Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch Port Stanley, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 28, 2011 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 0 134 136 Osprey 15 119 134 Bald Eagle 1 99 99 Northern Harrier 18 431 464 Sharp-shinned Hawk 96 5045 5078 Cooper's Hawk 3 46 46 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 0 72221 72254 Red-tailed Hawk 0 21 24 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 64 2545 2643 Merlin 4 43 53 Peregrine Falcon 4 16 16 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: 205 80721 80948 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 06:00:00 Observation end time: 14:00:00 Total observation time: 8 hours Official Counter: Colin Horstead Observers: Alf Rider, Don Taylor, Kathy, Keith Sealy, Mary Carnahan Visitors: A couple of visitors...Al and Kim Mitchell (London) who joined the counters on an interesting day. Counters today were Colin, Don, Mary, Keith, Alf and Kathy...thanks folks for a really good count on what is normally a rotten wind. :) Weather: Variable winds to begin...then switching to SE and light right to strong and then back again light from S. Cloud cover was complete to start then slowly breaking out to about 50%...and temps ranged from 15C to 20C. Raptor Observations: The total for today's flight was 205...and what's interesting was how consistent each hour's count was ... 3 25 25 29 27 30 32 34 respectively....with species totals Osprey (15), Bald Eagle (1), Harriers (18) Sharpies (96), Coopers (3), Kestrels (64), Merlin (4) and the highlight Peregrine (4). Of these, 3 passed right along the cliff and the 4th was just inland of the cliff. All were adult birds. Non-raptor Observations: There was good warbler watching again this morning near Sharpie Alley and at the Cliff, with 12 species reported. Blackpoll is still the predominant species, but the highlights were 2 Wilson's a Northern Parula and a Common Yellowthroat. A cliffside walk yielded a Green Heron, Belted Kingfisher, 15 Cedar Waxwings and a very fresh-looking Hackberry Emperor (butterfly) among the weeds. Viewed from the mound this morning were a few Canada Geese and Mallards. Also 1 Killdeer and a few Ruby-throated Hummingbirds were detected among the 6000 departing Blue Jays which flew both high and low, sometimes with flocks of Goldfinches even higher above. For the second day in a row, the Jays were spread out across the sky and could be seen from north of the ravine right down to the mound and sometimes even closer to the cliff. Hundreds stopped for a rest in trees at the end of the west end of the pond path, right along the cliff. The Blue Jay flight usually begins shortly after dawn, so around 6:30 (EST) today. Monarch Butterflies were definitely making a break for it this morning and the flight continued into the early afternoon at a rate of about 400 per hour, based on a count taken before 9:00 AM (EST). Predictions: Well...with winds predicted to be moderate from the SW...and given the few Peregrines that passed through today...I would think tomorrow should bring several more. ======================================================================== 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/
