Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch Port Stanley, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Aug 21, 2015 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 0 0 0 Osprey 0 0 0 Bald Eagle 0 0 0 Northern Harrier 2 2 2 Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 1 1 Cooper's Hawk 0 0 0 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 0 0 0 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 1 1 1 Merlin 0 0 0 Peregrine Falcon 0 0 0 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: 4 4 4 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 10:00:00 Observation end time: 13:30:00 Total observation time: 3.5 hours Official Counter: Mary Carnahan Observers: Jim Dunn, Keith Sealy Visitors: Paul Nicholson Weather: Weather was beautiful today with WNW wind speed starting out at 20 km per hour but dropped as the day went on. By 1:00PM, it was down to 16 km / hr but still gusting to 24km. We had a mix of sun and cloud. Humidity was a very comfortable 60% to start off and dropped through the day ending at 53% -- almost perfect hawk watching weather. If the weather is like this 10 days to 2 weeks from now, we should have some hawks to count! Raptor Observations: We counted 4 migrating raptors, starting with a Sharp-shin well to the north of the observation knoll shortly after 10:00AM -- first bird of the year! After that, we waited, entertained for a while by 3 TVs circling lazily. While enjoying the TVs Jim spotted 2 non-TVs which turned out to be 2 young Northern Harriers also circling but, unlike the TVs, these guys were circling with a purpose -- up, up, up to almost beyond bino range and finall, they headed west, waaayyyy up there. Then we waited some more. Jim and Keith went looking for dickie birds and then lunch. Just as they were leaving 2 adult Bald Eagles cruised toward Port Burwell, hugging the cliff. Shortly after 1:00 PM, a lone American Kestrel zoomed westward along the cliff. And that was that -- after 30 minutes, Mary also went in search of dickie birds, then lunch. Non-raptor Observations: Today observers tallied 34 non-raptor species including 9 Warblers: Black and White, Yellow, Blackburnian, Tennessee, Chestnut-sided, Pine, American Redstart, Black-throated Blue and Canada. Earlier this week, a number of observers have been searching for migrants (both raptor and non) at Hawk Cliff, and the only warbler not seen today but seen earlier (Tues., Aug. 15) was Blue-winged. Many other songbird species were recorded today, almost all of which were also seen earlier in the week including Canada Goose, Ring-billed Gull, Double-crested Cormorant, Mourning Dove, Ruby-throated Hummingird, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Red-bellied and Downy Woodpeckers and Northern Flicker, Eastern Kingbird, Warbling and Red-eyed Vireo, Barn and Bank Swallows, Black-capped Chickadee, White-breasted Nuthatch, House Wren, Am. Robin, Gray Catbird, European Starling, cedar Waxwing, Northern Cardinal, Indigo Bunting, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Eastern Towhee, Song Sparrow, Baltimore Oriole, House Sparrow and Am. Goldfinch. Predictions: Tomorrow's forecast is pleasant with a high in the mid-20s, light SE winds and a mix of sun and cloud -- a nice day, but not a great forecast for migrating raptors. ======================================================================== 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
