Holiday Beach Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 05, 2009 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 1572 3496 4751 Osprey 2 4 76 Bald Eagle 3 11 103 Northern Harrier 9 29 364 Sharp-shinned Hawk 377 765 5927 Cooper's Hawk 38 68 252 Northern Goshawk 0 0 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 4 4 9 Broad-winged Hawk 52 76 18248 Red-tailed Hawk 25 37 259 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 1 American Kestrel 37 72 1092 Merlin 3 13 76 Peregrine Falcon 3 20 54 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 6 Unknown Buteo 0 1 8 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 1 Unknown Raptor 0 0 1 Total: 2125 4596 31229 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 9 hours Official Counter: Justin Bosler Observers: Claude Radley, Ethan Melag, Jim McCoy Visitors: Close to 100 grade school students along with teachers and chaperones from Amherstburg and Windsor. The Tower was rockin', literally. Also, an additional dozen or so visitors including Jim McCoy (~7 hrs.), Claude Radley, John Craft, and Ethan Melag. Weather: Mostly clear to overcast skies with West-northwest to Southwest winds at 1 to 10 mph. Winds never turned Northwest as forecast. Temps. climbed from 9.9 to about 16.5C. Visibility excellent throughout the day. Raptor Observations: A pretty good flight considering the light West to Southwest winds, and undoubtedly a nice push of raptors following the weekend's wet and windy conditions, which likely had a number of these birds grounded. Best Turkey Vulture flight to date this season. Also, 2 Ospreys added some excitement. Non-raptor Observations: 12 species of waterfowl, Black-crowned Night-Heron- 3 (1 subad., 2 juv.), Green Heron- 1, Common Moorhen- 6+ (lingering), Bald Eagle- 5 locals, Caspian Tern- 4, Killdeer- 560 (westbound flocks ranging from 5 to 40 birds per flock), Greater Yellowlegs- 4, Lesser Yellowlegs- 11, Solitary Sandpiper- 1, Dunlin- 1, Long-billed Dowitcher- 1 (in w/ flock of KILL) sandpiper sp.- 9 (possible Stilts but distant) Eastern Screech-Owl- 1, [After hours owl banding tonight with Claude and Nina Radley netted the season's first N. Saw-whet Owl with at least 1 more heard nearby. Also, a duetting pair of Great Horned Owls over the banding lab.] Common Nighthawk- 2, Chimney Swift- 12, Red-bellied Woodpecker- 1 (westbound migrant) Hairy Woodpecker- 1 BLUE JAY- 152,750, Am. Crow- 14, Am. Pipit- 69, Cedar Waxwing- 176, Warblers noted include Tennessee(1), Nashville(1), Magnolia(5+), and Yellow-rumped(few dozen). Indigo Bunting- 3, Rusty Blackbird- 12 (single flock perching in front of Tower), Purple Finch- 13+, House Finch- 5, Am. Goldfinch- 4,530 (new season high), Other: Monarch- 20. Predictions: Mostly cloudy skies with a chance of PM t-storms. Predominantly South-southeast to Southeast winds at 5 to 15 mph. High of 17C. Chance of rain around 60%. Probably not too much moving tomorrow. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Justin Bosler ([email protected]) Holiday Beach Migration Observatory information may be found at: http://hbmo.org/ _______________________________________________ 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/
