Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch
Port Stanley, Ontario, Canada
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 08, 2011
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
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Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 181 9460 9618
Osprey 0 36 179
Bald Eagle 0 40 139
Northern Harrier 4 394 880
Sharp-shinned Hawk 117 5360 10609
Cooper's Hawk 15 206 255
Northern Goshawk 0 4 4
Red-shouldered Hawk 1 20 20
Broad-winged Hawk 0 761 73017
Red-tailed Hawk 17 205 229
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 5 13 13
American Kestrel 9 2255 4977
Merlin 2 46 104
Peregrine Falcon 1 11 34
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 0 1
Total: 352 18811 100079
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Observation start time: 07:00:00
Observation end time: 15:00:00
Total observation time: 8 hours
Official Counter: Colin Horstead
Observers: Dave Brown, Derek Lyon, Jan Niewiadomski, Jennifer Lyon,
Jesse Pakkala, Keith Sealy, Mike Kirchin, Ronnie Goodhand,
Tom Stewart
Visitors:
Some visitors today including Mike Noville (Buffalo, NY) and Ann
(Sarnia)...thanks to them and the counters and other observers....Colin,
Jen and Derek Lyon, Dave B., Ronnie, Keith, Mike K., Jan N., Tom S and
Jesse P.
Weather:
Another cloudless sky with restricted visibility due to the heat ripples in
the air. Winds continued light from the S...backing slightly SW before
swinging back due S. Quite warm for October with a high of 24C.
Raptor Observations:
Another tough day of spotting birds in pure blue skies with no reference
points. The total for today was 352...again not bad for a day with light S
winds. Today's flight height was at the limit of naked eye viewing with
birds often appearing suddenly right overhead.
Surprisingly, we had 5 more Golden Eagles today. The 1st was spotted at
9:50 am and observed for 12 min before disappearing to the west. It should
be noted that it's difficult to age GE's at the best of times (for example
a bird that exhibits white patches in the wings is NOT necessarily a
juvenile bird). That said, this bird had a clean, even looking back edge to
the wings and a consistent dark colouration across the back and
upperwings...and was likely a juvenile.
The 2nd GE came into view at 10:10 am and was observed for 17 min as it
circled lazily just to our north. This bird appeared to be at least a
couple of years old with a pale mottled look across the upperwings and
flight feathers undergoing moult...though still exhibiting large patches of
white in the wings. The next 3 GE's also looked to be immature birds at
least a couple of years old...spotted at 11:05...11:50...and the last at
12:50. These birds all crossed pretty much just above tree level.
Non-raptor Observations:
A few Wood Ducks flying around the hawkwatch area..along with 3 Cormorants
that dropped down into a farmer's pond a couple of fields to the east.
Multiple E. Phoebes were spotted along with a couple of Brown Creepers.
Predictions:
More of the same....winds SE and lots of sun.
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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
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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/
