Holiday Beach Conservation Area Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 03, 2010 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 443 2271 3351 Osprey 2 8 116 Bald Eagle 0 7 104 Northern Harrier 5 36 373 Sharp-shinned Hawk 121 610 6225 Cooper's Hawk 13 31 131 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 1 1 2 Broad-winged Hawk 154 322 15804 Red-tailed Hawk 2 34 222 Rough-legged Hawk 1 1 1 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 37 131 1232 Merlin 3 9 82 Peregrine Falcon 6 9 34 Unknown Accipiter 1 1 2 Unknown Buteo 0 0 3 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 1 1 1 Mississippi Kite 0 0 1 Total: 790 3472 27684 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 12:00:00 Total observation time: 5 hours Official Counter: Bob Pettit Observers: Bob Hall-Brooks, Chris Craft, John Craft, Randy Holland Visitors: J. Goldstein and I. Nicholson from Ottawa. Others were assisting as Qualified Observers. Weather: Windiest day for migration! Maximum to 25-31mph/39-49kmph. Very difficult to stand on tower with high winds. Direction was continuously north.Barometer steady at 30.1 Count was closed at 1200 hours after 30 passed with no birds and observers were cold and tired. Perhaps 150 TV and 40 SS and odd AK passed the banding station east of tower in next hour. Slight drizzle began and was steady and mist like after. Raptor Observations: Birds had difficulty flying. Normal behavior and looks changed. Most faced the wind head-on (north) and either glided westward or turned and streamed west for a distance and then headed into wing again to gain altitude then moved westward in same manor. When heading straight west most shot past the tower like a bullet. Kestrels, sharpies, vultures, Broad-wings all were like arrows when low (50 feet) to tree-top level shooting past. Never before have I seen broad-wings this low combined with this high speed of passage. I think they really missed the thermals that would have been an energy saving method of migration. First Rough-legged Hawk of count was a very dark bird that passed through over tower very fast. Adult Bald Eagle broke big branch from tall tree while other adult nearby. Both individuals were in view for several hours. Two Osprey also were in area for several hours in feeding behavior but not diving for food. Non-raptor Observations: Tree Swallows 35, Goldfinches 30, Blue Jays 4,920, mixed sparrows at tower base early (swamp, white-throated, song), Kingfisher 1. Predictions: Mostly cloudy. Highs 56 to 60. North winds 5 to 15 mph turning to northeast. This should also be a good day to see birds close to the tower. Special Note Space left for special HMANA Tour Hawk Migration Association of North America 2010 COSTA RICA Birding and Raptor Migration Tour 10 day tour: 15-24 October 2010 See HMANA.org for information. I am going. How about you? ======================================================================== Report submitted by Bob Pettit ([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/
