Hello MoBirders:  I just observed my first HARLAN'S HAWK of the season.  An adult chasing an e. Red-tailed Hawk in a large harvest bean field in Eureka (St. Louis County).  This is by far my earliest fall record for this species. The girls said 'it was pretty'... 

 

Shortly after that I got a call from Chris Barrigar who observed 12 BLACK VULTURES in flight just north of Herculaneum (Jefferson County) along I-55.  That is the highest count I can recall for that far north, possibly for the St. Louis area??

 

I imagine there are a lot of good birds out there to be found - Happy fall birding!

 

Josh