Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch
Port Stanley, Ontario, Canada
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 28, 2011
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
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Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 2485 37336 37494
Osprey 1 46 189
Bald Eagle 7 88 187
Northern Harrier 14 611 1097
Sharp-shinned Hawk 138 7792 13041
Cooper's Hawk 15 348 397
Northern Goshawk 3 17 17
Red-shouldered Hawk 474 597 597
Broad-winged Hawk 0 764 73020
Red-tailed Hawk 950 1625 1649
Rough-legged Hawk 1 7 7
Golden Eagle 68 130 130
American Kestrel 0 2364 5086
Merlin 1 90 148
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: 4157 51830 133098
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Observation start time: 08:00:00
Observation end time: 15:00:00
Total observation time: 7 hours
Official Counter: Colin Horstead
Observers: Bill Smith, Ches Caister, Clive Hodder, Dave Sked,
Dave Verkley, Jim Dunn, Kathy, Mac McAlpine, Mary Carnahan,
Matt Oswald, Mike Nelson, Mike Street, Tom Bolohan,
Tom Stewart
Visitors:
A couple of visitors today...sisters Leah (Montreal) and Tina (Kitchener)
Den-Besten and others whose names weren't reported.
A BIG thankyou to the many counters and observers today...Colin, Matt,
Dave V., Ches, Mary, Tom B., Mac, Jim, Dave Sked, Clive H., Mike N., Mike
S., Bill S., Tom S. and Kathy....just wish I was there myself. :)
Weather:
Winds were completely calm to start then slowly picked up from the
NE...then continued light from the SW and finally swung right round to the
south. Cloud cover was anywhere from 30% in the morning to a 95%...with
lots of broken cloud and sunshine. Temps ranged from a cool 5C to 10C as
the high. There actually was the first frost on the ground in the Port
Stanley area this morning.
Raptor Observations:
What a great day of hawkwatching! It was Golden Mania...the Golden Eagles
put on a real show today with a new 1-HOUR RECORD of 29...and a new 1-DAY
RECORD of 68...an amazing count! At one point there were 8 in the sky at
the same time...5 in one view of the binoculars! Within a 10 minute span
there were 15 GEs tallied...much to the delight of the visitors and
counters.
The total count for today was 4,157....with a large number of
buteos...Redtails (950) and Red-shoulders (474) and a lone dark morph
Roughleg. Lots of kettles of just buteos which was a nice change from the
multidtudes of TVs this past couple of weeks.
Other species...a single Osprey, Bald Eagle (7), Harriers (14), Sharpies
(138), Cooper's (15), N. Goshawks (3) and a single Merlin...our only falcon
for the day.
The TVs were still moving through in good numbers (2,485)..but at a lower
flight height than the buteos.
Non-raptor Observations:
Very large flocks of mixed Blackbirds, composed of Red-winged and Rusty
Blackbirds as well as Brown-headed Cowbirds flew overhead throughout the
first half of the morning. Many large flocks of American Crows and European
Starlings also passed overhead, some stopping over in the woods on the west
side of Hawk Cliff Rd, adding their notes to the ongoing Robin chorus. In
addition, 100 + Cedar Waxwings filled the trees on either side of the road
from the Cliff to the gate just north of the observation knoll. Sparrows
(many Song and White-throated plus an American Tree Sparrow), several
Hermit Thrush and a few Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglets were busy
in the bushes and weeds on the south and west sides of the bean field.
Downy Woodpeckers seemed to be active everywhere, while a couple of
Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers worked the line of willows north of Sharpie
Alley, and early hawkwatchers found the resident male Pileated Woodpecker
in the dead tree right at the mound.
Bluebirds were both vocal and visible near the Cliff, at the B&B, and
sunning on wires along Dexter Ln on the way to Port Stanley. Other
non-raptor species noted at the B&B were Horned Larks, American Pipits and
Killdeer.
Predictions:
Not a particularly promising forecast for Saturday...but if the rain holds
off there will likely be birds that will continue to push through. Sunday
is looking a bit better...though the winds still aren't that favourable.
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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/
