Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch
Port Stanley, Ontario, Canada
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 18, 2014
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
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Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 1690 14811 14931
Osprey 0 34 117
Bald Eagle 0 14 72
Northern Harrier 40 169 562
Sharp-shinned Hawk 458 2618 7194
Cooper's Hawk 25 95 165
Northern Goshawk 1 3 4
Red-shouldered Hawk 4 8 8
Broad-winged Hawk 3 136 70700
Red-tailed Hawk 19 253 279
Rough-legged Hawk 0 1 1
Golden Eagle 0 2 2
American Kestrel 147 645 2390
Merlin 11 27 69
Peregrine Falcon 3 115 160
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 1
Total: 2401 18931 96655
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Observation start time: 08:00:00
Observation end time: 16:00:00
Total observation time: 8 hours
Official Counter: Dave Brown
Observers: Cary Graham, Chris Burris, Jason McGuire, Jim Dunn,
Keith Sealy, Mary Carnahan
Visitors:
Thanks to everyone who helped with today's count on a tough day of weather.
Lots of visitors today...Leola and Ron Roth (Baden) and John Shen (London),
Dianna and Gary Stern (Michigan), Claude LaFrance (St. Thomas) and Andrew
Don (Oakville) and others whose names I didn't get.
Weather:
Not the nicest weather today with on and off drizzle throughout the entire
count period...it just never really broke out completely as we'd hoped.
However, the winds were strong from the NW for the day and provided a good
push for those birds on the move bringing them right down to the hawkwatch.
Temp was downright cold today and with the damp it felt even worse.
Raptor Observations:
Depsite the wet weather the flight was actually very good today with a much
higher total than expected of 2,401 birds! It would seem that with the past
week being so warm and with strong SW winds hampering the migration the
birds were willing to brave the odd scattered shower to get out of
Ontario.
A total of 11 different species were seen today with the highlight having
to be a young Northern Goshawk that came over the trees straight out in
front of the counters and circled up a bit providing great views in binos
and scopes and then dove down to about 3m above the ground in a pseudo
chase of a Kestrel that was in the wrong place at the wrong time! Luckily
for the Kestrel the Goshawk didn't actually attack...just veered away and
quickly shot through the trees to our south.
Other species of note today were Red-shoulders (4) with one adult bird and
a few more Broadwings (3) which are getting very late in the season. Some
Redtails (19) were counted as migrants while a few others were deemed
locals as were all the Bald Eagles observed today. The Sharpies (458) were
basically migrating through non-stop all day right from the get go and many
passed right by us as we sat in our chairs just above head height (no binos
needed!!). Cooper's Hawks (25) were again observed in better numbers and
their daily totals should continue to increase into next week.
Finally, a number of great looks were had today of N. Harriers (40) with 3
that appeared to be adult males (the gray ghosts) and a couple possibly
adult females with the rest appearing to be young birds. Kestrels (many
were adult males)
TVs (1,690) were flying all day and again there was almost never a break in
their flight unless the drizzle got too heavy. At one point when it opened
up more they attempted to kettle but without much luck in the strong NW
winds.
Non-raptor Observations:
It was also an excellent non-raptor day with many passerines likely brought
to ground by the overnight fog and early morning drizzle. Species included
some warblers(orange-crowned, northern parula, yellow-rumped,
black-throated green and blackpoll), at least one Blue-headed Vireo, 3 E.
Towhee, 6 Hermit Thrush, lots of Gold-crowned and Ruby-crowned Kinglets,
Brown Creeper, BC Chickadee, 1 possibly 2 E. Phoebe, Northern Flicker,
Downy and Red-bellied Woodpeckers, many many White-throated Sparrows along
with at least 1 Swamp Sparrow.
Lots of flyovers with flocks of Am. Robins, E. Bluebirds, Am. Pipits,
Horned Larks, Pine Siskins, Am. Goldfinch, 5 Purple Finch, Cedar Waxwings,
Rusty Blackbirds, Blue Jays, Am. Crows and Red-winged Blackbirds and even a
single Barn Swallow and 4 Tree Swallows.
Other interesting sightings included a flock of Wild Turkeys (20) that
exploded up off the field directly out in front of the counters then flew
to the NW to the corner of the field landing and then running into the
bush. Also, thanks to one of our visitors who spotted 3 Sandhill Cranes
flying westward to our north.
Predictions:
Sunday should be good especially if it starts out mostly sunny and winds
stay from the NW. Winds are expected to back around to W near midday which
will then slow down the migration.
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Report submitted by Dave Brown ([email protected])
Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch information may be found at:
http://www.ezlink.on.ca/~thebrowns/HawkCliff/index.htm
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