Holiday Beach Conservation Area Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 30, 2011 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 32 567 567 Osprey 4 155 155 Bald Eagle 0 145 145 Northern Harrier 6 382 382 Sharp-shinned Hawk 200 6814 6814 Cooper's Hawk 7 355 355 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 1 42494 42494 Red-tailed Hawk 1 74 74 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 1 1 American Kestrel 114 1466 1466 Merlin 7 87 87 Peregrine Falcon 4 38 38 Unknown Accipiter 1 12 12 Unknown Buteo 0 5 5 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 1 5 5 Unknown Raptor 0 8 8 Swainson's Hawk 0 1 1 Total: 378 52609 52609 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 06:30:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 9.5 hours Official Counter: Stephen Kolbe Observers: Visitors: Two visitors today, one of whom was kind enough to let me release a hatch year female Merlin! Weather: Crazy weather today! Temperatures today reached 13 degrees before dropping to 9 at the end of the count. Heavy clouds for the majority of the day, but they did begin to break up during the last few hours. Very windy conditions, with light west winds quickly being replaced by northwest winds gusting up to as high as 48 km/hr. After I thought the winds had died down enough in the late afternoon, a rogue gust took my scope for a ride down to the bottom of the tower; the scope is (thankfully) fine but the tripod has seen better days. Raptor Observations: This Day of Research was sponsored by Mr. Stephen Wagner of Milford, Ohio. A pretty interesting day for migrating raptors. American Kestrels were going by at a nice pace along with Sharp-shinned Hawks before the winds really picked up. The hardy (and less numerous) migrants that decided to brave the howling winds were tossed around like mad. Raptors first detected well to the north at the base of the point would eventually cross the plane of the tower along the south beach. Not suprisingly, almost all birds were very low, and quite a few passed below tower height. Today I had the much sought after American Kestrel, Merlin, and Peregrine Falcon in one binocular field (aka The Cape May). Additionally, a young female Peregrine provided entertainment as she hunted up and down the coast for more than an hour. At one point, I was sure she was about to take an immature male Sharp-shinned Hawk, but at the last second he noticed her and dropped straight down to avoid becoming breakfast. Non-raptor Observations: A few non-raptors around, but the high winds made detection difficult. Notable was the large number of Chimney Swifts on the move, with a (conservative) count of 614. Blue Jays (3220) for the most part took the day off because of the heavy winds. Pied-billed Grebe 20, Double-crested Cormorant 75, Great Blue Heron 15, Great Egret 3, Mute Swan 90, Canada Goose 66, Wood Duck 30, Green-winged Teal 10, American Black Duck 3, Mallard 300, Northern Pintail 51, Blue-winged Teal 130, Northern Shoveler 2, American Wigeon 28, Redhead 3, American Coot 200, Killdeer 2, Greater Yellowlegs 2, Spotted Sandpiper 1, Pectoral Sandpiper 2, Ring-billed Gull 100, Herring Gull 25, Caspian Tern 27, Rock Pigeon 14, Mourning Dove 1, Chimney Swift 614, Belted Kingfisher 1, Downy Woodpecker 1, Northern Flicker 2, Tree Swallow 70, Northern Rough-winged Swallow 10, Blue Jay 3220, American Crow 5, Black-capped Chickadee 2, Carolina Wren 1, American Robin 1, Gray Catbird 2, European Starling 2000, Nashville Warbler 1, Cape May Warbler 1, Magnolia Warbler 1, Yellow-rumped Warbler 2, American Redstart 1, Wilsons Warbler 1, Northern Cardinal 4, White-throated Sparrow 1, Red-winged Blackbird 20, American Goldfinch 203. Monarch 2. Predictions: Partly cloudy skies with clearing later in the day. Chilly. Winds N at 10-15 km/hr. Slight chance of rain. Sounds pretty good. Lets hope for a few breaks of sun, and we could see lots of migrants! ======================================================================== Report submitted by Stephen Kolbe ([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 [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
