,000,000 raptor milestone!
We had many eagles in the past days, with some — like this juvenile Greater Spotted — giving off quite a show. Photo by Bart Hoekstra.
Yesterday's highlights were the more than 100,000 raptors counted by both stations and the almost 1,700 eagles on Station 1, but we fell just short of the million.
When the view on the saddle is this good in the morning, you know you're up for a great day. And so it was: we passed the million mark! Photo by Bart Hoekstra.
This morning, during the Steppe Buzzard push we counted the final 8,000 birds needed to reach the million! We had a fantastic day with Griffon Vultures, many Imperial Eagles, a Crested Honey Buzzard and a very enjoyable migration of large eagles in general. And there's still more to come in the final weeks of the count… But first: we celebrate!
Sparrowhawk migration is still going strong and often results in bigger raptors being harassed when on migration, like this juvenile Honey Buzzard. Photo by Bart Hoekstra.