Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch Port Stanley, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Aug 28, 2011 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 0 0 0 Osprey 7 11 11 Bald Eagle 0 0 0 Northern Harrier 22 28 28 Sharp-shinned Hawk 20 25 25 Cooper's Hawk 0 0 0 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 16 24 24 Red-tailed Hawk 2 3 3 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 73 82 82 Merlin 7 9 9 Peregrine Falcon 0 0 0 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: 147 182 182 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 8 hours Official Counter: Jim Dunn Observers: Dave Brown, Kathy, Mary Carnahan Visitors: Lots of visitors today from London, St. Thomas and the surrounding area, Harry Oussoren, the Mitchells from Brights Grove and a couple of wonderful ladies from Ohio. A big thankyou to Jim Dunn, Mary Carnahan, Keith Sealy, Ernie Gribble, Dave Verkley, Kathy,Murray Larmour and Mark Cunningham for helping to get the Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch 2011 season underway. I'm sure everyone's looking forward to a great migration, wonderful visitors and an awesome gang of volunteers! Weather: Absolutely perfect hawkwatching weather today...a nice buildup of cumulus clouds (indicating good thermals) along with lots of sunshine, cooler temps and a strong N wind. What's interesting is that first thing this morning the outer bands of Hurricane Irene were actually right above Hawk Cliff...you could actually see the curvature of the system both northeast and southeast of our location. Eventually, the storm system pulled away to the NE (headed for eastern provinces). It's a good bet that such a huge storm almost certainly will have driven some unusual birds into the Great Lakes area...so we'll have to keep our eyes peeled for any strange species. Raptor Observations: An excellent flight for late August as the raptors took advantage of the outstanding migration conditions. The total birds for the day was 147. The bulk of the count was Kestrels (73) passing through 2 or 3 at a time. Almost equal numbers of Harriers (22) and Sharpies (20). One of the Harriers was an adult male...a nice surprise for this early in the season. Some earlybird Merlins (7) including one feisty female that was chasing a couple of Kestrels along the cliff. Interestingly, the Kestrels (they appeared to be a pair) seemed to be trying to protect each other from the Merlin which made for a entertaining 3-way dog fight! Several Broadwings were tallied today (16)...just a small hint of the bulk of the BW migration to come over the next few weeks. Most of them passed over reasonably low and were easily identified. However, there were a couple of BW's that were up in the stratosphere...and in fact one appeared to rise up into the bottom of a cloud and disappear. We tallied a couple of the young RT's that passed over very high and moving westward directly...otherwise all other Redtails appeared to be locals that spent the day hunting in the hawkwatch area. Many of the visitors got nice looks at Bald Eagles as the local family groups passed back and forth over the hawkwatch and along the lake. Some were way up with the clouds and others passed right overhead. Other species Non-raptor Observations: Many non-raptors were speeding westward along the cliff today, including ruby-throated hummingbirds. Their behaviour was particularly interesting because, unlike over the past few days, most weren't stopping long at the jewelweed, just speeding on through. Monarchs and other butterflies were doing the same. Swallows seemed to be heading west as well, with most of the banks gone, leaving mainly barns, purple martins, and a few swifts. Our warbler count is now up to 17 for the season including a Northern Parula sighting from August 27 and today's new birds, Black-throated Blue and Wilson's warblers. Spotters also reported another Nashville sighting as well as a Canada along the cliff. Many thanks to all of today's spotters including visitors. Predictions: Looks like light N winds for Monday...and just a slight chance of a scattered shower. Not likely to bring as big a flight as today but almost certainly there will be some migrants on the move. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Dave Brown ([email protected]) Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch information may be found at: http://www.ezlink.on.ca/~thebrowns/HawkCliff/index.htm Directions to site: >From east 401, take the Highbury south cut off at London, follow Highbury (Hwy 30) south to St. Thomas. Highbury changes into South Edgeware at a large curve in the road to the west. Follow South Edgeware west to the first set of traffic lights - Burwell Road, turn left (south) and stay on this road. It becomes Fairview Ave (Regional Road 22), which runs directly into Hawk Cliff Road. You will see a sign for Hawkes Cliff Farm, where they sell fresh vegetables and a gravel road just beyond sign. Just continue down gravel road to viewing area. >From west 401, take the Highway # 4 (Colonel Talbot Rd.) exit south, through Talbotville, road now is Sunset Rd. continue towards St. Thomas; you will come to a veer in the road, straight up to St. Thomas, veer to the right for Port Stanley, follow Highway 4, now Sunset to Port Stanley. As you approach Port Stanley you will come to a large curve in the road with a sign saying East St, to the left. Take East St., and follow it to the first road left, (opposite Port Stanley Water Tower) Dexter Line. Follow Dexter Line approximately 2 km. and turn right down gravel road at Hawkes Cliff Farm, and follow gravel road to viewing area _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
