Holiday Beach Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 14, 2009 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 6332 28068 29323 Osprey 1 16 88 Bald Eagle 0 34 126 Northern Harrier 30 95 430 Sharp-shinned Hawk 365 2695 7857 Cooper's Hawk 55 318 502 Northern Goshawk 0 0 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 27 46 51 Broad-winged Hawk 9 107 18279 Red-tailed Hawk 185 444 666 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 4 5 American Kestrel 60 507 1527 Merlin 0 38 101 Peregrine Falcon 1 53 87 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 6 Unknown Buteo 1 3 10 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 1 Unknown Raptor 0 0 1 Swainson's Hawk 0 2 2 Total: 7066 32430 59063 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:30:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 8.5 hours Official Counter: Justin Bosler Observers: Jim McCoy, Richard Carr Visitors: One school group numbering close to 30 visited the Tower with Bev Wannick. Among 10 or so other visitors were Richard Carr, Caroline Staddon, and Jason Telasco. And, once again, a special thanks to Jim McCoy for a full day of help with spotting and counting. Weather: Overcast skies with periods of intermittent light rain after 1330 EST. Steady North-northeast to Northeast winds at 10 to 15 mph with gusts in excess of 20 mph. Temps. climbed from a chilly 4.4 to a comfortable 7.2C. Visibility fair to good. Raptor Observations: Another impressive flight of Turkey Vultures with 6,332 tallied, which will rank 4th among the all-time top high counts. First significant movement of Red-tailed Hawks(185) this fall. Numbers of Redshoulders just starting to pick up. Also, a smattering of immature Broadwings passing today. In no way did the afternoon rain/ drizzle hold back the vultures or Redtails. Non-raptor Observations: American Bittern- 1, Black-crowned Night-heron- 4 (2 subad., 2 juv.) Common Moorhen- 2+, Caspian Tern- 1, Sandhill Crane- 1 (heard only), AM. AVOCET- 1 in basic plumage (flying in and circling over the marsh just N the Tower at 16:35 EDT, then disappearing off to the NE), Greater Yellowlegs- 1, Solitary Sandpiper- 1, Chimney Swift- 2, Tree Swallow- 200, N. Rough-winged Swallow- 25+, Blue Jay- 2,000, Am. Crow- 7,865, Am. Pipit- 35, Indigo Bunting- 1, Pine Siskin- 4+, Am. Goldfinch- 1,635, Predictions: More overcast skies with PM rain showers possible as upper-level disturbances push southeastward out of the Upper Midwest. Continued Northeast winds at 10 to 15 mph. High of 7C. Chance of rain around 40%. Judging by today's totals from hawkwatch sites to our East, namely Hawk Cliff, there will be another mass movement of raptors again tomorrow, and this time with greater numbers of Redtails and Redshoulders, and even a few of the cold-hardy, late season goodies. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Justin Bosler ([email protected]) Holiday Beach Migration Observatory information may be found at: http://hbmo.org/ _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
