Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch Port Stanley, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 02, 2003 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 1289 1444 1602 Osprey 11 17 102 Bald Eagle 12 23 54 Northern Harrier 209 226 567 Sharp-shinned Hawk 640 913 3199 Cooper's Hawk 36 38 79 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 1 1 1 Broad-winged Hawk 1447 1479 4553 Red-tailed Hawk 8 10 10 Rough-legged Hawk 0 1 1 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 780 903 3520 Merlin 12 14 59 Peregrine Falcon 6 13 46 Unknown 24 24 36 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 1 Total: 4475 5106 13830 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 17:00:00 Total observation time: 10 hours Official Counter: Dave Brown Observers: Barry Cherriere, Keith Sealy, Linda Visitors: We had a whole group visiting from Ohio along with some folks from both the Toronto High Park and the Beamer hawk watches including Colin, Tom, John and Mike. Weather: Well...I have to admit that even I, the eternal optimist was beginning to doubt my sensibilities when I arrived at the cliff only to find it snowing even harder than during the drive down!! The snow finally let up after about 45 minutes but it took a while for the clouds to break up and visibility to improve. Temp was only 1 to start the day and it got to 10 by mid afternoon. The key today was the fairly strong NW winds which brought the brids down to the lakeshore. Observations: I can only describe today as U N B E L I E V A B L E !! We ended the day with a total count of 4475 birds of 12 different species. The big highlight today was the 209 Harriers!!! This is a new high count for Harriers at Hawk Cliff and included a great look at an adult male Harrier. Also had good numbers of Cooper's Hawks with 36, Merlin with 12 and another 6 Peregrines. Lots of warblers around today with Blackburnian, Black-Throated Blue, Black-Throated Green, Cape May, Palm, Nashville, Tennesee and Yellow-Rumped. Also had a couple of Common Nighthawks at the end of the day. Predictions: Tomorrow's winds are supposed to be SW...and at this time of year that means Peregrines!! Given today and yesterday had basically strong NW winds it's a good bet that many more birds have been pushed down to the lakeshore of both Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. So here's hoping for lots more birds on the move tomorrow....and that the precip doesn't cause any problems till later in the day. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Dave Brown ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch information may be found at: http://www.ezlink.on.ca/~thebrowns/HawkCliff/index.htm Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch: Oldest Hawkwatch in Ontario - since 1931 - located just east of Port Stanley on the cliff overlooking Lake Erie [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.
