Holiday Beach Conservation Area
Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 28, 2012
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
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Turkey Vulture 1261 26289 28991
Osprey 0 16 82
Bald Eagle 4 38 136
Northern Harrier 25 184 419
Sharp-shinned Hawk 121 2071 5393
Cooper's Hawk 30 367 513
Northern Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 7 255 267
Broad-winged Hawk 0 94 6055
Red-tailed Hawk 239 1097 1372
Rough-legged Hawk 8 9 9
Golden Eagle 2 7 9
American Kestrel 11 177 932
Merlin 4 30 82
Peregrine Falcon 0 24 49
Unknown Accipiter 0 1 9
Unknown Buteo 0 3 6
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Falcon 0 2 2
Unknown Raptor 0 0 5
Black Vulture 0 0 1
Gyrfalcon 0 1 1
Swainson's Hawk 1 2 3
Total: 1713 30667 44336
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Observation start time: 07:00:00
Observation end time: 16:00:00
Total observation time: 9 hours
Official Counter: Todd Pepper
Observers: Cindy Isenhoff, Dan Lumm, Dave Stimac, Dennis Patrick,
Gwen Gidge, Jim McCoy, Karen Padbury, Kory Renaud,
Mike Fitzpatrick
Visitors:
Many HBMO regulars were out today with the forecast of north winds. Also
out were Dave from LaPierre: Peter from Ohio via Texas; the Bradshaw's from
Woodstock; and Judy from Ann Arbor.
Weather:
So much for the forecast of sunny with some clouds. It was cloudy all day.
They were right on the temperature and winds however. Actual temperatures
ranged from 5.3C to 8C. Winds started out the day fairly moderately around
the 10 km/hr range out of the North, but increased as the day went on. The
average wind speed in the afternoon was around the 35 km/hr range from the
north, with gusts above 40 km/hr.
Raptor Observations:
The north wind did the trick bringing in 2 Golden Eagles and the first
Rough-legged Hawks of the year. We also had a special treat that took us
all a little while to figure out, but it was a dark morph Swainson's Hawk.
The day total was 1,713 birds of 12 species.
Non-raptor Observations:
Few non-raptors, other than "blackbirds" and crows flew today. The American
Crow count was 17,156. Many more grackles within the blackbird flocks today
and Red-winged Blackbirds totalled 3,600. Also 5 each of Tundra Swan and
Sandhill Crane. The Jay migration seems to have come to a standstill. Only
1 Blue Jay today, bringing the year total to just over 201,000.
Predictions:
Could be an ugly day with clouds, a 70% chance of rain, temperatures in a
range from 6 - 7C, and winds out of the north at 40 - 45 km/hr
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Report submitted by Todd Pepper (pepper_t...@yahoo.ca)
Holiday Beach Migration Observatory information may be found at:
http://hbmo.org/
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ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial
birding organization.
Send bird reports to birdalert@ontbirds.ca
For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
