Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch
Port Stanley, Ontario, Canada
Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 04, 2012
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
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Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 281 1540 24429
Osprey 0 0 193
Bald Eagle 1 20 202
Northern Harrier 6 24 720
Sharp-shinned Hawk 58 197 8010
Cooper's Hawk 23 66 247
Northern Goshawk 5 11 15
Red-shouldered Hawk 232 467 611
Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 37168
Red-tailed Hawk 813 3063 4400
Rough-legged Hawk 1 4 11
Golden Eagle 43 103 109
American Kestrel 1 7 2928
Merlin 1 1 81
Peregrine Falcon 0 0 117
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: 1465 5503 79241
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Observation start time: 07:00:00
Observation end time: 15:00:00
Total observation time: 8 hours
Official Counter: Chris Burris, Dave Brown, Mac McAlpine
Observers: Carol Parafenko, Ches Caister, Chris Burris, Dave Brown,
Dave Verkley, Fran Rew, Jacques Giraud, Jim Dunn,
Jim Landau, Karen Landau, Keith Sealy, Mac McAlpine,
Maris Apse, Mark Cunningham, Mary Carnahan, Paul Thomas,
Tom Stewart, Wayne Parnall
Visitors:
Lots of visitors again today...and I tried to get all of today's volunteers
listed in the report. Good to see Jim and Karen Landau and Fran Rew able to
make it up from south of Buffalo to enjoy a good flight of Goldens. :)
Thanks to everyone for their assistance spotting and tallying the
birds...it was difficult at times with birds spread across the sky and no
definite flight line.
Weather:
Hmmm...sometimes I wonder about the forecasts...as what was supposed to be
a day with lots of sun proved anything but!
Still, the humidity began to drop and soon the birds were on the move
beneath some fairly heavy overcast. Winds hung in nicely from the N and
then NNW. Temp only got to a high of 4C.
Raptor Observations:
Well...it started and ended slowly...but the middle of the day was great
with another 1,465 birds tallied. Best birds of the day....another "whack"
of Golden Eagles (43) which really impressed today's visitors! We also had
a number of Goshawks (5) with two that passed right over the counters and
observers...and all of these were young birds.
We had a good run of Redtails (813) and another excellent count of
Red-shoulders (232)...but by midday we started to notice a drop in the
flight...and realized that birds were disappearing up into the cloud deck
(which means we likely missed birds passing over us but out of our sight).
Other species seen...TVx(281 - their numbers have definitely started to
drop off), a lone immature Bald Eagle, N. Harriers (6), Sharpies (58), Cops
(23)...a single dark Roughleg seen right down near the lake, a Kestrel and
a Merlin were the only falcons for the day.
Non-raptor Observations:
Another day of overflights by several passerines...with White-wingeed
Crossbills (2 flocks), Eastern Bluebirds (several), a good sized flock of
Purple Finch, at least one smaller flock of Common Redpolls and more
Evening Grosbeaks in a single flock. A couple of Horned Grebes were just
slightly offshore...along with flights of BH cowbirds, RW Blackbirds, C.
Grackles and a single Killdeer. Also observed at a distance was a flock of
dark waterfowl that may have been Brant headed directly out to the lake.
Predictions:
Monday looks (accordint to the forecasts) to be a bit sunnier...with
moderate NE winds. It will be interesing to see if there's still some good
birds in the pipeline.
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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/
