Holiday Beach Conservation Area Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 27, 2013 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 386 3296 3296 Osprey 0 55 55 Bald Eagle 7 223 223 Northern Harrier 2 217 217 Sharp-shinned Hawk 127 4364 4364 Cooper's Hawk 3 236 236 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 18 18 Broad-winged Hawk 6 48624 48624 Red-tailed Hawk 15 358 358 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 2 2 American Kestrel 18 873 873 Merlin 0 60 60 Peregrine Falcon 1 18 18 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0 Unknown Buteo 6 6 6 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 1 1 Mississippi Kite 0 1 1 Swainson's Hawk 0 7 7 Total: 571 58359 58359 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 9 hours Official Counter: Todd Pepper Observers: Cindy Cartwright, Olga Klekner, Roland Klekner Visitors: A busy day today as we hosted a class from Elder Hostel College and 20 Ontario Field Ornithology members out an a guided hike with HBMO member Cindy Cartwright. Brent & Jeremy from Chatham also came out for a couple hours this morning, although their hope of photographing raptors was dashed given the height they were flying. Colin & Hilda who were on the OFO tour in the afternoon also came out in the morning in hopes of "padding" their OFO tour list. Weather: Another bright sunny day after the fog burned off. Winds were generally out of the N between 2 and 8 km/hr and temperatures ranged between 12 and 23C. Raptor Observations: A total of 571 raptors of 10 species. It was tough counting today as most of the raptors were very high up at the cloud line (approximately 27,000 ft). Every day now we are setting a new record for Bald Eagles and another 7 flew over us today. Non-raptor Observations: A big thank you to Cindy Carthwright and Olga & Roland Klekner for assisting and covering for me today. It was a fairly quiet day for passerines except for Blue Jays that numbered 7,312. Cedar Waxwing and American Goldfinch are still passing through in good numbers at 40 and 228 birds respectively. 24 Monarchs today. Predictions: It is becoming like the movie Groundhog Day as tomorrow is going to be like the last 3 days, sunny, temperatures between 13 and 24C; however, the winds are supposed to be out of the SE tomorrow. It could be a quiet raptor day. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Todd Pepper ([email protected]) Holiday Beach Conservation Area information may be found at: http://hbmo.ca/ Site Description: Holiday Beach Conservation Area was formerly a Provincial Park, but is now administered by the Essex Region Conservation Authority (ERCA). It is strategically located at the extreme southwestern tip of southern Ontario. The park is on the eastern end of a large freshwater estuary known as Big Creek. (Specifically the site is 1.1 miles south of the junction Highway 20 (old 18) and Essex Road 50, Town of Amherstburg). Southwestern Ontario has a funneling effect on migrating raptors due to the geography of the nearby lakes and the reluctance of most raptors to cross large bodies of water. Birds gain altitude over the flat farmland to the north and east, rising easily with the thermals that such areas provide in abundance. As the birds head south they meet Lake Erie and, reluctant to cross it , turn west. With appropriate wind and weather conditions, birds pile up along the lake shore and move west until they reach the narrow crossing at the Detroit River (or island hop within the river mouth). _______________________________________________ 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
