Holiday Beach Conservation Area Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 03, 2013 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 0 141 3753 Osprey 1 1 58 Bald Eagle 0 2 225 Northern Harrier 3 8 227 Sharp-shinned Hawk 71 141 4652 Cooper's Hawk 14 28 280 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 18 Broad-winged Hawk 0 2 48628 Red-tailed Hawk 0 6 373 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 2 American Kestrel 23 51 941 Merlin 0 2 62 Peregrine Falcon 1 4 24 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0 Unknown Buteo 0 0 6 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 1 Mississippi Kite 0 0 1 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 7 Total: 113 386 59258 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 14:30:00 Total observation time: 7.5 hours Official Counter: Todd Pepper Observers: Claude Radley, Larry Ludwicki Visitors: No visitors today, but thanks to Larry Ludwicki for counting Jays; and Nina Radley for cleaning the floors in the HBMO Office. Weather: A mostly cloudy day, although the predicted rain lasted all of 10 minutes and came just before Noon EST. Temperature ranged from 19 - 23C. Winds started out of the E, but then shifted S after 3 hours. Wind speeds only slightly exceeded 6 km/hr on a couple occassions. Raptor Observations: The rain, even though it only lasted for 10 minutes essentially shut down migration. A total of 113 raptors of 6 species were counted, with 71 being Sharp-shinned Hawk. We are starting to see more adult birds. Two of the 23 Kestrels, a male and a female, came in 5 times each to strafe the plastic owl on top of the flagpole. If I would have blinked I would have missed the Peregrine that rocketed over the trout pond and then the main marsh flying only a couple feet above the water. Non-raptor Observations: It was a fairly active non-raptor migration early in the morning, but it fizzled out after a couple hours, and also shut down after the short rain. Species observed today include the following: Killdeer-17; Sandpiper sp.-3; Caspian Tern-1; Ruby-throated Hummingbird-1; Northern Flicker-6; Blue Jay-3,217; Northern Rough-winged Swallow-48; Kinglets-45; European Starling-342; Yellow-rumped Warbler-25; Warbler sp.-126; White-throated Sparrow-1; Indigo Bunting-12; Red-winged Blackbird-252; Rusty Blackbird-26; American Goldfinch-89. We had the highest count so far this year for Monarch Butterflies at 57. Predictions: Hmmm! The forecast is for a mostly cloudy day with a 60% POP all day. The temperature is forecasted to be between 19 and 25C, so another humid day. SW winds are predicted in the a.m., shifting to S in the p.m. both up to 15 km/hr. Sharpies are about the only species that flew in those kind of conditions today. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Todd Pepper ([email protected]) Holiday Beach Conservation Area information may be found at: http://hbmo.ca/ Directions to site: 1. Entering Canada from Detroit at the Ambassador Bridge: After Canadian Customs you are on Huron Church Road leading to Highway 401 and Highway 3. Continue east through the construction to HOWARD AVENUE ROUTE 9 SOUTH. Turn RIGHT onto HOWARD ROUTE 9 and 'carefully' follow signs south TO ITS END at County Road 20. Turn RIGHT (west) on County Road 20. Continue west to intersection with Route 50 with Ure's Country Kitchen & Variety on the LEFT. Turn LEFT onto Route 50 south going 1.3 miles. Soon after the left curve on Route 50 is the entrance to the Holiday Beach Conservation Area on the RIGHT. Pay the daily vehicle fee of $10 at gate or at credit card reader. Continue to the Hawk Tower parking at the south end of the park. Park vehicle and walk to the Hawk Tower. 2. West bound on Routes 401 and 3: Take HOWARD AVENUE ROUTE 9 SOUTH. Continue with directions above. Bring with you birding gear: books, binocs, scopes, camera, hat or bill cap, insect repellent, sunscreen, folding chair, (drink and food during non-festival time). Dress for the weather. It is cooler near the lake. (You may purchase an annual pass and electronic fob at the Essex Region Conservation Area building, 360 Fairview W Essex, ON N8M 1Y3, Canada, 519-776-5209, erca.org.) PLEASE OBEY SPEED LIMITS! _______________________________________________ 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
