Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch
Port Stanley, Ontario, Canada
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 25, 2011
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
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Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 219 32331 32489
Osprey 0 43 186
Bald Eagle 0 71 170
Northern Harrier 2 552 1038
Sharp-shinned Hawk 216 7418 12667
Cooper's Hawk 2 308 357
Northern Goshawk 0 10 10
Red-shouldered Hawk 0 45 45
Broad-winged Hawk 0 764 73020
Red-tailed Hawk 0 330 354
Rough-legged Hawk 0 2 2
Golden Eagle 0 36 36
American Kestrel 7 2343 5065
Merlin 0 85 143
Peregrine Falcon 0 15 38
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: 446 44353 125621
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Observation start time: 08:00:00
Observation end time: 15:00:00
Total observation time: 5 hours
Official Counter: Colin Horstead
Observers: Kathy, Mark Cunningham, Mary Carnahan, Mike Nelson,
Murray Larmour, Rebecca Vile, Remy Pokraka,
Ronnie Goodhand
Visitors:
No visitors today. Thanks to Colin, Murray, Remy P., Mark, Mike N., Mary,
Ronnie, Rebecca, Kathy and Tim for sticking with it today to complete the
count.
Weather:
Not the prettiest day for hawkwatching...with overcast skies and the odd
shower and quite a bit colder. Winds were calm for the first 3 hours and
then picked up from the SW and eventually going round to NE. Temp ranged
from 8C to 11C but felt much colder with the wind.
Raptor Observations:
The flight was actually pretty good given the weather...total was 446. The
bulk of the fligth was TVs (219)....with almost the same in Sharpies (216),
Harriers (2), Cooper's (2) and Kestrels (7).
The flight height was never very high...and no buteus moved due largely to
the lack of thermals.
Non-raptor Observations:
Even with gloomy skies, poor light and occasional showers, non-raptor
species were very busy throughout the day. Birdsong, predominantly Robins
and Starlings, was almost continuous until about mid-afternoon. Highlights
of today's sightings included Brown Creeper, many Golden-crowned Kinglets
(and noticeably fewer Ruby-crowned than over the past week), multiples of
Blue-headed Vireo, a couple of Gray Catbirds and 4 Common Loons. The only
warbler species noted today was Yellow-rumped Warbler.
6 species of Woodpecker were spotted today including Red-bellied, Downy,
Hairy and Pileated as well as Northern Flicker and Yellow-bellied
Sapsucker. In addition we had 5 species of Sparrow; White-throated were
the most numerous, with good numbers of Song and White-crowned, and one
each of Swamp and Chipping.
There were still a few Monarch Butterflies trying to make it across the
tobacco field in the latter part of the morning.
Predictions:
If the rain passes through and clears a bit before sunrise...then the rest
of the day they've predicted moderate NE winds but cloudy. There may be
more Sharpies and other accipiters on the move...but unless there are some
breaks in the clouds I would suspect there won't be many in the air
tomorrow.
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Report submitted by Dave Brown (thebro...@ezlink.on.ca)
Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch information may be found at:
http://www.ezlink.on.ca/~thebrowns/HawkCliff/index.htm
_______________________________________________
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Send bird reports to birdalert@ontbirds.ca
For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
