Holiday Beach Conservation Area Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 16, 2010 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 1099 24720 25800 Osprey 0 20 128 Bald Eagle 0 32 129 Northern Harrier 8 195 532 Sharp-shinned Hawk 26 3049 8664 Cooper's Hawk 5 252 352 Northern Goshawk 0 4 4 Red-shouldered Hawk 8 140 141 Broad-winged Hawk 0 650 16132 Red-tailed Hawk 17 568 756 Rough-legged Hawk 0 3 3 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 1 325 1426 Merlin 0 21 94 Peregrine Falcon 1 20 45 Unknown Accipiter 0 1 2 Unknown Buteo 3 8 11 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 2 2 Mississippi Kite 0 0 1 Total: 1168 30010 54222 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 8 hours Official Counter: Todd Pepper Observers: Larry Ludwicki Visitors: Jim, Paula, and Bob from Cleveland hung in all day and added extra eyes while I was focused on the long distance. Paula was very good at picking up the specks of pepper in the sky that were TV's. Larry Ludwicki kept an eye out for Sharpies and other species over the tower. Three other birders from the greater Detroit area of Michigan (sorry I forgot to bring the visiter sheet home with me to include their names and Cities in this report) were very helpful as well, although 2 of the local Osprey and 2 of the resident juvenile bald eagles were also keeping them entertained. Weather: Sunny, clear, warm with high of 19.6C, winds started out of WNW, shifting to W, SW, and then S by end of count period. Raptor Observations: 1,168 individuals of 8 species. TV's were dominant at 1099 birds all flying way off to the north some times beyond the range of a 20X scope view. Sharpies started early along the lake and totalled 26 birds, while Red-shouldered and Red-tailed Hawks mingled in with the kettles of TV's. Non-raptor Observations: 2 Common Loons flew north to south early in the morning. Small flocks of Killdeer flew all day - saw 38 but more were heard. There were also 4 Greater Yellowlegs (the 10 day resident bird was not there today) and a Wilson's Snipe. Getting late were 3 Chimney Swift, 1 Ruby-throated Hummingbird, 1 Monarch and a number of Black Saddlebags. One murder of Am. Crows totalling 253 birds flew over early and that was it for the day. Jays totalled 490. Signs of the northern irruption with 8 Purple Finch and at least a dozen Black-capped Chickadee. Predictions: Forecast is very good with NW winds all day between 10 - 20 km/hr, 8 - 16C, and sunny. Many kettles of TV's were noted between Amherstburg and Leamington at the end of the day that should be queued up to fly on Sunday. The first Golden Eagles are being seen to the east, so it could be our turn. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Todd Pepper ([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/
