This is an official posting from the High Park Hawk Watch. Counters: Naish McHugh, Howard Shapiro , Don Barnett Observers: David Beadle, Anne Bell, Jerry DeMarco, Herb Elliott, Bob Falconer, Andrew Keaveney, Tom Lane, Ian Mahione, Tim McCarthy, Hugh McNeil, Baxter Naday, Marcia Steep, Andrew Tanas, Joe Venturi.
This was another quiet week with Turkey Vultures being about half the counted birds. The season is starting to have a later flavour as Golden Eagles, Rough-legged Hawks (first of the season) and Red-tailed Hawks are starting to show up in greater numbers. We also had our first Northern Goshawk of the season. Our totals for Oct. 23, the week and the year to date are below. Species Oct 23 Oct 21 to 27 Year to Date Turkey Vulture........................229................576..............2819 Osprey.........................................-.....................-.................35 Bald Eagle...................................-.....................-.................43 Northern Harrier.........................1.....................1.................36 Sharp-Shinned Hawk...............61.................128.............1423 Cooper's Hawk...........................1.....................6.................55 Northern Goshawk......................-.....................1...................1 Red-shouldered Hawk................1.....................4..................8 Broad-winged Hawk....................-......................-............1816 Red-tailed Hawk.......................96.................212..............212 Rough-legged Hawk..................4......................5..................5 Golden Eagle.............................3......................4..................5 American Kestrel........................-......................3..............256 Merlin.........................................1......................1................23 Peregrine Falcon........................-.......................-................14 Unidentified................................-.......................3................96 Total.......................................396...................942............7057 High Park Site Description High Park is a 400 acre wooded park dominated by a Black Oak Savannah located just west of Downtown Toronto near Keele and Bloor. The park is operated by the City of Toronto Parks Department. The Count site (Hawk Hill) is located on a small hill at the north end of the Grenadier Restaurant parking lot. It is located about 1.5km (1 mile) north of Lake Ontario, at an elevation of 110 metres above sea level and 38 metres above Lake Ontario. The site location is N 43 degrees 37 minutes 03.8 seconds, W 79 degrees 28 minutes 56.5 seconds. This station is at the highest point and near the centre of the park; a steep slope that descends to a large pond is immediately west of the station. Full time counts have been recorded here since 1993. The following are partners in our raptor migration monitoring in the Greater Toronto Region: City of Toronto Parks and Culture Department, Toronto Ornithological Club, and Local Naturalist's Clubs. More information including a summary of our past observations is available at: http://www.greatertorontohawkwatch.com/ Observations for this season are not yet available. -- Howard Shapiro email: [email protected] _______________________________________________ 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

