At 10:30 this morning I observed an adult Red-headed Woodpecker in the trees between Alpha Avenue and the south border of the St. James Cemetery. It was calling and did not seem to be in a hurry to leave the area.
Alpha Avenue is in Cabbagetown (downtown Toronto) and is located just north of Wellesley street east and Sackville. St James Cemetery can be accessed from Parliament, just north of Wellesley and south of Bloor. Max Perren From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sat Sep 18 19:14:03 2004 Return-Path: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Delivered-To: [email protected] Received: from taiga.com (mugwump.taiga.com [68.165.54.133]) by king.hwcn.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id E7E7548C57 for <[email protected]>; Sat, 18 Sep 2004 19:14:02 -0400 (EDT) Received: (qmail 15401 invoked by uid 525); 18 Sep 2004 23:08:19 -0000 Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [email protected] From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: 18 Sep 2004 07:09:19 -0400 Subject: [Ontbirds]HSR: Holiday Beach (18 Sep 2004) 19992 Raptors X-BeenThere: [email protected] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] X-List-Received-Date: Sat, 18 Sep 2004 23:14:03 -0000 Holiday Beach Migration Observatory Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 18, 2004 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 101 108 108 Osprey 7 50 50 Bald Eagle 4 13 13 Northern Harrier 34 143 143 Sharp-shinned Hawk 583 2027 2027 Cooper's Hawk 8 39 39 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 19113 22205 22205 Red-tailed Hawk 64 94 94 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 75 645 645 Merlin 1 24 24 Peregrine Falcon 2 5 5 Unknown 0 7 7 Total: 19992 25360 25360 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 17:00:00 Total observation time: 10 hours Official Counter: Bob Hall-Brooks, Bob Pettit Observers: Bob Hall-Brooks, Bob Pettit, Esther Cusick, Wayne Telasco Visitors: >From far and wide they came today to see the show for which they'd pay, the Broad-wings soared, no one was bored, and they'll be back another day. Weather: Light North winds, clear sunny skies, lower temperature from the past week, a recipe for Broad-winged Hawks. Temperatures ranged from 13.4 to a high of 23 degrees Celsius. Observations: We prayed for Broad-winged Hawks and they did come, almost 19,000 soared the thermals today, starting shortly after 9:00 a.m. and finally stopping at 6:00 p.m. Every possible view from low over the tree tops to specks seen at extreme binocular range. Who had time for other ? The Blue Jays finally started to migrate with 88 recorded. Predictions: More of the same tomorrow. =======================================================================Report submitted by Bob Hall-Brooks ([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).
