Holiday Beach Migration Observatory Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 10, 2004 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 0 0 0 Osprey 2 22 22 Bald Eagle 0 1 1 Northern Harrier 2 51 51 Sharp-shinned Hawk 16 484 484 Cooper's Hawk 0 1 1 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 0 28 28 Red-tailed Hawk 4 5 5 Rough-legged Hawk 0 1 1 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 0 213 213 Merlin 0 4 4 Peregrine Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown 4 4 4 Total: 28 814 814 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:30:00 Observation end time: 13:00:00 Total observation time: 5.5 hours Official Counter: Bob Pettit Observers: Fred Urie, Jim Crozier, Jim McCoy, Wayne Telasco, none Visitors: Adam Hall of Kingsville, ON Weather: Sunny, Cloud cover 0-20%, Temp. 17.5C-24.5C, Wind (start) N to E to SE to S to SE (end) @1-4 mph. Relative Humidity (start) 70%-60%-47% (end), 30.24 in Hg (steady), Visibility 28 Km. Observations: Sharpies were scattered in flight lines, Osprey lazy migrants, RT also slow in thermals. Distant TVs not recorded since there is a resident population in northern quarries can't tell which are migrants. When wind shifted to SE and S the flow (what little there was) moved northward. Give me anything but SE winds. I'll take NE sleet at 20 mph! Pied-billed Grebes (4) and Black-crowned Night Herons (4) were moving about in marsh. They have been there since the start of the count. Not much flying (migrating) overhead. Predictions: Saturday starts the three weekend series of Hawk Festivals. Saturday and Sunday for the first and second weekend and Saturday only for the third one. See our web site hbmo.org for Festival events and times. Come one and all. Prediction: hawk watchers viewing hawks at the tower site. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Bob Pettit ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Holiday Beach Migration Observatory information may be found at: http://hbmo.org/ Holiday Beach Migration Observatory Information on southern Ontario's hawk migration and the Holiday Beach Conservation Area site ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Southwestern Ontario is largely an area of flat, featureless farmland. There are only two geographic features of note in the region. One is the proximity of the Great lakes, which influence bird migration in the area to a great extent, The second is the shape of the province, roughly funnel-shaped with the narrow end to the southwest. These features confine south-bound bird migrants, especially hawks, to specific flight corridors. Holiday Beach Conservation Area was formerly a Provincial Park, but is now administered by the Essex Region Conservation Authority (ERCA). It is strategically located at the extreme southwestern tip of southern Ontario. The park is on the eastern end of a large freshwater estuary known as Big Creek. (Specifically the site is 1.1 miles south of the junction Highway 20 (old 18) and Essex Road 50, Town of Amherstburg). The Holiday Beach Migration Observatory (HBMO) (founded in 1986) is a non-profit, volunteer organization formed to promote the study and protection of migrating birds. Activities focus primarily on fall migration of raptors and other species. This site is in Essex County, Ontario, on the north shore of Lake Erie near the Detroit River. In 1988, HBMO persuaded Detroit Edison to donate a 40 foot Hawk Tower which is now at the site. Southwestern Ontario has a funneling effect on migrating raptors due to the geography of the nearby lakes and the reluctance of most raptors to cross large bodies of water. Birds gain altitude over the flat farmland to the north and east, rising easily with the thermals that such areas provide in abundance. As the birds head south they meet Lake Erie and, reluctant to cross it , turn west. With appropriate wind and weather conditions, birds pile up along the lake shore and move west until they reach the narrow crossing at the Detroit River (or island hop within the river mouth).
