This is an official posting from the High Park Hawk Watch. Station: High Park, Toronto, Ontario View Period: Sept 17, 2005 Station coordinator: Don Barnett Counters: D. Barnett, B. Carswell, H. Currie, M. Kelch, N. McHugh, & H. Shapiro
So far the expected Broad-winged Hawk flight has not taken place. We have observed 246 Broad-winged Hawks to date at High Park. But Saturday, September 17 set record single day numbers for High Park for three other species of migrating raptors - 22 Osprey (previous record 16); 12 Bald Eagles (previous record 9); 9 Merlin (previous record 7). It's encouraging to see the increased numbers of American Kestrel. The total for this year of 128 is well ahead of the same dates for the last several years. Hopefully tomorrow's numbers will be just as good. Our totals for September 17 and the year so far are: Species Sept.17 Year to Date Turkey Vulture.................1..................16..... Osprey........................22..................41..... Bald Eagle....................12..................15..... Northern Harrier..............12..................18..... Sharp-Shinned Hawk...........227.................421..... Cooper's Hawk..................2..................18..... Northern Goshawk...............-...................-..... Red-shouldered Hawk............-...................-..... Broad-winged Hawk............229.................246..... Red-tailed Hawk................5..................37..... Rough-legged Hawk..............-...................-..... Golden Eagle...................-...................-..... American Kestrel..............57.................128..... Merlin.........................9..................14..... Peregrine Falcon...............1...................5..... Other(Swainson's Hawk).........-...................-..... Unidentified...................2..................15..... Total........................579.................974..... High Park Site Description High Park is a 400 acre wooded park dominated by a Black Oak Savannah located just west of Downtown Toronto near Keele and Bloor. The park is operated by the City of Toronto Parks Department. The Count site (Hawk Hill) is located on a small hill at the north end of the Grenadier Restaurant parking lot. It is located about 1.5km (1 mile) north of Lake Ontario, at an elevation of 110 metres above sea level and 38 metres above Lake Ontario. The site location is N 43 degrees 37 minutes 03.8 seconds, W 79 degrees 28 minutes 56.5 seconds. This station is at the highest point and near the centre of the park; a steep slope that descends to a large pond is immediately west of the station. Full time counts have been recorded here since 1993. The following are partners in our raptor migration monitoring in the Greater Toronto Region: City of Toronto Parks and Culture Department, Toronto Ornithological Club, and Local Naturalist's Clubs. More information including a summary of our past observations is available at: http://www.torontobirding.ca/~gtrw/ Observations for this season are not yet available. -- Howard Shapiro email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
