Holiday Beach Hawk Watch
Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 29, 2025
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
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Turkey Vulture 118 55246 57823
Osprey 0 13 43
Bald Eagle 4 302 467
Northern Harrier 9 319 755
Sharp-shinned Hawk 8 2299 7262
Cooper's Hawk 5 165 292
American Goshawk 0 1 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 4 303 303
Broad-winged Hawk 0 19 40251
Red-tailed Hawk 17 1412 1582
Rough-legged Hawk 1 8 8
Golden Eagle 0 31 32
American Kestrel 0 186 1147
Merlin 1 21 108
Peregrine Falcon 0 25 66
Unknown Accipitrine 0 0 0
Unknown Buteo 0 20 21
Unknown Eagle 0 2 2
Unknown Falcon 0 0 0
Unknown Raptor 0 3 3
Black Vulture 0 1 1
Total: 167 60376 110167
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Observation start time: 07:00:00
Observation end time: 13:30:00
Total observation time: 6.5 hours
Official Counter: Kiah Jasper
Observers: Dana Ogglesby, Juliette Herdman, Kate Fairbairn,
Linda Goodhue, Michael St. Pierre, Noel Herdman,
Robin Smallwood
Visitors:
Thanks to Noel, Juliette, Mike, Kate and Robin for assisting with the count
today. The banding crew (Dana, Caroline and Linda) joined us on the tower
for a bit too, after they finished taking the songbird nets down for the
season.
Weather:
Another cool start to the day at 3 C, rising to 12 C by 11am. Today we had
a break from the clear blue sky, with dark clouds rolling in late morning
and only a few spots of blue left by early afternoon. The wind was moderate
out of the NE and ENE all day, which is normally good for our site, though
the winds at the site are only part of the formula. Today the winds across
the rest of southern Ontario were out of the due East, which leads to no
concentration effect for birds along the shoreline in our region (We need
north component winds coming long distance). The barometer held close to
30.10, as high pressure remains in place in our area.
Raptor Observations:
Another quiet day for raptors, with 167 observed. The bulk of these numbers
were Turkey Vultures, with 118 counted. Some highlights were 7 Northern
Harriers and a good (but distant) view of a light morph Rough-legged Hawk.
Non-raptor Observations:
Several species of songbirds were moving in good numbers all morning,
highlighted by Cedar Waxwing (896), American Goldfinch (410) and Pine
Siskin (21). On the lake 366 Bonaparte's Gulls and 2 Common Loons were seen
flying past. 92 American White Pelicans continue to be seen in the marsh,
and 2 Common Gallinules are lingering late into the season in the lotus
area beside the tower. The first Fox Sparrow of the season was calling all
day beside us. 71 species were observed today from the tower, the full list
can be found at the link below: https://ebird.org/checklist/S281956131
Predictions:
Tomorrow the wind is meant to be strong out of the north all day... however
there a chance for rain for the entire observation period. If the rain
holds off it could be an alright day, though the odds of that seem rather
slim right now.
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Report submitted by Kiah Jasper ([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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