Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch Port Stanley, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 23, 2013 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 369 369 369 Osprey 7 85 92 Bald Eagle 27 98 98 Northern Harrier 36 203 208 Sharp-shinned Hawk 290 3883 3888 Cooper's Hawk 6 40 40 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 3 3 Broad-winged Hawk 2637 58640 58640 Red-tailed Hawk 10 37 37 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 158 1293 1306 Merlin 3 49 49 Peregrine Falcon 1 12 12 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 2 2 Total: 3544 64714 64744 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 8 hours Official Counter: Jim Dunn Observers: Eric Single, Ernie Gribble, Mary Carnahan, Tom Bolohan Visitors: Thanks to all the spotters and visitors for their help spotting high! High! Raptors....Jim Dunn, Mary Carnahan, Ernie Gribble, Kirk & Kathy Mitchel and especially Eric (with Molly) and Tom Bolahan with their hi-power bins to spot and count high kettles of Broadwings Weather: Today saw winds swing from light NNW through moderate N, ENE and finally E. Temp started at 8C reaching a high of 15C by midday. With the high pressure sitting over the region the humidity was much lower today which resulted in a decrease in cloud cover as the day wore on. Raptor Observations: The total birds tallied for today's flight was 3,544. The majority of this flight was made up of Broadwings (2,637) showing there are a few still in the pipeline! Typical for this point in the season we saw decent numbers of Sharpies (290) and Kestrels (158). There was also a good movement of Bald Eagles (27) and N. Harrier (36)...and smaller numbers of Osprey (7), Cooper's Hawks (6), Redtails (10) and for falcons a few Merlins (3) and a single Peregrine. We also saw the start of an obvious movement of Turkey Vultures with a total of 369 tallied for the day. Non-raptor Observations: It was a fine day for birding at Hawk Cliff with many songbirds on both sides of the road from the ravine all the way to the lake. Many thanks to Ernie Gribble for his contribution to today's list of 50 species including 3 New Species for this season: Blue-headed Vireo, Orange-crowned Warbler and Golden-crowned Kinglet. To start, Eastern Bluebirds were again seen on the wires along Fairview Rd near Roberts Ln. and the mob of European Starlings hanging around the corner of Dexter and Hawk Cliff Rd seems to be growing. As well, there were many Blue Jays near Sharpie Alley and in the ravine, sneaking from tree to tree. All the way down the road, folks could see songbirds flying from one side to the other, both high at canopy level and low close to the road. Brown Thrashers were seen running across the road and Grey Catbirds crossing so low they might as well have been running. A walk up to Sharpie Alley produced a number of Sparrow sightings, mostly Song but also many White-throated, in addition to both species of Kinglet, and quite a few Warblers. A few Ruby-throated Hummingbirds could be seen in jewelweed, but the day's total was fewer than 20 including those spotted from the knoll. In addition to the Orange-crowned, which seen in the "low spot" about half-way between the knoll and Sharpie Alley, observers found 14 species of warbler, mostly the same ones we have been seeing for several days. Other sightings long the road included many Red-eyed Vireos, a single Warbling Vireo, a couple of Philadelphia Vireos and a Blue-headed Vireo. Ruby-crowned Kinglets were everywhere but the Golden-crowned Kinglets were mainly seen across from Sharpie Alley. Rose-breasted Grosbeak were seen there as well. Back at the knoll flocks of American Goldfinches and one small flock of Red-winged Blackbirds were seen flying over the field. As well, a Pileated Woodpecker that had been heard and seen lurking in the treeline farther up the road perched in the locust trees directly across from the knoll and chattered for a while. Downy and Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Northern Flickers and 2 Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers were also seen today. As the day warmed up, butterflies began to appear in the fields and weed patches, mainly Cabbage White and Orange Sulphur. A few Monarchs were seen crossing the field and 1 Red Admiral flew between observers on the knoll about mid-afternoon. ======================================================================== 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 including how to unsubscribe visit http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdssetup
