This is an official posting from the High Park Hawk Watch. Station: High Park, Toronto, Ontario View Period: October 1 & 2, 2003 Station co-ordinator: Don Barnett Counters: N. Mchugh & H. Currie
The approaching cold front may have helped increase migration over the High Park sight, especially today with the help of winds from the northwest. After a small number of Broad-winged Hawks to date we had an unusually high count on the past two days for this time of year. 109 were counted yesterday and 376 today. This is latest we have ever had anything more than a few Broad-winged Hawks. While these numbers are not large it does indicate that there are some late migrating Broad-winged Hawks. It may be possible with good weather in the next few days to see some more Broad-winged Hawks. Of the 246 total birds counted on October 1st 182 came through in one hour (from 11:00-12:00 daylight savings time). Favorable conditions today, October 2nd resulted in 1768 total raptors including 746 Turkey Vultures. This is the highest count for the site for 2003 Our count for today, October 2, is: Turkey Vulture...............746 Osprey.........................7 Bald Eagle.....................6 Northern Harrier..............23 Sharp-Shinned Hawk...........422 Cooper's Hawk.................24 Northern Goshawk...............- Red-shouldered Hawk............5 Broad-winged Hawk............376 Red-tailed Hawk...............42 Rough-legged Hawk..............- Golden Eagle...................- American Kestrel.............106 Merlin.........................2 Peregrine Falcon...............2 Other(Swainson's Hawk).........- Unidentified...................7 Total.......................1768 High Park Site Description High Park is a 400 acre wooded park dominated by a Black Oak Savannah located just west of Downtown Toronto near Keele and Bloor. The park is operated by the City of Toronto Parks Department. The Count site (Hawk Hill) is located on a small hill at the north end of the Grenadier Restaurant parking lot. It is located about 1.5km (1 mile) north of Lake Ontario, at an elevation of 110 metres above sea level and 38 metres above Lake Ontario. The site location is N 43 degrees 37 minutes 03.8 seconds, W 79 degrees 28 minutes 56.5 seconds. This station is at the highest point and near the centre of the park; a steep slope that descends to a large pond is immediately west of the station. Full time counts have been recorded here since 1993. The following are partners in our raptor migration monitoring in the Greater Toronto Region: City of Toronto Parks and Culture Department, Toronto Ornithological Club, and Local Naturalist's Clubs. More information including a summary of our past observations is available at: http://www.torontobirding.ca/~gtrw/ Observations for this season are not yet available. -- Howard Shapiro email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] "Howard Shapiro" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Visit http://www.ofo.ca/ontbirdsguide.htm for information on leaving and joining the list. As well as general information and content guidelines.
