Holiday Beach Conservation Area Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 19, 2014 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 2691 27490 29695 Osprey 0 19 53 Bald Eagle 10 66 203 Northern Harrier 3 92 320 Sharp-shinned Hawk 50 1897 6431 Cooper's Hawk 0 68 219 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 1 41 80 Broad-winged Hawk 1 28 36334 Red-tailed Hawk 23 393 648 Rough-legged Hawk 0 1 1 Golden Eagle 0 1 6 American Kestrel 1 268 974 Merlin 0 11 58 Peregrine Falcon 0 23 41 Unknown Accipiter 0 2 17 Unknown Buteo 0 26 53 Unknown Eagle 0 1 1 Unknown Falcon 0 4 5 Unknown Raptor 0 12 35 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 1 Total: 2780 30443 75175 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 14:30:00 Total observation time: 7.5 hours Official Counter: Cindy Isenhoff Observers: Jim McCoy, Larry Ludwicki Visitors: Several groups of visitors visited the tower today out enjoying a beautiful sunny afternoon. Visitors were from Windsor and Leamington areas. Most had been to the park previously, but had not experienced the "Hawk Watch", so Larry and I did our best to convince them to return. Special thanks to Larry Ludwicki for assisting with the count from begining to end--and making a coffee run to warm us up part way thru the morning! Weather: What a beautiful fall day on the tower! Sunny skies, just a little haze at the edge of the marsh first thing this morning which cleared by 9am. Some high whispy clouds stayed the day, just enough to highlight the dark Turkey Vultures throughout the day. Winds started from the N, but moved completely around to S by noon. Temperatures started at a cool 3.2C warming to 12.5C at the end of our count. Raptor Observations: Turkey Vultures dominated the flight once again today, numbering 2,691. One of the early groups that came low and directly over the tower held a nice surprise with a Dk Morph Broad-winged Hawk in the mix. Our other highlight today was nice male Norther Harrier down the beach in the afternoon. Non-raptor Observations: American Crows (2800) and Red-winged Blackbirds (2496) dominated the song birds species with Blue Jays (2020) coming in a close 3rd. Mixed in the blackbird flocks were approx 60 Rusty Blackbirds. There were still 14 Great Egrets roosting this morning in the marsh. Sparrows of multiple species were also in the shrubs around the tower today. Predictions: A slightly warmer but wet day tomorrow with a 50 - 70% chance of showers. Winds from the SW early changing to NW toward evening. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Cindy Isenhoff ([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 Posting guidelines can be found at http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdsguide
