Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch
Port Stanley, Ontario, Canada
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 27, 2021
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture 0 1 1
Turkey Vulture 2153 19699 21948
Osprey 1 13 64
Bald Eagle 13 224 403
Northern Harrier 30 290 656
Sharp-shinned Hawk 126 2096 3322
Cooper's Hawk 14 174 207
Northern Goshawk 0 13 13
Red-shouldered Hawk 300 787 789
Broad-winged Hawk 1 10 23657
Red-tailed Hawk 1160 2703 2772
Rough-legged Hawk 0 3 3
Golden Eagle 7 46 46
American Kestrel 2 480 1202
Merlin 5 50 88
Peregrine Falcon 0 60 112
Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0
Unknown Buteo 2 14 14
Unknown Falcon 0 0 0
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Raptor 0 0 0
Swainson's Hawk 0 2 3
Total: 3814 26665 55300
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 07:00:00
Observation end time: 15:00:00
Total observation time: 8 hours
Official Counter: Dave Brown
Observers: Dana Latour, Mac McAlpine, Matt Oswald, Ronnie Goodhand,
Tim Arthur, Tom Bolohan, Tony Latour
Visitors:
Thanks to everyone who helped with today's count including Tom B, Dave B,
Matt O, Mac M, Dana and Tony L, Tim A, Ronnie G, Ken and several others.
Weather:
We weren't too pleased with the weather forecasters today given we arrived
at the hawk watch expecting a nice mix of sun and clouds and got a solid
and low cloud deck for the first 4 hours. It finally started to lighten up
in hour 5 and then break up somewhat in hour 6 which is when we finally had
a good push of birds. Temps were warmer today and got to a high of 15C.
The humidity took a long time to dorp as well which i think hindered
today's flight and the winds were almost non-existent throughout the day
though they did stay pretty much out of the N and NE till right at the end
of the count when they swung to the W.
Raptor Observations:
Well after ANOTHER very slow start to raptor migration things started to
get rolling in hour 5 and by the end of the count we had tallied 3814
birds. The bulk of the count was as expected TVs (2153) but there was a
very good push of Redtails (1160) which is one of our best daily counts for
this species in a long time. Also on the move were Red-shouldered Hawks
(300) which is another of our best counts for them in quite a while. Other
highlights were another 7 Golden Eagles most of which were juvenile /
immature looking birds with a few adult looking birds passing through. We
had late singles of Osprey and Broad-winged Hawk and very few falcons again
today.
Non-raptor Observations:
A bit surprised to see a couple of Monarchs today along with lots of
non-raptors with many flocks flying past overhead. Species included Blue
Jays (though much fewer than over the past couple of weeks), Carolina and
Winter Wrens, American Robins, Eastern Bludbirds and Hermit Thrushes,
Red-winged and Rusty Blackbirds, Common Grackles, Eastern Phoebe,
Blue-headed Vireo, N. Flickers, Downy, Hairy and Red-bellied Woodpeckers,
Purple Finch, American Goldfinch, Pine Siskins, Horned Larks, Lapland
Longspurs, Red-breasted and White-breasted Nuthatches, Mallards, Canada
Geese, Snow Geese (a small flock of 7 with 3 white and 4 blue morph birds
headed to the WNW) Black-capped Chickadees, Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned
Kinglets, Brown Creeper, Yellow-rumped, Tennessee and Common Yellowthroat
warblers, Common Loons, DC Cormorant, N. Cardinals, White-throated, Song
and Chipping Sparrows and finally quite a few American Crows on the move
today.
Predictions:
Solid E winds for the day tomorrow with a mix of sun and clouds would be OK
for a decent flight.
========================================================================
Report submitted by Dave Brown ([email protected])
Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch information may be found at:
http://www.ezlink.ca/~thebrowns/HawkCliff/index.htm
More site information at hawkcount.org:
https://hawkcount.org/siteinfo.php?rsite=392
--
Ontbirds and Birdnews are moderated email Listservs provided by the Ontario
Field Ornithologists (OFO) as a service to all birders in Ontario.
Birdnews is reserved for announcements, location summaries, first of year
reports, etc. To post a message on Birdnews, send an email to:
[email protected].
If you have any questions or concerns, contact the Birdnews Moderators by email
at [email protected]. Please review posting rules and guidelines at
http://ofo.ca/site/content/listserv-guidelines
During the COVID-19 pandemic, all Ontario birders should be taking extra
precautions and following local, provincial, and federal regulations regarding
physical distancing and non-essential travel.
To find out more about OFO, please visit our website at ofo.ca or Facebook page
at https://www.facebook.com/OntarioFieldOrnithologists.
