Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch
Port Stanley, Ontario, Canada
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 17, 2015
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
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Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 3415 13248 13759
Osprey 0 5 122
Bald Eagle 11 39 97
Northern Harrier 34 327 771
Sharp-shinned Hawk 624 2453 6888
Cooper's Hawk 27 80 144
Northern Goshawk 0 2 2
Red-shouldered Hawk 55 70 72
Broad-winged Hawk 1 59 12999
Red-tailed Hawk 136 232 293
Rough-legged Hawk 0 1 1
Golden Eagle 1 2 2
American Kestrel 16 290 1895
Merlin 1 21 76
Peregrine Falcon 0 30 74
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: 4321 16859 37195
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Observation start time: 08:00:00
Observation end time: 15:00:00
Total observation time: 7 hours
Official Counter: Dave Brown, Mary Carnahan
Observers: Clive Hodder, Dave Brown, Jason McGuire, Keith Sealy,
Winston Celik
Visitors:
Lots of visitors to the hawkwatch today including a group from the KW Field
Naturalists led by Ken Burrell. A big thanks to everyone who helped with
spotting the birds and counting today.
Weather:
It was one of those days that proved that the weather in the Great Lakes
region can change every 10 minutes...from bright sunshine to mist to rain
with a hint of snow pellets and right back to sunshine! The temp started
out at 3C but feeling like -2C with the wind chill and climbed to a "high"
of just 4C. Skies were mostly cloudy to begin the day and filled in
completely at times before breaking out again. The winds were near perfect
and moderate from the WNW and then NW bringing the birds down closer to the
lake shore.
Raptor Observations:
Though the weather itself was problematic the flight today was actually
quite good with a total of 4,321 birds. And yes...the majority of the
flight today was TVs (3,415) with an almost continuous stream of them from
east to west with many kettles to entertain the visitors. As for raptors,
the top migrant was Sharpies (624) followed by Redtails (136) and
Red-shoulders (55)...along with a wonderful low flying Golden Eagle right
out in front of everyone and a good number of Bald Eagles (11) all of which
appeared to be immature birds, a nice flight of N. Harriers (34) many of
which were males, Cooper's Hawks (27), Am. Kestrels (15), a lone Merlin
that sped by and a single young Broad-winged Hawk just above tree height.
Non-raptor Observations:
Thanks to the many visitors and regulars who contributed to the "dickie
bird" list. First of all, observers at the observation knoll and at
Sharpie Alley saw many flocks flying west including large flocks of Am.
Robins. European Starlings and Red-winged Blackbirds and smaller flocks of
Eastern Bluebirds, Am. Goldfinches, American Crows, Blue Jays, Common
Grackles and Rusty Blackbirds. In addition to the Blackbird flocks, a few
Brown-headed Cowbird were observed while in the field at the knoll were
American Pipits and a couple of Horned Larks. Observers on the knoll this
morning were also treated to a great view of 9 Tundra Swans in a flock
flying north from the lake (we heard them first for at least a full minute
before they appeared to the south), and several Common Loons, some high,
some low giving good looks, flying individually during the first hour of
the watch. The local Canada Geese flew from the woods to the lake early in
the day as well and Ring-billed Gulls were seen flying near the lake early
on.
In the woods as well as along the roadsides up and down Hawk Cliff Rd a few
Warblers were found, some photographed including a couple of Blackpoll
Warblers and what appeared to be a Cape May; also seen were Yellow-rumped,
Pine and Orange-crowned. In addition observers reported Black-capped
Chickadee, Red-breasted and White-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Winter
Wren, Eastern Towhee, Hermit Thrush, White-throated Sparrow as well as
Junco and Eastern Towhee, Gray Catbird, Red-bellied Woodpecker and Downy
Woodpecker and Tree Swallows (4 - not sure what they've been eating in this
cold to survive!).
Predictions:
If tomorrow (Sunday) starts with some sunshine and lower humidity...and if
the consistency of today's flight is any indication of a good number of
birds in the pipeline then Sunday could bring another decent flight on
predicted NW winds. However, if the day starts with rain first thing if
would almost certainly delay the days flight.
As for the remainder of this week they're forecasting a warm-up and strong
SW winds for at least the first few days...not the best for bigger flights
but you might just get any lagging Peregrines along the cliff on that wind.
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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
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