Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch Port Stanley, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 05, 2012 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 0 0 0 Osprey 1 7 26 Bald Eagle 0 0 13 Northern Harrier 3 31 80 Sharp-shinned Hawk 16 98 105 Cooper's Hawk 0 3 4 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 174 Red-tailed Hawk 0 0 2 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 20 47 209 Merlin 0 3 4 Peregrine Falcon 1 1 2 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0 Unknown Buteo 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 0 Total: 41 190 619 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:30:00 Observation end time: 14:00:00 Total observation time: 5.5 hours Official Counter: Jim Dunn Observers: Dave Weare, Ernie Gribble, Mary Carnahan Visitors: The only visitor noted on today's report by name was Carol Parafenko. Thanks to Dave Weare and Ernie Gribble for their assistance today with both the raptor and the "Other" species counts...and to Jim and Mary for submitting today's reports. Weather: Winds were nonexistent to start today...then finally picked up a bit with light winds from anywhere from E through SE to S (our worst wind direction for any decent flight). Temp was warmer today to 27C along with much higher humidity for the morning then dropping a bit around noon. There were no clouds to start either...but eventually some cloud cover moved in as the day progressed. Raptor Observations: A smaller flight today with just 41 raptors tallied. The flight was mostly Sharpies (16) and Kestrels (20) with a single Osprey, 3 N. Harriers and another early Peregrine (again a young bird). Non-raptor Observations: We had a few helpers today including Carol Parafenko, Dave Weare and Ernie Gribble who won the early bird award today by spotting 2 new warbler species for this season's HC list. These were Blackpoll and Cape May. Other highlights included 2 Caspian Terns, 5 Bluebirds (observed on the wire along Fairview Rd at Roberts Ln.), a few Robins, a Swainson's Thrush and a Veery. It was the Veery, followed by a very agitated Warbling Vireo, followed in turn by a cacophony of bird calls across from the mound that alerted observers that something was up. It turned out to be a Common Nighthawk perched in a locust tree. Great views were had by Jim and Mary plus a number of visitors, with great photo ops provided for most of the afternoon. There were still passerine flocks on the move (mostly Am. Goldfinch) but they, along with the RT Hummingbirds appeared to have dropped off in numbers today. Monarchs were down today as well, although a few still could be seen flying either below the Cliff or high up with the raptors. Bruce Parker dropped by looking for butterflies and let us know that he will be on hand again this season for butterfly tagging and demonstrations. Predictions: Thursday they're predicting WNW winds and fairly clear skies...so there may be a bit of a flight. As we work toward the weekend the winds are supposed to be mostly NW...BUT there's a chance of rain...especially on Saturday. Sunday looks better for a good flight at this point. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Dave Brown ([email protected]) Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch information may be found at: http://www.ezlink.on.ca/~thebrowns/HawkCliff/index.htm _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
