Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch
Port Stanley, Ontario, Canada
Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 15, 2012
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 0 0 0
Osprey 9 95 114
Bald Eagle 37 88 101
Northern Harrier 60 184 233
Sharp-shinned Hawk 578 1292 1299
Cooper's Hawk 14 34 35
Northern Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0
Broad-winged Hawk 19662 26710 26884
Red-tailed Hawk 0 0 2
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 0 0
American Kestrel 522 1023 1185
Merlin 5 22 23
Peregrine Falcon 0 11 12
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: 20887 29459 29888
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 06:00:00
Observation end time: 16:30:00
Total observation time: 10.5 hours
Official Counter: Dave Brown
Observers: Ches Caister, Chris Burris, Colin Horstead, Derek Lyon,
Eric Single, Fran Rew, Jennifer Lyon, Jim Landau, John L,
Keith Sealy, Mac McAlpine, Marguerite Irwin,
Mark Cunningham, Mary Carnahan, Paul Thomas, Rose,
Tom Bolohan, Wayne Parnall, Winston Celik
Visitors:
With this being the first day of one of our big Hawk Cliff open house
weekends on one of the nicest days so far in September...it was no surprise
to see large crowds at the hawkwatch. IT was busy in the air too...and a
big thankyou to all the folks that helped as observers today...the birds
were all over the sky at various flight heights and it would've been pretty
tough without all those eyes! :)
Weather:
A fantastic hawkwatching day today....winds light to moderate from the NW
and WNW all day. Temp much cooler after the passage of the cold front with
a high to 22C. Some cloud to start but it quickly burned off to clear blue
skies making it difficult to see higher birds. Clouds eventually began to
build...then disappeared again which likely resulted in us missing many
Broadwings passing overhead.
Raptor Observations:
We had expected a very large count today given the near perfect migration
weather...but with a lack of cloud cover for much of the day we ended up
with many less counted than were actually passing over the hawkwatch today.
This was made obvious when we spotted a Bald Eagle at a high altitude and
when we focused on this bird...suddenly we realized it was surrounded by
100's of Broadwings streaming across the sky above us in the blue. We can
only speculate on how many Broadwings were actually migrating on
Saturday...but it certainly exceeded our BW count.
The total count for the day was 20,887...with the bulk obviously
Broadwings (19,662)....followed by great counts for Sharpies (578) and
Kestrels (522). There were fewer Osprey (9) than we had expected, though
several of them were right on the deck providing wonderful looks. Other
species observed today included Bald Eagle (37), a nice flight of N.
Harriers (60) with several adult females and the rest young birds...and
just a few Merlin (5).
Non-raptor Observations:
Around Roberts Line were 5 Chipping Sparrows, numerous Starlings and 10
Eastern Bluebirds. 2 more Bluebirds were spotted along Dexter Rd about
halfway between HC Rd and the water tower. Other "early birds" were 3
Common Loons, 1 Greaet Bliue Heron, a few small flocks of Canada Geese, a
Tufted Titmouse, Caspian Tern and some Blue-gray Gnatcatchers. More
Gnatcatchers were spotted in several locations up and down the road
throughout the morning. Other avian species of note today were 3 species
of Woodpecker (Downy, Hairy & Red-bellied), both Red-breasted and
White-breasted Nuthatch, Red-eyed Vireio, a single Tree Swallow, numerous
Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, and Swainson's Thrush. Observers also spotted
an American Robin and a couple of Eastern Towhees, which we know are
around, but we just don't see them every day.
There seemed to be an influx of Blue Jays today, as singles or very small
flocks dashed across the field. Blue Jays were definitely present (and
noisy) in the woods throughout the morning. Flocks of Goldfinches were
also seen moving westward throughout the morning along the cliff as well
as northward to the ravine and beyond. Only 6 Warbler species were
reported today, including Chestnut-sided, Black-throated Green, Black &
White, American Redstart, & Nashville plus an Orange-crowned which is our
24th warbler species this fall.
Bruce Parker reported 10 Monarch roosts found early this morning. for a
total of 425 butterflies. Additional monarchs were seen flying across the
field, along the Cliff, even below the Cliff throughout the morning and
well into the afternoon.
Predictions:
Sunday will be a nice flight day for the birds...but with SW winds they'll
be pushed inland and spread between the lake and St. Thomas or even London
making for a much smaller flight.
========================================================================
Report submitted by Dave Brown (thebro...@ezlink.on.ca)
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 birdalert@ontbirds.ca
For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
