Holiday Beach Conservation Area Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 12, 2012 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 6830 16384 19086 Osprey 1 11 77 Bald Eagle 3 20 118 Northern Harrier 5 66 301 Sharp-shinned Hawk 53 1078 4400 Cooper's Hawk 15 86 232 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 2 9 21 Broad-winged Hawk 20 92 6053 Red-tailed Hawk 69 155 430 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 3 5 American Kestrel 4 114 869 Merlin 0 14 66 Peregrine Falcon 0 17 42 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 8 Unknown Buteo 2 3 6 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 1 1 Unknown Raptor 0 0 5 Black Vulture 0 0 1 Gyrfalcon 0 1 1 Swainson's Hawk 1 1 2 Total: 7005 18055 31724 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 15:30:00 Total observation time: 8.5 hours Official Counter: Todd Pepper Observers: Claude Radley, Dwayne Murphy, Frank Dolby, Larry Ludwicki Visitors: Regulars Chip and Dana from Colchester were back. I told them I am going to put them to work if they keep showing up. One couple from Amherst Point, and a young couple who were awestruck by the sheer number of Turkey Vultures on the eastern horizon. Weather: Finally some north winds! It was a mostly clear and sunny day with temperatures ranging from 6C - 14C. There was a northerly component to the wind all day with wind speeds generally around 12 km/hr with gusts up to 20 km/hr. While the wind shifted to the SW at the end of the day it was a very localized effect as the wind turbines 5 km north of the tower continued to show a north or north-east influence. Raptor Observations: A total of 6,830 Turkey Vultures were counted today supplanting the previous 4th highest TV day count in HBMO history of 6,788 TV's on October 13, 2009. (The highest day count is 20,032 on October 9, 2005.) There was a nice mix of other species, 11 in all, and a total of 7,005 birds. The highlight was the 3rd Swainson's Hawk for the year. Another "light" adult. A good catch by our Lake Station as it was almost in the clouds by the time it got to the hawk tower when it was in a swirling mix of TV's, Red-tails, Broad-wings, Sharpies and a Bald Eagle. Non-raptor Observations: The first significant movement of American Crows today at 807; and also of Red-winged Blackbirds at 1,740. Blue Jays continued strong in the morning at 6,200. Other highlights include: Northern Pintail - 16; Chimney Swift - 4; Northern Flicker - 3; Red-breasted Nuthatch - 3; American Robins - 13; and American Golfinch at 67. Thanks to Larry Ludwicki for covering the sky over the tower while I counted the endless stream of Turkey Vultures over the beach. Thanks also to Claude Radley from the Lake Station giving us a heads up on the Swainson's and other birds coming at us from the north. Predictions: Not looking good for Saturday The forecast is for temperatures between 5 - 14C; winds out of the south at 15 - 20 km/hr; isolated showers in the a.m. and a 90% chance of showers late in the p.m. ======================================================================== 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/
