Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch Port Stanley, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 01, 2015 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 0 0 0 Osprey 2 2 6 Bald Eagle 0 0 0 Northern Harrier 0 0 5 Sharp-shinned Hawk 2 2 10 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 4 4 13 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: 8 8 34 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 09:30:00 Observation end time: 13:00:00 Total observation time: 3.5 hours Official Counter: Mary Carnahan Observers: Jim Dunn, Keith Sealy, Steve Birch Visitors: We had 2 visitors this morning, Ron Palmateer and Ron Dilbey. Weather: Haze, light WSW winds and sizzling temperatures pretty much describe todays conditions at Hawk Cliff. Towards the end of the watch, there was a bit of a breeze off the lake as the wind had risen from 5 km / hr to 8km / hr by 11:00 AM. Still, the humidity was a significant factor for hawk watchers and birds alike. Raptor Observations: Despite the warm, humid and hazy conditions and the southwesterly flow which usually deters raptor migration we did have a hawk watch ending with a total count of 8 including Osprey (2), Sharp-shinned Hawk (2) and American Kestrel (4). Shortly after 9:00 AM, an Osprey flew west, emerging partway up the field from behind the elm tree; also that hour, 3 Kestrels crossed together, flying fairly low along the cliff. The other four birds appeared more or less together around 12:00, the second Osprey of the day in the lead, the 2 Sharp-shins (one noticeably larger than the other) appeared to be flying together and the AK brought up the rear. Through the morning we had the usual views of Bald Eagles (3) and a few TVs. Non-raptor Observations: Many thanks to regulars and visitors for their contributions to todays non-raptor list (as well as their contributions to the count.) Most birds were fairly quiet today, except for a few that could be heard from the lake. One observer went to have a look, since nothing seemed to be flying and there was a mob of Gulls including mainly Ring-billed plus a few each of Bonapartes and Herring just floating along on the lake. A raucous Caspian Tern was seen flying above. Although the rest of the birds were pretty quiet, visitors and regulars were able to find 37 other species up and down the road and in the woods. Highlights were 1 Swainsons Thrush, a New Species for this season, 1 Common Loon, 2 Wood Ducks, 2 each of Least Flycatcher and Eastern Wood-pewee, and 4 species of Woodpecker including Red-bellied, Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers and a Northern Flicker. The Warbler count today was a mere 6 species (Yellow, Magnolia, Am. Redstart, Tennessee, Nashville, and Wilsons. Other passerines reported today were Blue Jay, Am. Crow, Barn Swallow, Warbling and Red-eyed Vireo, Mourning Dove, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Indigo Bunting, Gray Catbird, Am. Robin, Eastern Bluebird (on Fairview Rd), European Starling, Northern Cardinal, Baltimore Oriole, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Song Sparrow, Chipping Sparrow, House Sparrow, House Wren, and American Goldfinch. Observers also noted a few new insect species today including 1 Cicada that took flight from the weeds on the knoll, a Walking Stick, also found in the brush on the knoll and an American Snout found late in the watch by Keith Sealy. This is the first sighting of a Snout (butterfly) at Hawk Cliff in a couple of years. Other butterflies were Monarch, Viceroy, Summer Azure, Eastern Tailed Blue, Least Skipper, Black Swallowtail, many Orange Sulphurs, a few Clouded Sulphurs and Cabbage Whites. On the Dragonfly front, the Black Saddlebags seem to have caught up with the Green Darners in numbers. 12-Spotted Skimmers are trailing, although a few were seen flying high above the knoll this afternoon, so perhaps there are more moving through than has been observed so far. Predictions: Tuesday will likely be much like today with predominantly SW winds, fairly light until afternoon, high temperature around 30 C. but feeling a few degrees warmer than that because of continuing high humidity. Despite SW winds, which tend to be a deterrent to hawk migration, todays small count at least shows that some birds are in migration mode. However, lots of patience is required and in view of the long range forecast (no real break in this weather for a week, possibly a weak front towards the weekend), there probably wont be a significant movement of raptors for at least a few days, possibly a week or more. ======================================================================== 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
