Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch
Port Stanley, Ontario, Canada
Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 24, 2011
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
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Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 49 98 100
Osprey 3 95 110
Bald Eagle 6 90 90
Northern Harrier 10 372 405
Sharp-shinned Hawk 526 4404 4437
Cooper's Hawk 4 41 41
Northern Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0
Broad-winged Hawk 305 72175 72208
Red-tailed Hawk 7 21 24
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 0 0
American Kestrel 105 2318 2416
Merlin 2 33 43
Peregrine Falcon 0 11 11
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
Swainson's Hawk 0 1 1
Total: 1017 79659 79886
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Observation start time: 06:00:00
Observation end time: 15:00:00
Total observation time: 9 hours
Official Counter: Colin Horstead
Observers: Dave Verkley, Don Taylor, Jim Dunn, Keith Sealy,
Mary Carnahan, Ronnie Goodhand, Wayne Parnall
Visitors:
Thanks to the counters today...Colin, Jim, Mary, Wayne, Keith, Don T.,
Ronnie and Dave V....especially on a tough viewing day.
Weather:
Winds were variable and very light. Some cloud to start then slowly wearing
away till there were none making spotting birds difficult. Temp started at
11C and made it to 19C. No rain today.
Raptor Observations:
A better flight today with a total of 1,017 raptors. A bit of a surprise
were Broadwings (305)...with kettles starting around 9:00 am...and more
throughout the day. The bulk of the count was Sharpies (526)...along with
Kestrels (105), TV's (49), Osprey (3), Bald Eagles (6), Harriers (10),
Cooper's (4), Redtails (7) and Merlin (2).
Non-raptor Observations:
Observers braved another onslaught of "fish-flies" this morning and
generally avoided a few key areas for songbirds, e.g., anything too close
to trees, grasses, or bushes! However, there was good viewing early along
the road near Sharpie Alley, and about mid-morning, in the dogwood /
elderberry / buckthorn hollow on the west side about halfway between the
Alley and the mound. Highly visible were 6 Gray Catbirds, 2 Eastern
Towhees, a couple of White-Throated Sparrows, 2 Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds,
a few Cedar Waxwings, a Northern Cardinal and a Brown Thrasher. Other than
that, it was obvious that there were many small songbirds in this patch,
but they were a challenge to sort out. The situation was similar by late
morning in the patch just south of the parking area, along the path leading
to the edge of the Cliff. Eventually, observers (regulars and visitors)
managed to ID 15 species of Warblers noting that there were many Nashville,
1 Northern Parula, 2 Wilson's and a Pine among the many Blackpolls, etc.
that we have been seeing all week.
In addition, there was some Vireo action with Red-eyed and Philadelphia
spotted, plus Ruby-crowned Kinglets and a couple of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers.
Mixed with these species were a Least Flycatcher, an Eastern Wood-peewee,
a lot of Black-capped Chickadees, at least 3 Downy Woodpeckers, an Indigo
Bunting and a lot of other stuff that was just moving too fast, with too
much foliage left on the bushes. As the morning wore on, the mulberry tree
SOUTH of the parking area was a particular hotspot. A lone Killdeer was
reported later in the day.
Spotted from the mound this morning were Common Loon, Double-crested
Cormorant, and Canada Geese. A small flock of Wood Ducks was spotted from
the cliff. Today's Blue Jay count was 7500 and although the bulk of these
were seen in the early morning, the stream did continue until well into the
noonhour (EST).
Missed from yesterday's report was 1 Wilson's Snipe that flew right over
the mound.
Predictions:
Sunday looks like a nice enough day...but with moderate E winds the brids
will once again tend to pass at higher altitudes...so hopefully there'll be
more cloud cover than today.
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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 [email protected]
For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
