Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 05, 2019 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 7830 15778 16636 Osprey 0 2 27 Bald Eagle 10 19 111 Northern Harrier 10 75 317 Sharp-shinned Hawk 109 1062 3453 Cooper's Hawk 11 46 108 Northern Goshawk 0 1 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 12 22 22 Broad-winged Hawk 77 855 25765 Red-tailed Hawk 69 100 244 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 1 1 1 American Kestrel 12 353 1574 Merlin 0 10 91 Peregrine Falcon 1 9 30 Unknown Accipiter 3 3 5 Unknown Buteo 4 4 5 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 4 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 1 Total: 8149 18340 48395 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 9 hours Official Counter: Maryse Gagné Observers: Elizabeth Kent, Hugh Kent, Olga Klekner, Scott Fauteux Visitors: It was also a busy day for visitors on the tower. Thank you to each and everyone of you who came out to say hello and spot some raptors. Thank you to the University of Windsor Ornithology class for stopping by, always a pleasure! Thanks to Edmund, Noel and Juliette, Scott and Rachelle Fauteux, Olga, Donny, Jim McCoy, Robin, Fran and Brian, Anna-Rita and Fred from London, Doug and Nancy, Rod and Pearl, Time and Eve, Jo and Melody, Michelle, Jake, Darcy and Mark. Thank you!! Weather: A cooler day on the tower, but with really favourable winds blowing from the North in the morning and slowly shifting towards the East. The blue sky was peppered with white clouds most of the day, thankfully enabling us to better see the very high raptors. Raptor Observations: What successful day on the tower! Not only did we count 7,830 Turkey Vultures but we also counted our very first Golden Eagle! Spotted by Olga, the juvenile passed quite low to the tower in the afternoon giving us a good look. The day was mostly spent looking straight up through the kettles of Turkey Vultures to spot others raptors, mostly buteos flying amongst them. We were successful, as we counted 69 Red-tailed hawks, 77 Broad-winged Hawks, and 12 Red-shouldered Hawks. With the height at which all the raptors we flying, everyone will need a neck massage tonight! Hopefully they'll be slightly lower tomorrow. Non-raptor Observations: Of course on a busy raptor day we were also constantly looking out for migrating Jays, counting 13,370 Blue Jays. We had a last little fall of warbler around the tower towards the end of the day, counting some Redstarts and Red-eyed Vireos. In the morning, we also observed a couple of Ruby and Golden-crowned Kinglets. We are noticing a decrease in waterfowl numbers in the last few days, including ducks, egrets, and herons. Blue Jays: 13,370 Starling: 227 Goldfinch: 179 Red-winged Blackbird: 190 Yellow-rumped warbler: 19 Bonaparte's gull: 5 American Coot: 219 Monarch: 8 https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S60376537 Predictions: Tomorrow morning we are expecting a little bit of rain and winds from the South-West. Conditions are set to improve in the afternoon, with a mix of sun and cloud as well as winds shifting to the West. We are expecting more Turkey Vultures flying over-head, hopefully with a few buteos mixed in those kettles. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Maryse Gagné (maryse.gagn...@gmail.com) Holiday Beach Hawk Watch information may be found at: http://hbmo.ca/ More site information at hawkcount.org: http://hawkcount.org/siteinfo.php?rsite=100 _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO) - 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 Posting guidelines can be found at http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdsguide Visit the OFO Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/OntarioFieldOrnithologists
