Holiday Beach Conservation Area Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 25, 2015 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 73 352 352 Osprey 3 63 63 Bald Eagle 4 85 85 Northern Harrier 8 256 256 Sharp-shinned Hawk 140 3943 3943 Cooper's Hawk 3 44 44 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 101 16079 16079 Red-tailed Hawk 3 75 75 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 5 779 779 Merlin 1 30 30 Peregrine Falcon 2 10 10 Unknown Accipiter 0 5 5 Unknown Buteo 2 13 13 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 1 1 Unknown Raptor 1 8 8 Swainson's Hawk 0 1 1 Total: 346 21744 21744 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 06:15:00 Observation end time: 15:45:00 Total observation time: 9.5 hours Official Counter: Jenna McDermott Observers: Visitors: Stan brought up his wife and some friends to see the migration firsthand. Tom from Ohio also spent the day enjoying the beautiful weather and searching the skies for high-flying raptors. Another regular visitor, Neil, came for the afternoon. Weather: A foggy first hour cleared up to 20km visibility with temperatures up to 26C. It was a pleasant day with a good breeze most of the time coming from the NE in the morning and the E, ENE later on. Raptor Observations: It was a steady day that ended up with a good amount of variety, 11 species. Just over 100 Broadwings kept trickling through in small groups along with some Turkey Vultures, and Northern Harriers were present for most of the day, flying high. We were treated to great looks at 2 different Peregrines, one that was putting on a magnificent show over the marsh while it tried to catch ducks, and another that seemed absurd, soaring in looping circles along the shoreline, taking over a minute to pass out of view. Sharpies continued to fly through the day, starting low in the morning and gaining altitude as the day wore on. Non-raptor Observations: A group of small passerines including 4 Magnolia Warblers and a gorgeous Cape May Warbler were present in the trees around the tower in the morning. Birds flying over the marsh included 1 hummingbird, 32 Cedar Waxwings, 20 Red-winged Blackbirds, 58 American Goldfinches, and 14,800 Blue Jays, shocking some of our visitors with the endless flocks. Dragonflies were: 1 Twelve-spotted Skimmer, 4 Black Saddlebags, 1 Common Green Darner. 17 Monarchs. See today's eBird list http://ebird.org/ebird/canada/view/checklist?subID=S25175820 Predictions: It should be another beautiful and warm day with winds from the east, so raptors might be flying high by the afternoon! Get to the tower early for better chances of seeing low birds ======================================================================== Report submitted by Jenna McDermott ([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
