Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch
Port Stanley, Ontario, Canada
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 01, 2012
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
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Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 364 364 3755
Osprey 0 0 180
Bald Eagle 1 1 140
Northern Harrier 13 13 565
Sharp-shinned Hawk 114 114 5767
Cooper's Hawk 5 5 91
Northern Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 3
Broad-winged Hawk 1 1 37165
Red-tailed Hawk 22 22 393
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 0 1
American Kestrel 9 9 2753
Merlin 0 0 64
Peregrine Falcon 1 1 81
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
Total: 530 530 50958
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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: Jim Dunn, Kathy, Keith Sealy, Kirk Mitchell, Mary Carnahan,
Michael Sandell, Ronnie Goodhand
Visitors:
Thanks to everyone who helped with today's count...Michael, Ronnie, Jim,
Mary, Keith, Kathy and offical counter Colin.
Weather:
Light winds from the NW until 2 pm, then the wind quickly switched to S and
SE (this has been happening too much the last few days!. Temp got to a high
of 16C. There was decent cloud cover to start the day and it built as the
day progressed.
Raptor Observations:
The total for today's flight was 530 birds...with the bulk made up of TVs
(364). The lone Peregine of today was sighted passing over extremely
high...much like the ones from yesterday. Other species observed today
included Sharpies (114), Cooper's Hawks (5), N. Harriers (13), a lone
Broadwing along with a small flight of Redtails (22) and a few Kestrels
(9).
Non-raptor Observations:
Not much going on non-raptorwise during the first half of the day,
certainly nothing new was spotted. We had the usual Ruby- and
Golden-crowned Kinglets, Yellow-rumped warblers around the mound and flocks
of Blue Jays and Goldfinches moving across the field. As well, Nuthatches
seem to be on the move still, with many Red-breasted and a few
White-breasted seen in the woods and around the mound. Eastern Phoebes
were seen in the ravine as well as at the south end of Hawk Cliff Rd.
Woodpeckers were also spotted in both north and south locations with
Pileated seen early in the morning , Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers in the
willows throughout the morning and 2 very vocal and active Hairy
Woodpeckers found in the ravine around the noon hour. In the shrubbery
near the gate at the parking area were both Song and White-throated
Sparrows.
The woods yielded Chickadees, Kinglets (both species), Crows, Blue Jays
and an Eastern Towhee but other than Chipmunks, not much else. The
entrance to the woods, however, was alive with insects including 3 Fiery
and 1 Silver Spotted Skippers, Clouded and Orange Sulphurs, several
Mourning Cloaks and a few Cabbage Whites. From the mound, more Mourning
Cloaks were seen plus a couple of Monarchs and by mid morning, dragonflies
were out and about including Saddlebags, Darners and Meadwohawks.
Perhaps the most interestingnon-raptor event (at least from this
observer's perspective) was the total domination of the ravine by migratory
Blue Jays, their furtive movements through the ravine and the broad range
of their vocalizations. Some sounded like catbirds, others were clearly
imitating Red-tailed Hawks, while still others seemed content just to sound
like Blue Jays. Whatever their intent, the complexity and volume of their
sound was amazing.
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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
_______________________________________________
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/
