The bird has been seen daily including today. Photos are on the OFO website. The weather is forecast to be mild for the next few days here so the flycatcher should stay.
Tom Auer, a Minnesota birder who saw the flycatcher yesterday, also saw a MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD at the Pigeon River border crossing, on the Canadian side. Nick Escott 650 Alice Ave. Thunder Bay ON P7G 1W9 345-7122 From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sun Oct 24 20:22:48 2004 Return-Path: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Delivered-To: [email protected] Received: from taiga.com (mugwump.taiga.com [68.165.54.133]) by king.hwcn.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 620AD48EF3 for <[email protected]>; Sun, 24 Oct 2004 20:22:48 -0400 (EDT) Received: (qmail 4337 invoked by uid 525); 25 Oct 2004 00:32:40 -0000 Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [email protected] From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: 24 Oct 2004 08:10:40 -0400 Subject: [Ontbirds]HSR: Holiday Beach (24 Oct 2004) 32 Raptors X-BeenThere: [email protected] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] X-List-Received-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 00:22:48 -0000 Holiday Beach Migration Observatory Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 24, 2004 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 0 10766 12002 Osprey 0 12 81 Bald Eagle 0 13 43 Northern Harrier 0 51 238 Sharp-shinned Hawk 28 1569 5289 Cooper's Hawk 1 165 250 Northern Goshawk 0 4 4 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 94 100 Broad-winged Hawk 0 1 27843 Red-tailed Hawk 2 605 823 Rough-legged Hawk 1 17 17 Golden Eagle 0 2 2 American Kestrel 0 146 1366 Merlin 0 24 57 Peregrine Falcon 0 5 15 Unknown 0 61 99 Total: 32 13535 48229 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 13:00:00 Total observation time: 6 hours Official Counter: Bob Hall-Brooks Observers: Paul Pratt Visitors: Paul Pratt led a field trip to the Tower today (sorry Paul, I can't pull birds out of my hat) and several Ohio visitors made today's sparse watch enjoyable. Weather: Cool and damp but the rain held off. Temperatures ranged from12 to 15 degrees Celsius. Cloudy most of the day. Light winds from the WSW to SW. Observations: A slow day with only thirty-two raptors seen. Even the two Golden Eagles seen were confused, going from West to East so as not to be counted. Crows 270, Blue Jays 520, American Goldfinch 500, Robins 140 and American Pipits 130 along with innumerable Red-winged Blackbirds, Common Grackles, European Starlings and Brown-headed Cowbirds. Also seen were a handful of Horned Larks and Pine Siskins. Predictions: Wind expected to change for Monday. =======================================================================Report submitted by Bob Hall-Brooks ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Holiday Beach Migration Observatory information may be found at: http://hbmo.org/ Holiday Beach Migration Observatory Information on southern Ontario's hawk migration and the Holiday Beach Conservation Area site ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Southwestern Ontario is largely an area of flat, featureless farmland. There are only two geographic features of note in the region. One is the proximity of the Great lakes, which influence bird migration in the area to a great extent, The second is the shape of the province, roughly funnel-shaped with the narrow end to the southwest. These features confine south-bound bird migrants, especially hawks, to specific flight corridors. Holiday Beach Conservation Area was formerly a Provincial Park, but is now administered by the Essex Region Conservation Authority (ERCA). It is strategically located at the extreme southwestern tip of southern Ontario. The park is on the eastern end of a large freshwater estuary known as Big Creek. (Specifically the site is 1.1 miles south of the junction Highway 20 (old 18) and Essex Road 50, Town of Amherstburg). The Holiday Beach Migration Observatory (HBMO) (founded in 1986) is a non-profit, volunteer organization formed to promote the study and protection of migrating birds. Activities focus primarily on fall migration of raptors and other species. This site is in Essex County, Ontario, on the north shore of Lake Erie near the Detroit River. In 1988, HBMO persuaded Detroit Edison to donate a 40 foot Hawk Tower which is now at the site. Southwestern Ontario has a funneling effect on migrating raptors due to the geography of the nearby lakes and the reluctance of most raptors to cross large bodies of water. Birds gain altitude over the flat farmland to the north and east, rising easily with the thermals that such areas provide in abundance. As the birds head south they meet Lake Erie and, reluctant to cross it , turn west. With appropriate wind and weather conditions, birds pile up along the lake shore and move west until they reach the narrow crossing at the Detroit River (or island hop within the river mouth).
