Holiday Beach Conservation Area Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 04, 2013 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 27 168 3780 Osprey 4 5 62 Bald Eagle 1 3 226 Northern Harrier 3 11 230 Sharp-shinned Hawk 80 221 4732 Cooper's Hawk 17 45 297 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 18 Broad-winged Hawk 0 2 48628 Red-tailed Hawk 0 6 373 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 2 American Kestrel 14 65 955 Merlin 4 6 66 Peregrine Falcon 2 6 26 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0 Unknown Buteo 0 0 6 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 1 Gyrfalcon 1 1 1 Mississippi Kite 0 0 1 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 7 Total: 153 539 59411 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 8 hours Official Counter: Todd Pepper Observers: Jim McCoy, Paul Pratt Visitors: No visitors today. Weather: It was a mostly cloudy day with intermittant rain for most of the morning. The winds started strong at up to 19 km/hr out of the SW, but it shifted to the south and slowed down almost immediately and did not get much over 5 km/hr for the rest of the day. It was another hot one with the temperature ranging from 20 - 25C. Raptor Observations: The raptors flew in fits and starts today. Three or four birds would pass over then it would be 20 minutes or so before the next clump or 3 or 4 flew over. In the end the tally was 153 raptors of 9 species. The best bird of the day, and I did not believe it myself for some time given the time of year, was a dark-phase Gyrfalcon at 1:05 p.m. I was not convinced until later when a presumed female Peregrine flew right towards our faces and veered up and over the tower at the last nano-second. A female Peregrine is big, the "falcon" in the previous hour was even bigger, and it never flapped a wing from the time it passed the tower until it went out of sight over the tree line at the extreme west end of the marsh. Non-raptor Observations: It was a fairly slow non-raptor day, but there were a couple of good birds including: Solitary Sandpiper - 1; and White-rumped Sandpiper - 2 (1 being chased by a Kestrel). The run of Cedar Waxwings seems to be over as none have been seen for 2 days in a row. Where are all the Blue Jays? By this time last year we had counted almost 250,000. With the 2,643 Jays counted today we have not yet reached 50,000. Monarchs totalled 16. Predictions: Another warm day with temperatures between 18 and 25C. The winds are going to be out of the South again, with predicted speeds of 10 - 15 km/hr. The POP is 60-70% every hour all day. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Todd Pepper (pepper_t...@yahoo.ca) Holiday Beach Conservation Area information may be found at: http://hbmo.ca/ Directions to site: 1. Entering Canada from Detroit at the Ambassador Bridge: After Canadian Customs you are on Huron Church Road leading to Highway 401 and Highway 3. Continue east through the construction to HOWARD AVENUE ROUTE 9 SOUTH. Turn RIGHT onto HOWARD ROUTE 9 and 'carefully' follow signs south TO ITS END at County Road 20. Turn RIGHT (west) on County Road 20. Continue west to intersection with Route 50 with Ure's Country Kitchen & Variety on the LEFT. Turn LEFT onto Route 50 south going 1.3 miles. Soon after the left curve on Route 50 is the entrance to the Holiday Beach Conservation Area on the RIGHT. Pay the daily vehicle fee of $10 at gate or at credit card reader. Continue to the Hawk Tower parking at the south end of the park. Park vehicle and walk to the Hawk Tower. 2. West bound on Routes 401 and 3: Take HOWARD AVENUE ROUTE 9 SOUTH. Continue with directions above. Bring with you birding gear: books, binocs, scopes, camera, hat or bill cap, insect repellent, sunscreen, folding chair, (drink and food during non-festival time). Dress for the weather. It is cooler near the lake. (You may purchase an annual pass and electronic fob at the Essex Region Conservation Area building, 360 Fairview W Essex, ON N8M 1Y3, Canada, 519-776-5209, erca.org.) PLEASE OBEY SPEED LIMITS! _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to birdalert@ontbirds.ca For information about ONTBIRDS including how to unsubscribe visit http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdssetup
