Holiday Beach
Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 15, 2009
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
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Turkey Vulture 3967 32035 33290
Osprey 1 17 89
Bald Eagle 6 40 132
Northern Harrier 40 135 470
Sharp-shinned Hawk 732 3427 8589
Cooper's Hawk 123 441 625
Northern Goshawk 5 5 6
Red-shouldered Hawk 257 303 308
Broad-winged Hawk 9 116 18288
Red-tailed Hawk 1039 1483 1705
Rough-legged Hawk 2 2 2
Golden Eagle 3 7 8
American Kestrel 109 616 1636
Merlin 7 45 108
Peregrine Falcon 0 53 87
Unknown Accipiter 0 0 6
Unknown Buteo 0 3 10
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Falcon 0 0 1
Unknown Raptor 0 0 1
Swainson's Hawk 0 2 2
Total: 6300 38730 65363
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Observation start time: 07:00:00
Observation end time: 16:00:00
Total observation time: 9 hours
Official Counter: Justin Bosler
Observers: Jim McCoy, Karen Padbury, Mike Fitzpatrick, Sarah Rupert,
Todd Pepper
Visitors:
One grade 13 bunch from Windsor numbering around 15. Also, an additional 15
or so visitors, including Jim McCoy, Todd Pepper, Mike Fitzpatrick, Rene
Kielbasa and son, Karen Padbury, and Sarah Rupert. Thanks for all of the
help, everyone.
Weather:
Overcast skies with periods of intermittent light rain after 1200 EST.
Strong Northeast winds at 10 to 20 mph with gusts up to 25 mph. Temps.
ranged from a chilly 4.6 to about 8C. Visibility fair to good.
Raptor Observations:
A spectacular flight of raptors across the board with a diverse crowd (14
species) and impressive numbers. A strong tailwind provided Redtails with a
good source of lift; some coming in high off of the lake and along the
shoreline. One dark-morph Western Red-tailed Hawk in the 1200 to 1300 (EST)
hour was noteworthy. Also, an ad. Northern Goshawk provided us with
excellent, close-range looks at 1438 EST.
Non-raptor Observations:
With such a busy raptor day there was little time spent on other bird
observations.
Am. Bittern- 1,
Black-crowned Night-heron- 3,
Sandhill Crane- 1,
Greater Yellowlegs- 6,
Lesser Yellowlegs- 1,
Blue Jay- 1,500,
Am. Crow- 10,535,
Am. Goldfinch- 950.
Predictions:
Unsettled weather continues tomorrow as the tail end of a low pressure
system exits the Great Lakes region. Overcast skies with rain showers
likely in the AM becoming more intermittent through the PM. More high winds
out of the North-northeast at 10 to 20 mph. High of 6C. Chance of rain
around 50%. As long as it's not too wet, there should be raptors moving in
these continuing favorable winds.
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Report submitted by Justin Bosler ([email protected])
Holiday Beach Migration Observatory information may be found at:
http://hbmo.org/
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ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial
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