Holiday Beach Hawk Watch
Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada
Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 25, 2023
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
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Turkey Vulture 3 2967 70155
Osprey 0 1 47
Bald Eagle 2 125 384
Northern Harrier 2 109 856
Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 237 9023
Cooper's Hawk 1 79 389
American Goshawk 0 5 9
Red-shouldered Hawk 2 404 778
Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 56725
Red-tailed Hawk 32 1934 3513
Rough-legged Hawk 0 17 21
Golden Eagle 0 95 107
American Kestrel 0 7 2615
Merlin 0 14 141
Peregrine Falcon 0 12 100
Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0
Unknown Buteo 0 1 1
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Falcon 0 1 1
Unknown Raptor 0 0 0
Swainson's Hawk 0 1 1
Total: 42 6009 144866
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Observation start time: 09:00:00
Observation end time: 15:00:00
Total observation time: 6 hours
Official Counter: Hugh Kent, Michael Arthurs
Observers: Juliette Herdman, Liz Kent, Michael Arthurs, Noel Herdman,
Paul Gosselin
Visitors:
Thanks again to Michael for starting the count and Michael, Mike, Paul G
and Noel and Juliette for help in observing and recording. It was good to
meet Debbie and Dale and Lola who all showed a great interest in the Hawk
Watch.
Weather:
A cold start to the day at -6c, gradually increasing to a high of 6c by
midday. Mostly clear skies initially with cloud gradually increasing
throughout the day. The wind was light from the north west at the start
changing to west at midday, then south west. Visibility was good.
Raptor Observations:
Mostly high Red-tailed Hawks (32) today, with three late Turkey Vultures
that were checked carefully. Two Red-shouldered Hawks, two Northern
Harriers, two Bald Eagles and a single Cooper's Hawk completed today's
tally.
Non-raptor Observations:
Many, many Mallards (3110) accompanied by all sorts of other duck species
were to the north west edge of the marsh, some standing on the newly formed
ice and some in the pockets of clear water. A good number of Hooded
Mergansers (32) appeared on the marsh today and a nice flotilla of Horned
Grebe (18) was seen on the lake. All in all fourteen species of duck were
seen. In the last hour or two flocks of Tundra Swan (274) flew high over
the marsh in nice formations, calling and with wings sometimes catching the
sun. A few sparrows were spotted scuffling around in the undergrowth by the
Tower and American Goldfinches (380) again passed in good numbers. The list
is at https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S155204688
Predictions:
Tomorrow's forecast indicates a light to moderate wind from the south with
a mix of rain and snow starting mid-late morning. The temperature will
reach about 5c. We will start the count and see what happens. Hopefully we
will see a few raptors.
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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
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