Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch Port Stanley, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 30, 2014 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 488 26969 27089 Osprey 0 35 118 Bald Eagle 1 48 106 Northern Harrier 4 267 660 Sharp-shinned Hawk 42 4390 8966 Cooper's Hawk 9 204 274 Northern Goshawk 0 11 12 Red-shouldered Hawk 27 395 395 Broad-winged Hawk 0 155 70719 Red-tailed Hawk 162 2057 2083 Rough-legged Hawk 0 4 4 Golden Eagle 11 65 65 American Kestrel 3 708 2453 Merlin 0 37 79 Peregrine Falcon 0 118 163 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: 747 35463 113187 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 8 hours Official Counter: Jim Dunn Observers: Bob Johnstone, Mary Carnahan, Tom Bolohan Visitors: We had 5 visitors today: Jim Heslop from Ancaster, Bob Stamp from Dundas, Barry Jones from simcoe and Sid Daniels and George Bryant from Toronto. Weather: A cold, mainly overcast day at the cliff, with temp starting out at 3C and warming to 8C by midday. Wind direction was predicted correctly, shifting back and forth NW/WNW but wind speed was not enough to push the flight down to the lake. As a result, the flight path was from the alley to who knows where to the North and extremely high. Raptor Observations: Not a bad flight today with a total of 747 birds. As always at this time of the year the TVs (488) continue to dominate...although the Redtails (162) put in a good showing along with Red-shoulders (27), Sharpies (42) and crowd favourites...Golden Eagles (11). The remainder were Kestrels (3), a lone migrant Bald Eagle, Cooper's Hawks (9) and N. Harriers (4). Non-raptor Observations: Thanks to our visitors for spotting a flock of Tundra Swans out over the lake early this morning. Also, thanks to Chris, Bob and Keith for their contribution to the "dickie-bird" list for today. In addition to the Swans, a couple of Common Loons and a Double-crested Cormoarnt were seen flying along the treeline. Other highlights included a couple of flocks of Hermit Thrush, one right along the lake and another found between Sharpie Alley and the ravine on both sides of the road 2 Common Ravens were seen flying across the field with a flock of American Crows. In the woodpecker department, we had 5 species today including Hairy, Downy and Red-bellied Woodpecker plus Northern Flicker and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and in the Sparrow department we had Song, White-throated and White-crowned Sparrows. As well, flocks of Eastern Bluebirds and Robins were seen (and heard) and a Yellow-rumped Warbler was found in the bushes right behind us at the Alley. Other species found today were Black-capped Chickadee, Blue Jay, Ruby- and Golden-crowned Kinglet, Northern Cardinal,Red-winged Blackbird, House Finch, Purple Finch, Dark-eyed Junco, Pine Siskin and Common Grackle. No butterflies were reported today but observers did report seeing numerous Meadowhawks plus a single Shadow Darner flew right in front of the observers at the south end of Sharpie Alley. Predictions: The weekend is looking very promising with moderate to strong northerly winds forecast for both days...with winds getting lighter into Sunday afternoon. A mix of sun and cloud on Saturday...though the thermal updraft velocities (how fast air is rising in thermals) is forecast to be high. Keep in mind we're still in prime time for Golden Eagles. ======================================================================== 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
