Holiday Beach Conservation Area Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 23, 2016 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 2458 32047 32494 Osprey 0 5 68 Bald Eagle 0 108 224 Northern Harrier 4 191 483 Sharp-shinned Hawk 124 3191 7203 Cooper's Hawk 6 257 349 Northern Goshawk 0 1 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 142 142 Broad-winged Hawk 0 50 6115 Red-tailed Hawk 14 759 911 Rough-legged Hawk 0 1 1 Golden Eagle 1 2 2 American Kestrel 0 276 1197 Merlin 2 29 116 Peregrine Falcon 0 15 37 Unknown Accipiter 0 4 6 Unknown Buteo 0 12 17 Unknown Eagle 0 0 1 Unknown Falcon 0 2 4 Unknown Raptor 0 1 1 Swainson's Hawk 0 1 2 Total: 2609 37094 49374 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:30:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 7.5 hours Official Counter: Cindy Isenhoff Observers: Cramer Visitors: Rick from Toronto saw two life birds today. Matt from Belle River visited. One family and two men visited for a short time. Weather: A wonderful day to just be on the Hawk Tower and have almost nothing to do. Temperature was mild with gradual warming during the day coupled with a shift in the wind from West to Southwest and then ending the day South. Barometric pressure was falling very slowly and winds were below 5 km/h or 3 mi/hr throughout the day. Raptor Observations: All of the weather observations noted here are contributing to a "low number of migrants observed." South winds push the birds northward on their journey from the east and the birds are therefore not visible from the Hawk Tower what so ever. The three hours (9-12) of high numbers of Turkey Vultures probably is the result of birds that were west of the count site and very much south of an east-west line no more than 1 or 2 km north of Lake Erie shoreline. They most likely spent the previous night close to this location. The lack or low numbers of non-raptors also indicates that these small birds are equally being influenced in the route they take to find favorable migration conditions (food and shelter). It is likely that many migrants passed north of the count site and crossed the Detroit River some distance north of Amherstburg, ON. Non-raptor Observations: 8,410 Rid-winged Blackbird were talled throughout the day. Blackbird species-12,080, Mallard-267, Wigeon-167, Black Duck-34, N. Shoveler- 37, Pintail -64, Gadwall-31, Pied-bill Grebe-35, N. Flicker-28, Am Crow 479, Blue Jay-842, Am Goldfinch-36. A complete list of birds can be found on eBird on Tuesday. Predictions: Mostly sunny, with a high near 54. Northwest wind 10 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph. This wind should bring the birds more to the south and they will be spotted nearer the Tower site. I suggest the count will be better than todays numbers. (Cheers, Bob) ======================================================================== Report submitted by Bob Pettit ([email protected]) Holiday Beach Conservation Area information may be found at: http://hbmo.ca/ _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO) - 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 Visit the OFO Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/OntarioFieldOrnithologists
