Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch Port Stanley, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 10, 2013 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 692 3530 4985 Osprey 0 8 121 Bald Eagle 8 22 137 Northern Harrier 3 47 327 Sharp-shinned Hawk 57 196 4584 Cooper's Hawk 0 9 53 Northern Goshawk 0 0 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 6 7 14 Broad-winged Hawk 0 3 59365 Red-tailed Hawk 20 31 85 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 2 2 American Kestrel 3 91 1537 Merlin 2 4 56 Peregrine Falcon 0 55 77 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: 791 4005 71346 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 6 hours Official Counter: Mary Carnahan Observers: Alf Rider, Dave Verkley, Michael Sandell Visitors: Many thanks to Dave Verkley, Michael Sandell and Alf Rider for their assistance today...and to Mary C. for today's report. We had many visitors at the Cliff this morning, too many to get names. In the absence of abundant, low-flying raptors, many went looking for DBs (i.e. "dickey birds"). Weather: It was a lovely fall day, warm in the sun, with a little high cirrus cloud in the sky, but not much. However, it was better than yesterday for staring up at the sky looking for birds Definitely NOT a peregrine day, although there were certainly birds on the move. The flight was quite high today making spotting birds difficult. Winds were light to moderate ENE initially then swung round to E for the remainder of the count period. Temp got to a high of 18C. Raptor Observations: Birds were migrating through today with a total of 791 tallied. However, some 88% of the flight for the day was Turkey Vultures (692) many which passed over quite a ways up. Other species were migrating with them including Bald Eagles (8), Northern Harriers (3), Sharpies (57), Kestrels (3) and a couple of Merlins. As for Buteos...there were some Redtails counted (20) and a few more Red-shouldered Hawks (6). Non-raptor Observations: Observers on the knoll reported a few highlights today, notably a couple of flocks of Killdeer flying along the Cliff. Also flying along the Cliff was a small flock of Mallards; Canada Geese were loafing on the beach below. Like the raptors, most Gulls were flying high today. At the north end of the field, observers could see a few Blue Jays flying westward from time to time, but there was no significant migration today, at least not at our location. As well, a few flocks of European Starlings were seen migrating in the earlier part of the morning. Red-winged Blackbirds seem to be settling into the field and treeline just north of the ravine and a number of Crows flew back and forth across the ravine for most of the morning. Across from and beside the knoll were many Yellow-rumped Warblers; Blackpoll, Palm and Black-throated Green and Common Yellowthroat were also seen. In addition were Yellow-bellied Sapsucker & Red-bellied Woodpecker, Eastern Phoebe, Black-capped Chickadee, Brown Creeper, Winter Wren, Gray Catbird, both Kinglets, Northern Cardinal, American Goldfinch, White-throated & Song Sparrow. Later on, Pileated Woodpecker and Northern Flicker were spotted at the B & B. Monarchs continued their westward trek today and a few other butterflies were seen including a Common Buckeye, spotted at the B&B. Predictions: Almost certainly more of the same for Friday with lots of sun and light to moderate ENE winds predicted. ======================================================================== 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
