Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch
Port Stanley, Ontario, Canada
Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 28, 2012
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
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Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 1436 2151 2151
Osprey 0 156 175
Bald Eagle 3 123 136
Northern Harrier 50 456 505
Sharp-shinned Hawk 773 4766 4773
Cooper's Hawk 13 77 78
Northern Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 1 2 2
Broad-winged Hawk 35 36949 37123
Red-tailed Hawk 167 195 197
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 1 1
American Kestrel 131 2528 2690
Merlin 2 62 63
Peregrine Falcon 4 74 75
Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0
Unknown Buteo 0 0 0
Unknown Falcon 0 0 0
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Raptor 0 0 0
Total: 2615 47540 47969
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Observation start time: 06:00:00
Observation end time: 16:00:00
Total observation time: 10 hours
Official Counter: Dave Brown
Observers: Bouwe Bergsma, Chris Burris, Colin Horstead, Dave Verkley,
Ernie Gribble, Jim Dunn, Keith Sealy, Ken Button,
Mac McAlpine, Steve Birch, Tom Stewart
Visitors:
Lots of visitors today...and many of our usual crew to help with today's
count. Thanks to everyone for all their help in spotting birds especially
during the morning with pure blue skies!
Weather:
A very pleasant day today with light to moderate NE and then NW winds. Temp
cool to start at 9C...eventually getting to a high of 17C. Almost no cloud
cover to start then clouds popping up as the thermals formed and cloud
cover hit 60% making spotting the birds a whole lot easier.
Raptor Observations:
A not so bad flight today with a total of 2,615 birds total...the bulk of
which were TVs (1,436) as they really start to make their move...with lots
of Sharpies (773) as well. There was a good movement today of Redtails
(167) which is the first real push for this species. Other birds included a
few immature Bald Eagles (3), a good flight of N. Harriers (50), our second
Red-shouldered Hawk of the season, Cooper's Hawks (13), a small flight of
Broadwings (35), Kestrels (131), Merlins (2) and a few more Peregrines
(4).
A true highlight for the day was when one of the Peregrines suddenly
appeared from below the cliff edge and then flew north directly across in
front of the counters less than 30m away...then soared up into a thermal
with a group of TVs. The bird was very heavily marked making it appear very
dark on the underside as it flashed by.
Non-raptor Observations:
Upn our arrival at the observation knoll at 7:00 (EDT)...it didn't take
long to realize that there were passrines everywhere. In the tree
immediately above the counters there were no less than 3 Red-breasted
Nuthatch, a lone White-breasted Nuthatch, several Yellow-rumped and
Blackpoll Warblers, singles of Magnolia, Cape-May, Bay-breasated and
Nashville Warblers, many Ruby and Golden-crowned Kinglets, a Yellow-bellied
Sapsucker, Downy Woodpecker and at least one E. Phoebe. Further strolls
around the hawkwatch site yielded Chestnut-sided and Black-throated Green
and Palm Warblers, Field and White-throated Sparrows, Glue-gray
Gnatcatcher, Blue-headed and Red-eyed Vireo and Brown Creeper. Other
species observed from the knoll included Killdeer, Pileated Woodpecker,
Red-bellied Woodpecker, RT. Hummingbird and Belted Kingfisher.
Also of note today was the passage once again of thousands of Blue
Jays...along with many good sized flocks of blackbirds (Starlings,
Red-wings and Cowbirds).
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Report submitted by Dave Brown ([email protected])
Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch information may be found at:
http://www.ezlink.on.ca/~thebrowns/HawkCliff/index.htm
_______________________________________________
ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial
birding organization.
Send bird reports to [email protected]
For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
