Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch Port Stanley, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 13, 2013 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 0 3821 5276 Osprey 0 10 123 Bald Eagle 0 22 137 Northern Harrier 3 54 334 Sharp-shinned Hawk 4 216 4604 Cooper's Hawk 1 17 61 Northern Goshawk 0 0 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 7 14 Broad-winged Hawk 0 3 59365 Red-tailed Hawk 2 56 110 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 1 3 3 American Kestrel 0 91 1537 Merlin 0 4 56 Peregrine Falcon 0 56 78 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 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 2 Total: 11 4360 71701 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 12:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 3 hours Official Counter: Mary Carnahan Observers: Visitors: Thanks to Mary for getting down to the hawkwatch and getting a count done. Weather: A crappy wet start to the day meant a delay in any kind of flight. Counters didn't head down to the hawkwatch till it started to open up ... and by then the winds had swung around to moderate from the NW. Still nearly solid cloud cover for the whole day. Raptor Observations: Both raptors in the first hour were Northern Harriers, one flying close to the Cliff, the other about halfway between the knoll and Sharpie Alley. In the second hour, everything was extremely high including a Bald Eagle and 6 TVs that just circled and circled way up, apparently going nowhere but up. The Cooper's Hawk was fairly high along with a Sharp-shinned Hawk close behind, providing an interesting comparison. Between 2:00 and 3:00, a Northern Harrier was seen early in the hour hunting along the west side of the field near Sharpie Alley then disappeared down into the corn apparently in no hurry to get going; however, half an hour later, a Harrier emerged from that end of the field and flew over the road heading west over the woods. About 2:45, a Red-tailed Hawk was seen circling just south of Sharpie Alley, gaining altitude with every turn. Below and somewhat behind the Red-tailed was a juvenile Golden Eagle also circling and gaining altitude. The Red-tailed took off long before the Golden which was taking its time and although reaching high altitude, provided a good look at wing patches and 2-toned tail before disappearing beyond view. Non-raptor Observations: Once again, there were many Yellow-rumped Warblers up and down the road with many Kinglets (both species) and some Chickadees mixed in. In addition, a single Blackpoll Warbler was found. Lower down in the shrubs were more of the same plus many White-throated Sparrows. A number of Song Sparrows were also seen and heard in weeds just west of the parking area. An assortment of other species was spotted from the observation knoll, notably a Winter Wren in the tangle of grape and wild cucmber vines beside the knoll, an Eastern Towhee across from the knoll and a lot of Bluejays heading eastward across the tobacco field apparently having abandoned their westward migration for the present. 7 Monarch Butterflies were observed flying west, a few at high altitude, across the tobacco field. As well, a few Sulphurs were seen today in addition to a Green Darner and a couple of Black Saddlebags (dragonflies). Predictions: Monday is promising to be a nice hawkwatching day with a mix of sun and cloud and with winds predicted to be moderate from the NE there might be more of a flight. ======================================================================== 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 including how to unsubscribe visit http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdssetup
