Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 29, 2023 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 1597 61879 64879 Osprey 0 5 46 Bald Eagle 2 126 250 Northern Harrier 21 355 727 Sharp-shinned Hawk 97 3475 8678 Cooper's Hawk 14 214 305 American Goshawk 2 3 3 Red-shouldered Hawk 54 334 334 Broad-winged Hawk 0 140 56725 Red-tailed Hawk 314 1171 1346 Rough-legged Hawk 1 4 4 Golden Eagle 2 11 11 American Kestrel 4 1410 2605 Merlin 1 28 123 Peregrine Falcon 1 49 87 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0 Unknown Buteo 0 0 0 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 0 Total: 2110 69204 136123 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 10:00:00 Observation end time: 15:30:00 Total observation time: 6 hours Official Counter: Hugh Kent Observers: Liz Kent, Matt Brannagan, Paul Gosselin Visitors: Big thanks to Paul and Matt for helping observe and count. It was good to see Romesh and Chandra again. It was also good to meet Carla and Reesa who took and interest in the Hawk Watch. We had a number of other visitors who took in the beautiful scenery of Big Creek Marsh. We also forgot to mention Mike who came yesterday, good to see you again. Weather: Rain started the day, so the count commenced late morning. The wind was generally from the north north east moderate to strong. The sky was overcast all day and the temperature just failed to reach 10c. The visibility was good. Raptor Observations: A day of Quality and Quantity. We saw 13 out of the 15 possible commoner raptor species. We had two each of Golden Eagle and American Goshawk and a single light phase Rough-legged Hawk, accompanying the Turkey Vultures in the afternoon. Turkey Vultures (1,597) started low down in the north, having risen from the trees after drying out a bit and then later over the Tower. Red-tailed Hawks (314) and Red-shouldered Hawks (97) were amongst the Turkey Vulture streams. Good numbers of Northern Harriers (21) and Cooper's Hawk (14) were also present. The falcons typically found their own routes in low numbers; Four American Kestrels and a single Merlin and Peregrine. A couple of Bald Eagles were also spotted in migration mode. Non-raptor Observations: A quiet day around the Tower with Ducks again holding centre stage; some numbers are increasing with Ring-necked Duck (1,436) again holding top spot. Eleven species were seen. Sandhill Crane (3) again made an appearance to the north. High flying Eastern Bluebirds were heard but not seen. American Crows (1,770) continue their passage but not in the high numbers of previous days. The list is at https://ebird.org/checklist/S153365803 Predictions: Tomorrows forecast indicates moderate winds from the north west, overcast at first with the sun poking though in the afternoon. It will be colder than today with the temperature rising to 7c in the afternoon. Lets hope that the north wind will bring a similar mix and numbers as today. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Hugh Kent ([email protected]) Holiday Beach Hawk Watch information may be found at: http://hbmo.ca/ More site information at hawkcount.org: https://hawkcount.org/siteinfo.php?rsite=100 -- 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.
