Holiday Beach Conservation Area Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 27, 2015 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 355 48066 49521 Osprey 0 15 82 Bald Eagle 0 64 168 Northern Harrier 12 335 657 Sharp-shinned Hawk 18 3208 8052 Cooper's Hawk 2 129 183 Northern Goshawk 0 2 2 Red-shouldered Hawk 11 223 226 Broad-winged Hawk 0 152 16636 Red-tailed Hawk 82 632 735 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 5 18 18 American Kestrel 0 422 1516 Merlin 0 21 58 Peregrine Falcon 0 24 42 Unknown Accipiter 1 8 15 Unknown Buteo 0 54 80 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 2 Unknown Raptor 1 11 23 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 1 Total: 487 53384 78017 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 15:45:00 Total observation time: 8.75 hours Official Counter: Jenna McDermott Observers: Bob Hall-Brooks, Dan Loncke, John Craft Visitors: Two people stopped by for a short time, Niel spent the afternoon, and Frank from Pennsylvania was welcomed back after a year`s absence. Weather: Full cloud and wind ranging from 4kph to 19kph made it feel chillier than it should have, since the temperature went up to 14C. The wind came from a combination of north and east for most of the day, with a few brief lapses into a southerly component. Raptor Observations: Morning birds flew to the north side of the marsh but as the day progressed, they slowly worked their way until they were overhead, and some even coming off the lake. Numbers weren't exceptional, but Turkey Vultures trundled through in little kettles, bringing double digits of Red-tailed Hawks and Red-shoulders. Five Golden Eagles also made appearances, most far away, but one moving quickly and coming close to the tower. This one had only the very slightest inkling of white in the wings, a tiny touch at the base of a few feathers. Northern Harriers, Sharp-shinned Hawks, and a couple of Cooper's Hawks rounded out the flight. An Osprey continues to hang around, hunting the marsh, but did not migrate today. Non-raptor Observations: There was plenty of movement of blackbirds in the two hours after sunrise, but this seemed to just be a re-distribution of the birds rather than migratory groups. Within them were 75 Rusty Blackbirds which were a pleasure to see, filling the tops of leafless trees close by the tower and making it sound like no one had oiled the trees in decades! Another nice group of visiting birds for a few minutes were 9 Purple Finches, which very obligingly hopped around in a tree directly to the east of us, giving great views of the males' bright raspberry colour and the females' strong white "eyebrow". A few more beautiful notes of Eastern Bluebirds were heard from the skies, and the Belted Kingfisher made a reappearance after a few days holiday. Other species of note were the continued presence of Tree Swallows over the marsh, a beautiful male Green-winged Teal, and a Wilson`s Snipe that landed right in the pond to the SE of the tower (a popular spot these days!). Other birds migrating and in the marsh were similar to this past week; for details, see today`s eBird list http://ebird.org/ebird/canada/view/checklist?subID=S25571558 Predictions: Heavy rain for most of the day tomorrow with strong SE winds. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Jenna McDermott ([email protected]) Holiday Beach Conservation Area information may be found at: http://hbmo.ca/ _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS including how to unsubscribe visit http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdssetup Posting guidelines can be found at http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdsguide
