Holiday Beach Hawk Watch
Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada
Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 09, 2024
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
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Turkey Vulture 145 3176 67897
Osprey 0 0 24
Bald Eagle 9 61 393
Northern Harrier 9 113 1004
Sharp-shinned Hawk 18 203 8692
Cooper's Hawk 10 48 263
American Goshawk 0 0 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 10 194 525
Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 4331
Red-tailed Hawk 143 1210 3005
Rough-legged Hawk 2 9 26
Golden Eagle 5 65 109
American Kestrel 1 3 1706
Merlin 0 8 95
Peregrine Falcon 1 5 91
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: 353 5095 88165
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Observation start time: 07:00:00
Observation end time: 15:00:00
Total observation time: 8 hours
Official Counter: Kiah Jasper
Observers: Cameron Chevalier, Mike Jaber, Noel Herdman, Paul Gosselin,
Peter Veighey
Visitors:
Thanks to Mike, Cameron, Harrison, Noel, Paul and Peter for assisting with
the count today. We were visited by Pam from Brantford, who enjoyed
watching Bald Eagles migrate overhead.
Weather:
Today we had a cold start on the tower, with the temperature just above 0
C. The winds were from the East/ENE/NE all morning, ranging between
5-15kph. Around 11:00 the wind picked up speed (20kph) and shifted East
again, but then to the South/Southeast, where it remained for the rest of
the day. The sky was was totally clear blue in the morning, then
increasingly cloud cover moved in during the afternoon (max of 80%). The
temperature went up to 12 C later in the day, but fell again when the
clouds moved in. The barometer sat at 30.19, but dropped 4 points during
the last hour of the count.
Raptor Observations:
With favourable winds in the morning we had high hopes for a good flight.
After a quiet first hour and a half things started to pick up a bit, then
we recorded an early flying Golden Eagle at 08:40. This was the first one
we've seen before 11am this season. Later in the morning we recorded 4 more
goldens (all at once!) and also two Rough-legged Hawks. One of the roughies
was a dark morph and flew relatively close by the tower, the first close
one we've had this fall. Once the wind switched after 11:00 the flight
really began to die down and move inland. After 13:00 we were only
recording around 20 birds per hour, and when dark clouds rolled in near
15:00 the temperature dropped and really killed activity (leading us to end
an hour early). We still recorded decent numbers today despite the
conditions, including 1 Peregrine Falcon, 143 Red-tailed Hawk, 9 Bald Eagle
and 18 Sharp-shinned Hawk. The 9 Northern Harriers recorded today pushed us
over 1,000 total for the season, a good count and not something that
happens annually here.
Non-raptor Observations:
The songbird flight today was quieter than the past several days, though
there was still decent diversity. Highlights included; 175 American Pipit,
2 Lapland Longspur, 5 White-winged Crossbill, 11 Pine Siskin and 47 Eastern
Bluebird. 12 Snow Buntings were a nice treat, our first recorded this
season. American White Pelican and Great Egret numbers have really dropped
off, with 2 and 5 individuals spotted respectively. At one point in the
morning all the ducks were flushed over the marsh, allowing us to see how
many are really out there. We estimated over 8,000 birds, comprised mainly
of Ring-necked Duck, Gadwall and Mallard. Other highlights today included;
American Woodcock, Great Horned Owl and Lesser Black-backed Gull. For the
3rd day in a row we recorded 76 species total, and also 66 non migrating
raptors... Despite the days being quite different overall! HBMO eBird list
here https://ebird.org/checklist/S201939397
Predictions:
The forecast for tomorrow looks bleak... very bleak. There is meant to be
considerable rain in the morning, possibly lasting into the afternoon as
well. Rain aside the wind is from the South all day, which isn't good for
raptor flight. We don't expect large numbers, but you never know what could
happen if it clears up.
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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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