Holiday Beach Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 11, 2009 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 5710 14438 15693 Osprey 3 13 85 Bald Eagle 3 28 120 Northern Harrier 6 53 388 Sharp-shinned Hawk 313 1826 6988 Cooper's Hawk 54 193 377 Northern Goshawk 0 0 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 3 11 16 Broad-winged Hawk 8 93 18265 Red-tailed Hawk 39 109 331 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 3 4 American Kestrel 66 374 1394 Merlin 1 34 97 Peregrine Falcon 7 42 76 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 6 Unknown Buteo 1 2 9 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 1 Unknown Raptor 0 0 1 Total: 6214 17219 43852 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 06:00:00 Observation end time: 17:00:00 Total observation time: 11 hours Official Counter: Justin Bosler Observers: Bob Pettit, Claude Radley, John Winebrenner, Lisa Silvey Visitors: About 50 visitors made it out to the Tower on this chilly October day. A good portion of those were campers and other holiday visitors exploring the park. The contributing bunch included Bob Pettit, Claude Radley, Tom Hince, Kathi Cavanaugh, John Winnebrenner, and Lisa Silvey. It's assumed that the lack of birders was a result of family obligations on this Thanksgiving holiday. Weather: Clear to mostly cloudy skies with Northwest to West-northwest winds at 2 to 10 mph in the AM then shifting to the West and Southwest by noon. Temps. ranged from 3 to about 9.5C. Visibility excellent from dawn till dusk. Raptor Observations: Third highest single-day count of Turkey Vulture with 5,710. A mind-blowing 20,032 on 9 Oct 2005 and 7,312 on 20 Oct 2006 are the record high and second highest single-day counts, respectively. A good tally of Kestrels and 7 Peregrines were also very nice. Non-raptor Observations: 16 species of waterfowl, including flock of 16 Redhead, 3+ Greater and 2+ Lesser Scaup, and 1 Ruddy Duck. American Bittern- 1, LEAST BITTERN- 1 juv., Great Egret- 15, Black-crowned Night-Heron- 4 (2 subad., 2 juv.), Common Moorhen- 5 (lingering), Bald Eagle- 3 locals, Killdeer- 15, AM. AVOCET- 2 basic ad. (lingering all day) Lesser Yellowlegs- 4, Pectoral Sandpiper- 1, Am. Woodcock- 1, shorebird sp.- 2 Caspian Tern- 1, Common Nighthawk- 1 (not recorded from Tower today, although has been a regular near the front gate), Chimney Swift- 10, Red-headed Woodpecker- 1 juv. Red-bellied Woodpecker- 3 (2 westbound migrants) Tree Swallow- 500, N. Rough-winged Swallow- 75+ (good count for date), Blue Jay- 56,375, Am. Crow- 55, House Wren- 1, Golden-crowned Kinglet- 8, Ruby-crowned Kinglet- 4, Swainson's Thrush- 2, Hermit Thrush- 6+, Am. Robin- 100, Brown Thrasher- 2 (local pair), Am. Pipit- 50, Cedar Waxwing- 60, Warblers noted include Nashville(3+), Yellow-rumped(20+), American Redstart(1), and Common Yellowthroat(1). Eastern Meadowlark- 3 (W to E nr. 1800 EDT) Rusty Blackbird- 2+, Purple Finch- 8, House Finch- 12, Am. Goldfinch- 1,550, FINAL COUNT OF 80 SPECIES FOR THE 2009 BIG SIT! And, of course, there were several embarrassing misses (chickadee as one). Other: Monarch- 6. Predictions: Mostly cloudy skies with rain showers possible. Northeast to East winds at 5 to 10 mph. High of 11C. Chance of rain around 30%. A flight may get going in the morning ahead of the rain. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Justin Bosler ([email protected]) Holiday Beach Migration Observatory information may be found at: http://hbmo.org/ _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
