Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch Port Stanley, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 06, 2013 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 0 45 1500 Osprey 1 2 115 Bald Eagle 0 0 115 Northern Harrier 6 15 295 Sharp-shinned Hawk 5 48 4436 Cooper's Hawk 0 2 46 Northern Goshawk 0 0 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 1 8 Broad-winged Hawk 0 3 59365 Red-tailed Hawk 0 0 54 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 3 61 1507 Merlin 0 1 53 Peregrine Falcon 19 30 52 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 0 2 Total: 34 208 67549 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 09:30:00 Observation end time: 17:00:00 Total observation time: 7.25 hours Official Counter: Mary Carnahan, Su Ross-Redmond Observers: Jim Dunn, Shay Redmond Visitors: Thanks to the Mary and Jim for today's reports. Weather: Winds were moderate from the S to start and then let up a bit by the afternoon. Continued unsettled weather is not promoting any kind of major raptor movement at this point. There's still too much humidity in the air and winds from the wrong direction. Temp to a high of 21C. Raptor Observations: Not many birds actually migrating today...a total of just 34 tallied for the count period. Of course, it was a pleasant surprise that the majority were Peregrines! There were 19 of these speedsters in cruise mode along the cliff taking advantage of the updraft. Other species that were actually counted as migrants included a single Osprey, N. Harriers (6), Sharpies (5) and Kestrels (3). There were 18 TVs and an immature Bald Eagle kiting at the edge of the cliff above the bean field. Eventually the BE moved on towards the east while the TVs, one by one, abandoned their stationary fun in favour of moving back and forth along the cliff. A Sharp-shinned Hawk flew west shortly after 10:00 AM and was counted, but later returned and spent the rest of the day flying up and down the treeline on the east side of the field, (possibly trying to catch one of the many songbirds seen flying in and out of the trees) and thus was "discounted". Later, a Cooper's Hawk flew eastward from the treeline behind the mound and disappeared, possibly into the banding station. Although it was seen hunting several times, it did not fly back towards the west. For a brief moment both the Sharpie and the Coop were seen flying around behind the elm tree across from the observation mound. Non-raptor Observations: As in the past several days, lots of songbird activity was happening in the immediate vicinity of the observation knoll. Most of the activity was from Yellow-rumped warblers, although several other species were noted, especially Golden-crowned Kinglets and Chickadees. Other birds spotted near the mound were Song & White-throated Sparrow, House and Winter Wren, Downy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Eastern Towhee, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Gray Catbird, American Goldfinch and a pair of Belted Kingfishers, which flew west across the field, chattering all the way. About 40 Monarch Butterflies were seen today plus a few Cabbage Whites, Orange Sulphurs and a Common Sootywing. ======================================================================== 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
