Holiday Beach Conservation Area Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 09, 2010 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 13 2236 38071 Osprey 0 1 134 Bald Eagle 0 6 153 Northern Harrier 8 59 692 Sharp-shinned Hawk 6 97 9420 Cooper's Hawk 21 102 514 Northern Goshawk 0 2 7 Red-shouldered Hawk 25 273 474 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 16133 Red-tailed Hawk 172 2487 3609 Rough-legged Hawk 3 31 34 Golden Eagle 8 29 37 American Kestrel 0 0 1445 Merlin 2 6 125 Peregrine Falcon 0 0 50 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 2 Unknown Buteo 0 1 13 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 2 Mississippi Kite 0 0 1 Total: 258 5330 70916 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 8 hours Official Counter: Jim Pawlicki Observers: Jim McCoy Visitors: Jim McCoy stuck it out through the fog and was rewarded with nice looks at the Golden Eagles. HBMO members Ken and Sharon Ducharme also stopped by briefly in the afternoon. A special thanks goes out to Georgia Reid of Farmington Hills, Michigan for sponsoring today as a "Day of HBMO Research." Weather: An interesting day weather-wise. Started off clear and hazy in the morning before heavy fog rolled in off the lake around 10:45, reducing visibility to about 30 meters. The fog eventually burned off about an hour and half later, after which there were clear skies. Very mild for the date with a high of 18C, while winds were were light out of the NE in the morning, switching to light SE in the afternoon. Raptor Observations: Slow in the morning, although once the fog burned off, raptors started coming in heavy with 7/8 Golden Eagles all within an hour of each other during the 12:00 and 1:00 hours. A good count of Red-tails and Red-shouldereds in the afternoon, along with a few Harriers and Sharp-shins, and several Cooper's Hawks. For the first time this season (as far as I can recall), Cooper's Hawks easily outnumbered Sharp-shins. Two small kettles of Vultures went by in the afternoon, while 3 Rough-legs (all light), and 2 Merlins also put in appearances. Non-raptor Observations: Four Sandhill Cranes that went over fairly low during the noon hour were by far the highlight. Still numbers of Am. Pipits and Horned Larks moving with 114 and 61 tallied, respectively. Other birds around the tower included Carolina and Winter Wrens, 65 Rusty Blackbirds, fly-over Purple Finch, 3 Pine Siskins, and Wilson's Snipe at the pond. Predictions: Fog patches clearing through the morning with E winds 10 km/hr and a high of 14C. East winds should bring more Red-tails down the shore, although things might not get going until the afternoon when the fog clears. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Jim Pawlicki ([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/

