Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch Port Stanley, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 09, 2014 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 0 0 0 Osprey 1 18 18 Bald Eagle 0 1 1 Northern Harrier 0 46 56 Sharp-shinned Hawk 3 272 282 Cooper's Hawk 0 11 12 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 0 44 75 Red-tailed Hawk 0 1 1 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 8 166 199 Merlin 0 4 5 Peregrine Falcon 0 2 2 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 Total: 12 565 651 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 12:00:00 Total observation time: 5 hours Official Counter: Jim Dunn, Mary Carnahan Observers: Bob Johnstone, Clive Hodder, Keith Sealy, Mary Carnahan Visitors: Thanks to Jim, Keith, Bob, Mary and Clive for getting a count done today. :) Weather: It wasn't a great day for raptor migration with mainly southerly winds and cloudy skies. The wind speed picked up after 9 AM and for a while it was rather gusty, pushing the Shins across the field sideways. Still too warm ahead of the approaching low pressure system from the mid-west. Raptor Observations: Total raptors tallied today was just 12...no surprise given the warm weather and not so great wind direction. Local Eagles and TVs provided good looks in between countable raptors. Non-raptor Observations: It was very quiet on the non-raptor front today as well, with almost no birdsong, except from the odd Gray Catbird and occasional flock of Goldfinches. Seen from the knoll early were 2 Wood Ducks, 24 Mallards, 4 Chimney Swifts and 2 Northern Flickers. Racing Pigeons flew by periodically and Ring-billed Gulls kept up their steady drifting along the cliff. After beating the bushes along the shoreline, observers managed to come up with some Cedar Waxwings, half a dozen Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, a pair of Cardinals and a few Black-capped Chickadees, while across from the knoll, the Red-bellied Woodpecker scolded everybody that went past, all morning long. 29 Monarchs were counted during the morning hours and 1 tagged early this morning. Also seen were Orange and Clouded Sulphurs, a Summer Azure. Today's bonus sighting was a Giant Swallowtail. Predictions: Forecasts continue to look promising as a strong cold front associated with a deepening low pressure system in the U.S. mid-west heads for the Great Lakes region Wednesday night. Ahead of this front on Wednesday the forecasts are for strong SW winds which can be very good for falcons, Osprey and Bald Eagles right along the cliff ...and even a couple of early Peregrines. This should then bring northerly winds on the backside of this system starting Thursday and hopefully this will continue as we approach Broadwing prime time this weekend. ======================================================================== 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 Posting guidelines can be found at http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdsguide
