Hello there,
About 20 people congregated at Hawk Cliff today for our annual Golden Eagle day, and were not disappointed. As one might expect, owing to rather poor migration conditions over the last number of days, the birds were eager to go. And this day was perfect. For them and for our viewing. One of my best days at Hawk Cliff. Migrants were passing by starting at 8 am and continued past when I left after 4 pm. Mostly a steady stream from the cliff edge back up to the main paved road. We saw at least 20 Golden Eagles and if you check the Hawk Cliff report which will be posted later, I think the total will be near 50 across the viewing area. Some at very close range. There were maybe a dozen Bald Eagles noted and at least once an adult bald was next to a golden for good comparison. Other raptor migrants were in huge numbers, especially Redtails and Red-shouldered. One immature dark redtail was a nice sight. Turkey Vultures flew past in terrific numbers. There were numbers of accipiter, including many sharp-shinned and a scattering of Cooper's. Only a couple of N. Goshawk went by near the end of the day. As well, a few N. Harriers passed by. I know of only one Rough-legged Hawk seen by counters up north of the main paved road. A few Kestrels were reported too. Exact counts from the counters will be posted as I say in the Hawk Cliff Report. Ian and I and the others thank them for their great help with spotting the birds. Also noted were many species of passerines making their way past our viewing areas. Of note, Pine Siskin, Purple Finch, Evening Grosbeak, White-winged Crossbill were seen. There were several flocks of each. One grosbeak sat in a sumac posing for us. One flock of grosbeak had over 40 birds. Also a lot of Eastern Bluebirds were noted flying through, as well as numbers of Horned Lark, and A. Pipits, and a few Lapland Longspur, and Snow Buntings. Many blackbird sp. and goldfinches poured through. Crows moved through constantly. A Pileated Woodpecker was hanging about, and most saw the Hairy Woodpecker. A Red-bellied appeared later in the day. Other small birds such as chickadees and a few sparrow species were noted, but we were so busy viewing raptors, we didn't take much time to look for them. We had started down near the cliff, but owing to the wind not being too strong at that time, we moved up to "Sharpie alley", a dip which on many occasions has produced many birds flying through and that is where a lot of the action was today. We had heard that many eagles were passing through north of the paved road, so we tried over there too. Lots of movement through that way as well. We went to Port Stanley for a break, and noted nothing unusual at the beach or breakwall, except a few snow buntings. A couple of Yellow-rumped Warblers were in the weeds near the shore. At the Sewage Lagoons, many species of waterfowl were present, including hundreds of Ruddy Duck and groups of maybe 10 other species, including two Tundra Swan. Back over at Hawk Cliff, we set up again at "sharpie alley" and enjoyed some close views of birds as they winged past. That is when the goshawks and that dark redtail went through, but there was a steady stream of all sorts of birds coming all afternoon. Many of our group dispersed very pleased with the great day. Around 4 pm, I was talking to Ellen Smout, who had seen a Caspian Tern at Port Stanley Harbour and I rushed back to have a look. I couldn't relocate the bird, which she got pictures of when she was there, but did find a few Great Black-backed Gulls and one Lesser Black-backed. I also found a Red-necked Grebe off the East Beach. Again, thanks to those who braved the cool weather, but were rewarded with a great day of raptor watching. Pete Read, and for Ian Platt. _______________________________________________ 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/
