Holiday Beach Hawk Watch
Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada
Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 08, 2024
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
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Turkey Vulture 240 3031 67752
Osprey 0 0 24
Bald Eagle 13 52 384
Northern Harrier 20 104 995
Sharp-shinned Hawk 26 185 8674
Cooper's Hawk 16 38 253
American Goshawk 0 0 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 27 184 515
Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 4331
Red-tailed Hawk 221 1067 2862
Rough-legged Hawk 1 7 24
Golden Eagle 17 60 104
American Kestrel 0 2 1705
Merlin 2 8 95
Peregrine Falcon 1 4 90
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
Mississippi Kite 0 0 1
Swainson's Hawk 0 0 2
Total: 584 4742 87812
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Observation start time: 07:00:00
Observation end time: 16:00:00
Total observation time: 9 hours
Official Counter: Kiah Jasper
Observers: Aldo Bertucci, Hugh Kent, Liz Kent, Mike Jaber,
Peter Veighey
Visitors:
Thanks to Peter, Aldo, Mike, Hugh and Liz for helping me with the count
today. We were visited by Joan from LaSalle, Heather from British Columbia
and Harrison (formerly from Essex).
Weather:
The day started off at 6 degrees C, with a totally clear sky and wind from
the West. True to the forecast, the wind remained out of the West (at
5-20kph) for for the whole day, shifting briefly to the NWN on several
occasions. The temperature went up to a maximum of 16 degrees C in the
afternoon, though it felt warmer in the sun. The pressure dropped from
29.98 to 29.94.
Raptor Observations:
Despite the less favourable conditions compared to yesterday, we still had
a great day on the tower. It started off with a push of Cooper's Hawks
first thing in the morning, which was a bit strange because I saw 5 before
seeing my first Sharp-shinned Hawk of the day. Activity was quiet until
10:30, when a slow but steady stream of buteos and other raptors started
passing by. With the wind occasionally shifting to WNW we saw periodical
increases in raptor movement along the shoreline, with the flight actually
being much closer than yesterday on average. We recorded 17 Golden Eagles
today, 7 of them almost directly overhead. Just before we finished for the
day a golden flew right by us just above eye level, going right past the
moon too! With today's Golden Eagles we have passed the 100 mark for the
season. To top things off we had a nice dark morph Rough-legged Hawk to end
the day.
Non-raptor Observations:
There was once again a very strong songbird flight in the morning, though
the diversity was quite different compared with yesterday. Today the main
species were American Pipit and Horned Lark, whereas yesterday there were
many more Eastern Bluebirds and finches. Highlights of morning flight
included; 6 Lapland Longspur, 1 Eastern Meadowlark, 179 Cedar Waxwing, 39
Pine Siskin, 847 American Pipit, 686 Horned Lark, 4 Yellow-rumped Warbler
and 9 Tree Swallow. 28 American White Pelicans visited the marsh today,
with small groups coming and leaving frequently. Other highlights from
today included; 27 Tundra Swan, 1 Pectoral Sandpiper and 22 Great Egrets.
76 species were recorded from the tower today. HBMO eBird list here -
https://ebird.org/checklist/S201820266
Predictions:
Tomorrow is meant to be another fairly sunny day on the tower, with a high
of 11 C and wind from the East. The flight will really depend on how much
the wind shifts Southeast (bad) or Northeast (good). Either way it should
be another enjoyable day on the tower!
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Report submitted by Kiah Jasper (kiahbir...@gmail.com)
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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