Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch Port Stanley, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 23, 2010 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 0 193 193 Osprey 6 202 231 Bald Eagle 0 118 118 Northern Harrier 35 536 566 Sharp-shinned Hawk 306 5933 5950 Cooper's Hawk 3 66 67 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 4 4 Broad-winged Hawk 7 97622 97635 Red-tailed Hawk 0 33 47 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 120 2932 2986 Merlin 3 110 112 Peregrine Falcon 0 18 18 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0 Unknown Buteo 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 0 Total: 480 107767 107927 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 06:00:00 Observation end time: 14:00:00 Total observation time: 8 hours Official Counter: Jim Dunn Observers: Beth Wigle, Kathy, Keith Sealy, Mary Carnahan Visitors: Observers: Beth Wigle, Kathy, Keith Sealy, Mary Carnahan Also a visitor, Veronica from Iowa plus others. Weather: Winds today were light to moderate from the N and then NE. Before midday the winds switched around to the SE...our worst wind for good flight. Fairly warm today with a high to 21C. Raptor Observations: The flight today totalled 480 birds...mostly Sharpies (306) and Kestrels (120). No surprise that only 7 Broadwings were counted given the bulk of this species already passed through last week. Non-raptor Observations: With persistent cloud and period of fog at the Cliff this morning, spotting songbirds was a challenge. Audio clues were few and far between as well, with vocalizations mainly limited to calls from the 6000+ migrating BLUE JAYS, many AM. GOLDFINCH and several very emphatic NORTHERN FLICKERS, which hung around in the woods calling to each other and flew in small flocks from the treeline eastwards across the beanfield to the woods. A few RUBY-THROATS continued to blast across the field and hawk watchers spied 2 CHIMNEY SWIFTS which almost slipped through unnoticed amidst the ongoing stream of American kestrels. Around mid-morning, a quick drive along Dexter Line yielded about 100 EUROPEAN STARLINGS and 5 EASTERN BLUEBIRDS. Despite gloomy, windy conditions, monarch butterflies were still observed in good numbers flying across the field and along the Cliff as are green darners, black saddlebags and an assortment of meadowhawks. Predictions: Friday is looking very interesting...winds are predicted to be strong from the SW...perfect weather for Peregrines along the cliff...and we're getting close to their typical primetime. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Dave Brown ([email protected]) Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch information may be found at: http://www.ezlink.on.ca/~thebrowns/HawkCliff/index.htm _______________________________________________ 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/
