Holiday Beach Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 02, 2009 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 1 1 1 Osprey 2 2 2 Bald Eagle 3 3 3 Northern Harrier 11 11 11 Sharp-shinned Hawk 23 23 23 Cooper's Hawk 9 9 9 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 54 54 54 Red-tailed Hawk 8 8 8 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 2 2 2 Merlin 1 1 1 Peregrine Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0 Unknown Buteo 0 0 0 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 0 Total: 114 114 114 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 06:00:00 Observation end time: 13:00:00 Total observation time: 7 hours Official Counter: Claude Radley Observers: Janina Radley, Jim McCoy, Todd Pepper Visitors: We had guests from Toronto and Windsor. Weather: Sunny skies with a few fair weather cumulus developing. Light offshore NW breeze veering during the watch to light SSE onshore. Morning temperature 12C climbing to 24C. Raptor Observations: A fairly good flow of birds with the flight path gradually moving North out of range as the onshore wind developed. Non-raptor Observations: There were few passerines in the park. The plethora of warblers earlier in the week have moved on. The Pileated Woodpecker seen earlier in the week was not in evidence. A fairly substantial migration of swallows dominated by Rough-winged. Predictions: A large area of high pressure is moving slowly East through the area and tomorrow promises to be a duplicate of today. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Claude Radley ([email protected]) Holiday Beach Migration Observatory information may be found at: http://hbmo.org/ Site Description: 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). 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). _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
