This is an official posting from the High Park Hawk Watch. Station: High Park, Toronto, Ontario View Period: October 11 - 17, 2010 Station coordinator: Don Barnett Counters: D. Barnett,H. Elliot C. Harte, M. Kelch, A.M. Leger, N. McHugh, N. Murr, H. Shapiro, GTRW Webmasters: D. Woods
We had one notable sighting this week. On Saturday morning, the large cluster of hawk watchers had the pleasure of observing a low flying Short-eared Owl circling overhead at Hawk Hill. A spirited challenge from a local Red-tailed Hawk encouraged its departure southward to the lake shore. Our best day was October 12th when 457 raptors were observed of which 403 were Turkey Vultures Our totals for October 12, the past week and year to date are: Species Oct 12 Oct 11 to 117 Year to Date Turkey Vulture..................403.................821............2431 Osprey............................-...................-..............43 Bald Eagle........................-...................2..............37 Northern Harrier..................-...................5..............45 Sharp-Shinned Hawk...............10.................146............1780 Cooper's Hawk.....................-...................1..............47 Northern Goshawk..................-...................1...............3 Red-shouldered Hawk...............-...................5..............12 Broad-winged Hawk.................-...................-............1157 Swainson's Hawk.......................................-...............1 Red-tailed Hawk..................41.................111.............291 Rough-legged Hawk.................-..............-....-...............- Golden Eagle......................-...................-...............1 American Kestrel..................2...................5.............236 Merlin............................-...................4..............18 Peregrine Falcon..................-...................1..............19 Unidentified......................1...................7..............67 Total...........................457.................865............5950 High Park Site Description High Park is a 400 acre wooded park dominated by a Black Oak Savannah located just west of Downtown Toronto near Keele and Bloor. The park is operated by the City of Toronto Parks Department. The Count site (Hawk Hill) is located on a small hill at the north end of the Grenadier Restaurant parking lot. It is located about 1.5km (1 mile) north of Lake Ontario, at an elevation of 110 metres above sea level and 38 metres above Lake Ontario. The site location is N 43 degrees 37 minutes 03.8 seconds, W 79 degrees 28 minutes 56.5 seconds. This station is at the highest point and near the centre of the park; a steep slope that descends to a large pond is immediately west of the station. Full time counts have been recorded here since 1993. The following are partners in our raptor migration monitoring in the Greater Toronto Region: City of Toronto Parks and Culture Department, Toronto Ornithological Club, and Local Naturalist's Clubs. More information including a summary of our past observations is available at: http://www.greatertorontohawkwatch.com/ Observations for this season are not yet available. -- Howard Shapiro email: [email protected] _______________________________________________ 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/
