Holiday Beach Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 04, 2009 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 0 4 4 Osprey 0 3 3 Bald Eagle 1 4 4 Northern Harrier 7 22 22 Sharp-shinned Hawk 21 87 87 Cooper's Hawk 2 13 13 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 12 101 101 Red-tailed Hawk 3 17 17 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 5 7 7 Merlin 0 1 1 Peregrine Falcon 3 3 3 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: 54 262 262 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 06:00:00 Observation end time: 14:00:00 Total observation time: 8 hours Official Counter: Bob Pettit, Jack Boxer Observers: Claude Radley, Jack Boxer, none Visitors: Rich Carr from Leamington, ON helped with the high spotting. Weather: Hot 29.6C Wind started NNE between 0-4 mph become calm and started SSW and ended WSW 0-4 mph. Some fog early with clear sky overhead and some cloud at W and S horizon. When wind shifted to on shore small to medium cumulus clouds move northward and hawks were spotted against the white but they were very high up. Cloud bottoms were estimated to be 2400 feet using dew point and air temps. As early afternoon continued the clouds dissipated and so did the hawks. Raptor Observations: Harriers, sharp-shinned, Cooper's, broad-wings, kestrels, and 3 peregrines are the headliners. Some low most high. Non-raptor Observations: 25 Monarchs, 50 swallows, 30 cedar waxwings, very few warblers, fair finch numbers. Predictions: Partly cloudy 79 F. Wind is anyone's guess. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Bob Pettit ([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/
