Holiday Beach Conservation Area Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 25, 2013 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 2111 32726 36338 Osprey 0 19 76 Bald Eagle 1 85 308 Northern Harrier 14 145 364 Sharp-shinned Hawk 231 1692 6203 Cooper's Hawk 11 243 495 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 25 112 130 Broad-winged Hawk 0 3 48629 Red-tailed Hawk 55 567 934 Rough-legged Hawk 2 6 6 Golden Eagle 2 7 9 American Kestrel 3 240 1130 Merlin 2 20 80 Peregrine Falcon 0 12 32 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0 Unknown Buteo 0 1 7 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: 2457 35879 94751 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 8 hours Official Counter: Todd Pepper Observers: Donna Bedard, Dwayne Murphy, Larry Ludwicki, Roland Klekner Visitors: Michigan birders were out today with visitors from Bloomfield Heights, Gibralter, Erie and Belleville. Thanks to Roland for covering the shore while I scoped TV's to the north, and to Larry for counting crows. Weather: A cold one today with the temperature starting at 1.5C. While it warmed up to almost 9C the steel gray clouds still made it feel cold. The winds were out of the West all day generally in the 12 - 16 km/hr range. Raptor Observations: Another busy day with a total of 2,457 raptors, 86% of which were Turkey Vultures. Sharp-shinned Hawks were flying over at a rate of about 1 a minute for the first 4 hours of the day. Then the TV's started with a mix of Red-shouldered and Red-tailed Hawks. The 2 best birds of the day were a Merlin and a Golden Eagle. We would not have known if the 1100 - 1200 hour Merlin was even there if had not hit the north hand rail of the hawk tower as it rose up from underneath the tower. The last bird of the day was an adult Golden Eagle that came straight at the tower over the woods to the east. By the time I had the word "eagle" out of my mouth the Golden Eagle passed the south side of the tower at head height between the tower and the first Poplar tree to the south - a gap of maybe 20 feet! Non-raptor Observations: A total of 5,462 birds of 21 species. Red-winged Blackbirds, American Crows, and European Starlings again made up 95% of the day count. We had the first Cedar Waxwings in 10 days with 14 birds. American Robins are starting to move in good numbers. Had our first Pine Warbler for the fall count season. The best bird of the day was a Glossy Ibis that flew in just after 1200 EST and landed in the marsh just 30 metres north of the hawk tower. It appeared to be settling in to stay the night when the hawk count closed for the day. Predictions: It is going to be a mixed bag on Saturday with clouds and a 40% chance of rain in the morning, but becoming sunny in the afternoon. The temperature is forecasted to be between 4 & 10C. Strong winds of 35 - 40 km/hr out of the SW are predicted. It could be good for Harriers and Falcons. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Todd Pepper ([email protected]) Holiday Beach Conservation Area information may be found at: http://hbmo.ca/ _______________________________________________ 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
