Holiday Beach Conservation Area Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 08, 2015 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 117 981 50834 Osprey 0 1 83 Bald Eagle 2 5 176 Northern Harrier 5 64 730 Sharp-shinned Hawk 13 126 8220 Cooper's Hawk 2 10 193 Northern Goshawk 0 0 2 Red-shouldered Hawk 20 89 321 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 16636 Red-tailed Hawk 154 555 1348 Rough-legged Hawk 2 7 7 Golden Eagle 5 15 35 American Kestrel 2 4 1520 Merlin 1 1 59 Peregrine Falcon 0 2 46 Unknown Accipiter 0 1 17 Unknown Buteo 5 8 90 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 2 Unknown Raptor 0 0 23 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 1 Total: 328 1869 80343 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:30:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 8.5 hours Official Counter: Jeremy Hatt Observers: Bob Hall-Brooks, Jim McCoy, Kory Renaud, Michael Williamson Visitors: A few local visitors enjoying the mild weather visited the tower. A big thank you to Mike, Kory, Neil, and Jim for helping spot very distant birds to the north! Weather: Despite a chilly morning w/ frost, today turned out to be another beautiful, mild fall day. In the first three hours of the count, there was a light haze and barely a breeze out of the northwest. In fact, at times the air wasn't moving at all. Just after 10:00am, the breeze shifted to the southwest and became slightly stronger (but was never over 10km/h). Blue skies all day w/ no clouds and bright sun, which made it quite warm on the tower. Temperatures reached 13C in the early afternoon. Raptor Observations: Everyone's distant hawk ID was put to the test today; the flight path was far to the north and many birds were only identifiable by scope! The first three hours of the count saw only a few sharpies w/ virtually no wind at times. Even passerine migration was slow. However, as soon as the breeze shifted to the south around 10:00am, things changed dramatically and kettles of Turkey Vultures, Red-tailed Hawks, and Red-shouldered Hawks appeared. By the time birds reached the top of the thermals they were using, they were barely visible in the blue sky as distant specks. Around 10:30am, the first of 5 Golden Eagles for the day was spotted. This turned out to be the most exciting period of the day w/ 4 Golden Eagles in a one-hour window and a high number of Red-tailed Hawks. Another highlight of the day was when a female Merlin made 4 dives at the owl decoy before pursuing a Cooper's Hawk into the trees. The resident Osprey is still in the area. Non-raptor Observations: The marsh continues to hold a good assortment of waterfowl including Canada Geese, Mute Swans, Tundra Swan (mostly flyovers), Gadwall, American Wigeon, American Black Duck, Mallard, Northern Shoveler, Northern Pintail, Ring-necked Duck, Bufflehead, and Ruddy Ducks. Pied-billed Grebes and American Coots are also present. Common Goldeneye, Greater Scaup, and Horned Grebe were seen on the lake in small numbers. Quite the sight were the flocks of American Crows, which migrated by the tower throughout the day w/ a final total of 5,267 birds counted. Other notable counts included 18 Eastern Bluebirds, 27 American Robins, 196 Cedar Waxwings, 1 Snow Bunting, 965 Red-winged Blackbirds, 131 Rusty Blackbirds, 755 Common Grackles, 9 Purple Finches, 6 House Finches, 20 Pine Siskins, and 352 American Goldfinches. See today's eBird list: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S25756709 Predictions: Another sunny day w/ temperatures up to 55 degrees by the early afternoon. Light east winds predicted for the entire day. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Jeremy Hatt ([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
