This is an official posting from the High Park Hawk Watch. Station: High Park, Toronto, Ontario View Period: Sept 18 and Sept 12-18, 2005 Station coordinator: Don Barnett Counters: D. Barnett, B. Carswell, H. Currie, M. Kelch, N. McHugh, & H. Shapiro
As we begin our season Don Barnett and I would like to let people know that it is always a pleasure and responsibility to provide visitors to the High Park Hawk Watch with daily observation data and also historical records. Historical records are also readily available via the web at: http://www.torontobirding.ca/~gtrw/ After such promising results yesterday the weather did not cooperate and today Sunday, September 18, 2005 was rather slow with only 99 total raptors observed. No Broad-winged Hawks were seen at High Park today. The highlight of the day was three Bald Eagles flying together as if in formation at around 1:10pm. Our totals for the September 18th, the past week and the year so far are: Species Sept.18 Sept.12-18 Year to Date Turkey Vulture............-.............7...............16 Osprey....................2............30...............43 Bald Eagle................3............16...............18 Northern Harrier..........1............15...............19 Sharp-Shinned Hawk.......79...........406..............500 Cooper's Hawk.............-.............6...............18 Northern Goshawk..........-.............-................- Red-shouldered Hawk.......-.............-................- Broad-winged Hawk.........-...........237..............246 Red-tailed Hawk...........3............17...............40 Rough-legged Hawk.........-.............-................- Golden Eagle..............-.............-................- American Kestrel..........6...........115..............134 Merlin....................2............13...............16 Peregrine Falcon..........1.............4................6 Other(Swainson's Hawk)....-.............-................- Unidentified..............2............10...............17 Total....................99...........876.............1072 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/ -- Howard Shapiro email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
