Holiday Beach
Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada
Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 24, 2009
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
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Turkey Vulture 100 345 345
Osprey 2 70 70
Bald Eagle 1 80 80
Northern Harrier 12 266 266
Sharp-shinned Hawk 144 4111 4111
Cooper's Hawk 14 130 130
Northern Goshawk 0 1 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 2 4 4
Broad-winged Hawk 150 17878 17878
Red-tailed Hawk 16 156 156
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 1 1
American Kestrel 110 871 871
Merlin 2 46 46
Peregrine Falcon 2 22 22
Unknown Accipiter 1 6 6
Unknown Buteo 0 6 6
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Falcon 0 0 0
Unknown Raptor 0 1 1
Total: 556 23994 23994
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Observation start time: 07:00:00
Observation end time: 17:00:00
Total observation time: 10 hours
Official Counter: Justin Bosler
Observers: Claude Radley, Jim McCoy, Olga Klekner, Patrick Tomlinson,
Rene Kielbasa, Steve Wagner
Visitors:
About 30 visitors to the Tower today, including Jim McCoy, Claude Radley,
Steve Wagner, Patrick Tomlinson, Olga Klekner, Wayne and Carmen Hudson,
Troy and Dez, etc.
Weather:
Overcast to partly cloudy skies with North to Northwest winds at 2 to 7 mph
up until about mid-PM when winds calmed and turned predominantly West.
There was even a slight East component after 1600 EST. Temps. climbed from
17.3 to about 23C. Visibility fair to good.
Raptor Observations:
Steady flight starting by mid-to late morning, but not in the numbers
expected, especially Broadwings. Relatively speaking, Kestrel was the
raptor of the day.
Non-raptor Observations:
ABSOLUTELY ASTONISHING migration of passerines! The sheer number of
migrants streaming west along the Lake Erie shoreline and through the Park
all morning was mind boggling. Jim McCoy reported hundreds upon hundreds of
warblers moving east to west low over the beach through late morning. From
the Tower, there was an estimated 20-25 warblers passing overhead per
minute during this time. Already juggling a number of counting tasks, I was
left shaking my head in awe. Despite how many small passerines there were,
their numbers combined would pale in comparison to the number of BLUE JAYS
today.
12 species of waterfowl, including first Ring-necked Ducks (7)
Black-crowned Night-heron- 4,
Bald Eagle- at least 6 locals,
Shorebirds included Killdeer(10), Lesser Yellowlegs(6), Solitary(1) and
Pectoral(1) Sandpipers, Dunlin(6), and S-b Dowitcher(3). 2 other distant
dowitcher/snipe.
Common Nighthawk- 3,
Chimney Swift- 60,
Ruby-throated Hummingbird- 9 (from Tower only),
Red-headed Woodpecker- 4 (1 ad., 2 juvs. 1 unaged)
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker- 3 (FOF),
Northern Flicker- 30 (evening movement)
Eastern Wood-Pewee- 1,
"Traill's" Flycatcher- 1,
Least Flycatcher- 2,
Eastern Phoebe- 3 (first this week),
N. Rough-winged Swallow- 30+ (27 in one flock),
BLUE JAY- 110,800,
American Crow- 9,
Red-breasted Nuthatch- 5+,
White-breasted Nuthatch- 1,
Brown Creeper- 1,
House Wren- 1,
Golden-crowned Kinglet- 1 (FOF),
Ruby-crowned Kinglet- 6,
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher- 1 (heard only),
Gray-cheeked Thrush- 2,
Swainson's Thrush- 1,
Blue-headed Vireo- 2,
Red-eyed Vireo- 5,
Philadelphia Vireo- 3,
Brown Thrasher- 1,
American Pipit- 8+,
Cedar Waxwing- 789,
Incredible flight of warblers. Excellent diversity of warblers on the
ground; 21 species identified from the Tower. Singles of Orange-crowned and
Pine were the first-of-fall. Most numerous were Nashville, Northern Parula,
Chestnut-sided, Magnolia, Black-throated Blue, Yellow-rumped (35-40),
Black-throated Green, Blackpoll, and American Redstart.
Scarlet Tanager- 1,
Rose-breasted Grosbeak- 6,
Indigo Bunting- 2,
Lincoln's Sparrow- 3 (FOF),
Swamp Sparrow (Interior)- 1 (FOF),
White-crowned Sparrow- 1+ ad.,
Bobolink- 1,
Purple Finch- 34,
American Goldfinch- 3,085,
(also, Baltimore Oriole seen by others)
Other:
Monarch- 160+,
numerous dragonflies today.
Predictions:
Mostly to partly cloudy skies with East-northeast winds at 5-10 mph. High
of 21C. Some semblance of a flight is likely if favorable winds persist.
The Festival of Hawks continues this Saturday, 26 September.
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Report submitted by Justin Bosler ([email protected])
Holiday Beach Migration Observatory information may be found at:
http://hbmo.org/
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