Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch Port Stanley, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 24, 2013 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 972 16622 18077 Osprey 1 14 127 Bald Eagle 14 56 171 Northern Harrier 18 111 391 Sharp-shinned Hawk 279 1063 5451 Cooper's Hawk 7 57 101 Northern Goshawk 1 1 2 Red-shouldered Hawk 5 78 85 Broad-winged Hawk 0 4 59366 Red-tailed Hawk 88 492 546 Rough-legged Hawk 8 14 14 Golden Eagle 10 14 14 American Kestrel 1 113 1559 Merlin 0 6 58 Peregrine Falcon 0 74 96 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: 1404 18719 86060 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 14:00:00 Total observation time: 6 hours Official Counter: Mary Carnahan Observers: Dave Verkley, Jim Dunn, Mac McAlpine Visitors: Thanks to Mary, Jim, Mac and Dave V. for "chilling" at the hawkwatch and getting the count done for today's report. Weather: The day started out cold at 1C and calm with clear blue skies...very little cloud around. The wind picked up to strong from the W to at least 20 kph and wind chill was in effect. Cloud cover increased throughout the day to near 100% by 2.. P.M. Raptor Observations: Total birds tallied today was 1404...with the highlights the 10 Golden Eagles and the 8 Roughlegs. Early we had some great looks at ROUGHIES and male HARRIERS and 1 Golden at the mound. Mary caught sight of an adult GOSHAWK streaking across the field at cornstalk level. Real good look in great light since this was to the north of the observation mound. Soon the flight line shifted northward. At the B&B, the counters got great looks at Golden Eagles as they fought the strong West wind. Jim got some nice pics of several birds with excellent light. Non-raptor Observations: Viewed from the observation knoll this morning were flocks of a variety of birds including Horned Larks, Am. Pipits, Starlings, Red-winged Blackbirds, Crows, Am. Goldfinch and Eastern Bluebirds. Also spotted from the knoll was a flock of Sandhill Cranes. Species found in the vicinity were Brown Creeper, White-throated and Song Sparrow, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Northern Flicker, Downy Woodpecker, and Winter Wren. In addition, a walk up the road produced many more Yellow-rumps and White-throats as well as Red-bellied Woodpecker, Black-capped Chickadee, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Am. Robin and Hermit Thrush. At the B&B were flocks of Killdeer and many more Crows, which sometimes made counting TVs a bit of a challenge. Blue Jays were found in both locations, but no migrating flocks were noted. A mid-afternoon walk along Hawk Cliff Rd yielded a single Butterfly -- an Orange Sulphur seen flying across the field just north of the observation knoll. No Monarchs were observed today. Dragonflies have not been reported all week and Gray Tree frogs have finally stopped singing. However, observers at the B&B did enjoy seeing 2 White-tailed Deer dashing eastward at the north end of the field. Predictions: I suspect that tomorrow could see another good flight ...predicted to be sunny with NW winds early swinging to W. It's definitely time for Golden Eagles, Redtails and Red-shoulders to get moving. ======================================================================== 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
