Holiday Beach Conservation Area
Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 08, 2012
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
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Turkey Vulture 2389 5053 7755
Osprey 1 6 72
Bald Eagle 1 12 110
Northern Harrier 6 39 274
Sharp-shinned Hawk 92 650 3972
Cooper's Hawk 5 53 199
Northern Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 1 6 18
Broad-winged Hawk 0 72 6033
Red-tailed Hawk 11 76 351
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 2 4
American Kestrel 5 56 811
Merlin 3 8 60
Peregrine Falcon 0 10 35
Unknown Accipiter 0 0 8
Unknown Buteo 0 0 3
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Falcon 0 0 0
Unknown Raptor 0 0 5
Black Vulture 0 0 1
Gyrfalcon 0 1 1
Swainson's Hawk 0 0 1
Total: 2514 6044 19713
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Observation start time: 07:00:00
Observation end time: 15:00:00
Total observation time: 8 hours
Official Counter: Todd Pepper
Observers: Chris Craft, Claude Radley, Dennis Patrick, Dwayne Murphy,
Frank Dolby, Gwen Gidge, John Craft
Visitors:
A steady stream of visitors on this sunny Canadian Thanksgiving Day
including:
Kingsville - 2,
Youngstown Ohio - 1,
Professor Linda Corcum from the Univeristy of Windsor and friend,
Harrow - 2
Guelph - 2
Wheatley - 4
Windsor - 18
Jeff from Pelee Wings and his children
Michigan - 4
and others I did not get a chance to talk to because of those Turkey
Vultures.
Weather:
A mostly sunny day with temperatures that ranged from 7.6C - 13C. Winds
were south-west and shifted to south, mostly light from 5 - 15 km/hr.
Raptor Observations:
A good Turkey Vulture day, despite the winds. A total of 2,514 birds of 10
species, with 95% of the total being TV's. Best sighting of the day was a
female Merlin that dive-bombed the Great Horned Owl decoy 5 times before
continuing on it's way west.
Non-raptor Observations:
A very active passerine migration day. I know I missed many birds and
species as the TV's were flying way out to the north and my eyes were
occupied by them, but here are some highlights of what I did hear or see
flying over the hawk tower:
Greater Yellowlegs - 9
Chimney Swifts - 7
1 each of Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Downy Woodpecker and Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker - 9
Eastern Phoebe - 2
Blue Jay - 4,690
American Robin - 18
Yellow-rumped Warbler - 20
Red-winged Blackbird - 137
Rusty Blackbird - 34
American Goldfinch - 70.
Other warblers included Blackpoll and Black-throated Green.
Special thanks to Chris Craft who kept watch on the skies over the tower
while my focus was on the TV's to the north; and thanks to Dennis and Gwen
for the Thanksgiving coffee and Timbits.
Predictions:
A mainly sunny day with temperatures from 6C - 15C, but another day of
winds out of the wrong direction - South from 20 - 25 km/hr.
Anything flying is going to be way out to the north, so not quite "visitor
friendly".
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Report submitted by Todd Pepper ([email protected])
Holiday Beach Migration Observatory information may be found at:
http://hbmo.org/
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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/
