Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch
Port Stanley, Ontario, Canada
Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 15, 2013
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
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Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 0 0 0
Osprey 8 54 61
Bald Eagle 0 36 36
Northern Harrier 24 81 86
Sharp-shinned Hawk 39 1613 1618
Cooper's Hawk 0 11 11
Northern Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0
Broad-winged Hawk 12 10554 10554
Red-tailed Hawk 0 17 17
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 0 0
American Kestrel 15 510 523
Merlin 5 26 26
Peregrine Falcon 1 5 5
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 1 1 1
Total: 105 12908 12938
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Observation start time: 07:00:00
Observation end time: 16:00:00
Total observation time: 9 hours
Official Counter: Jennifer Lyon
Observers: Derek Lyon, Jason McGuire, Jim Dunn, Mark Cunningham,
Mary Carnahan
Visitors:
At the mound counting: Jen & Derek, Jason, Mark, Rose, Gord Kozak, Mary,
Jim D. A lot of visitors with too many to note here. Thanks to all who
helped with today's count...even if I MISSED the Swainson's Hawk!! :)
Weather:
Started out with partly sunny skies then by midday, it became overcast with
complete cloud coverage. Temp to a high of 18C where is remained steady for
the day. Winds were moderate to light from the SW.
Raptor Observations:
A much smaller flight today with a total of just 105 birds. Some nice low
views of 3 Harriers at once over the Elm, all appeared to be juvies. Birds
from then on were not abundant but were mostly low giving excellent views.
and we were rewarded with a peregrine coming up along the lake, flying
along steady as a rock...much enjoyed by the counters.
Then, late in the day, as the counters were patiently watching an adult
male harrier while it hunted in the north end of the field, we watched a
bird approach quickly from Sharpie Alley. At about 20 meters, what we
thought was going to be the harrier, banked to show definitely NOT what we
were expecting. Definite heavy streaking on the underside of the body,
dark streaking on the sides of the throat...it quickly went though the line
of trees, across the road and into the next field. 2 of the counters ran
to the end of the road to watch the bird fly away along the lake towards
Port Stanley. 1 counter followed the bird in their car to try to catch up
to it again and succeeded. Based on this, it was all agreed that we had,
ourselves, a juvenile SWAINSON'S HAWK. Fantastic! It was viewed again by
1 of the counters jumping in their car and finding it again overhead
further west on the road into Port Stanley.
Then as an end to this slow starting but definitely great day, an adult
male Merlin in the last hour came from behind the counters to sit in the
"Merlin tree" across the field and continually hunted and re-perched for a
good 15 minutes.
Non-raptor Observations:
There wasn't much action in the shrubs and trees today although observers
did find a few highlights. 2 very young Eastern Towhees were seen way down
low in shrubs near the cliff/ Red-eyed Vireos, Catbirds and Cedar Waxwings
were also seen near the cliff, and one observer found 3 Warbler species
along the path leading from the parking area to the Cliff, including Black
& White, American Redstart and Nashville.
Similarly there wasn't much to report on the insect front with Monarch
sightings way down. HOwever, one of the monarch taggers found a Fawn
Darner (dragonfly) perched on a weed stalk in one of the monarch fields.
Predictions:
Monday may well be THE BIG DAY given predicted moderate N to NE winds with
clouds and some sunny breaks.
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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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