Holiday Beach Conservation Area Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 08, 2013 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 365 806 4418 Osprey 1 11 68 Bald Eagle 4 25 248 Northern Harrier 18 34 253 Sharp-shinned Hawk 46 309 4820 Cooper's Hawk 23 83 335 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 18 Broad-winged Hawk 0 2 48628 Red-tailed Hawk 14 27 394 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 2 American Kestrel 10 172 1062 Merlin 1 10 70 Peregrine Falcon 0 9 29 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 Gyrfalcon 0 1 1 Mississippi Kite 0 0 1 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 7 Total: 482 1489 60361 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 15:30:00 Total observation time: 8.5 hours Official Counter: Todd Pepper Observers: Carol Pitts, Ed Pitts, Jim McCoy, Larry Ludwicki Visitors: Cathy and Jim from Cleveland stopped in for a couple hours after birding Point Pelee yesterday. Gary & Pixie from Chattanooga, Tennessee made a round about stop coming to us from Hawk Ridge in Duluth, Minnesotta before heading back home. Weather: Not a cloud in the sky all day, which made it hard on the eyes for raptor counting. The temperature ranged from 11.6 - 21.4C. The winds were out of the West for the 6 hours of the count and then shifted to the South-East. The winds were light all day from 2 - 8 km/hr Raptor Observations: I thought there might be a build up of raptors ready to migrate after yesterday's strong winds, but that was not the case. We had a total of 482 raptors, 75% of which were TV's. No big highlights, but the Bald Eagles just keep coming with 4 more today. Non-raptor Observations: The Blue Jays that wanted to fly yesterday started flying first thing this a.m. and were still flying as the raptor count closed for the day with a total of 6,686 Jays counted. "Blackbirds" started strong in the a.m., but the rush only lasted 2 hours. In that time we counted: 472 European Starlings; 974 Red-winged Blackbirds; 34 Rusty Blackbirds; and, 1 Common Grackle. Monarchs - 27 Predictions: A repeat of today, sunny, temperature ranging from 9 - 19C, however, winds are forecasted to be out of the SE all day in the 10-15 km/hr range. ======================================================================== 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
