Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch Port Stanley, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 09, 2015 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 10 336 24700 Osprey 0 1 124 Bald Eagle 0 14 164 Northern Harrier 0 22 989 Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 34 8378 Cooper's Hawk 0 10 219 Northern Goshawk 0 0 7 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 26 327 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 13000 Red-tailed Hawk 7 470 2270 Rough-legged Hawk 0 2 4 Golden Eagle 0 13 71 American Kestrel 0 1 1935 Merlin 0 3 92 Peregrine Falcon 0 0 76 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: 17 932 52356 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 10:00:00 Observation end time: 12:00:00 Total observation time: 2 hours Official Counter: Jim Dunn Observers: Keith Sealy Visitors: None. Weather: It was yet another abslolutely gorgeous fall day, but with a very cool start, heavy frost and minus temps overnight but 7 Celsius by 10 AM, rising to 11 C. in the 2-hour watch. Observers noted once again that there was hardly any cloud in the sky but there was a deep layer of haze or smog along the horizon; thus, it was really hard to "SEE" those few birds that were there. Virtually windless conditions did nothing to encourage a flow of migrants at our location, so observers moved north; in the second hour, the wind was marginal at 7 km / hr at Yarmouth Ridge, about 2 km north of the Cliff. Raptor Observations: The total for today was very discouragin -- you couldn't really call it a "flow" of migrants -- and the flow we did have trickled to a stop by noon. Once that happened, we travelled a bit in search of a flight path, but found nothing, moving so shut down at 12:00 PM. The total was 17 raptors, comprised of 10 Turkey Vultures and 7 Red-tailed Hawks. However, in the non-migrant category, we did have a few minutes of entertainment when a pair of Bald Eagles engaged in an aerial chase at lightning speed, which took place in "the flats" to the south of our location at Yarmouth Ridge -- definitely a WOW moment. Non-raptor Observations: Not much was happening at the ridge with non-raptors, except for a couple of butterflies, including a few Clouded Sulphurs and aazingly, a Milbert's Tortoiseshell! Earlier at the Cliff, the roadside birding was just fine -- not a lot of species, but good numbers of most species found, which included a fantastic view of a Brown Thrasher that just popped up and perched on a bush right beside the observer, stayed still for a couple of minutes -- so close, binoculars were superfluous! Other species recorded were Cedar Waxwing (in good numbers), Black-capped Chickadee, Downy and Hairy Woodpecker plus Northern Flicker, numerous Northern Cardinals and Robins were found in the shrubs and trees and we had 3 species of Sparrow (White-throated, Song and Am. Tree) plus DE Juncos along the roadside. A single Eastern Bluebird was seen sunning on the wire just around the corner from Hawk Cliff on Dexter Ln. Predictions: Tomorrow (Tuesday) is looking like a washout with a 90% chance of rain. 15 mm are expected, mainly in the morning, with NE winds. Wednesday is a maybe with moderate W wind, although that straight westerly flow could split the flight -- if there is one. Thursday and Friday are looking wet at this point, but cross your fingers for Saturday. There is a possibility of NW wind which at this point in the season is greatly needed to push those migrants towards Lake Erie and to get this migration moving again. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Dave Brown ([email protected]) Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch information may be found at: http://www.ezlink.on.ca/~thebrowns/HawkCliff/index.htm _______________________________________________ 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
