Holiday Beach Conservation Area Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 09, 2012 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 1221 6274 8976 Osprey 2 8 74 Bald Eagle 2 14 112 Northern Harrier 8 47 282 Sharp-shinned Hawk 112 762 4084 Cooper's Hawk 10 63 209 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 6 18 Broad-winged Hawk 0 72 6033 Red-tailed Hawk 2 78 353 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 2 4 American Kestrel 17 73 828 Merlin 1 9 61 Peregrine Falcon 2 12 37 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: 1377 7421 21090 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 8 hours Official Counter: Todd Pepper Observers: Chris Craft, Frank Dolby Visitors: A dozen visitors today from the Windsor-Essex County area, but others vying for the long distance award. A woman from New Zealand won, close 2nds were a couple from California and another couple from Vancouver. Runners up were from Gainsville, Florida; Ingersoll, ON, and Farmington Hills, MI. Weather: A sunny day with temperatures between 10C - 18C, although it felt much warmer. The wind was consistently out of the south generally in the 5 - 10 km/hr range. Raptor Observations: Despite the wind direction a relatively good day for raptors with 1,377 birds of 9 species. Turkey Vultures pre-dominated at 89% of birds seen. Best bird of the day, and during the best weather condition which is unusual for the species, a Peregrine Falcon blasted right through the 2nd level of the hawk tower - right over my head as I had moved down to that level to get out of the sun. Amazing! Thanks to Chris Craft for covering the sky over the tower while I counted TV's to the north and south, and to Frank Dolby who did not give up on a bird I passed off as a gull that turned into a Merlin. Non-raptor Observations: The morning was particularly active for passerine migration. Highlights included: Chimney Swift - 13 Northern Flicker - 5 Blue Jay - 5,430 American Robin - 35 Red-winged Blackbird - 277 Rusty Blackbird - 8 American Goldfinch - 160. Like yesterday, the above numbers are probably low given that the raptors and jays were flying on 3 different streams and I was kept busy scanning the horizon for those birds. Predictions: A mostly cloudy day with a slight chance for rain in the early hours (only a 40% chance). Temperatures are expected to be in the 7C - 10C range, but another day of "bad winds. They are forecasted to be out of the west at 25 - 30 km/hr. Those winds 2 days ago brought out lots of Sharp-shinned Hawks, so look for them and Cooper's Hawks. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Todd Pepper ([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 [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
