Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch Port Stanley, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 28, 2015 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 10 54 54 Osprey 0 111 115 Bald Eagle 0 56 56 Northern Harrier 4 402 407 Sharp-shinned Hawk 6 4041 4049 Cooper's Hawk 0 49 49 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 1 1 Broad-winged Hawk 0 12907 12907 Red-tailed Hawk 0 36 36 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 0 1495 1504 Merlin 1 52 52 Peregrine Falcon 11 41 41 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: 32 19245 19271 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 06:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 9 hours Official Counter: 1Counter, Mary Carnahan Observers: Keith Sealy Visitors: Lots of visitors turned up today, despite the gloomy skies and threat of rain which lasted throughout the morning. Thanks to Garth Baker from Innisfil for his assistance on the mound all morning and for his early count. Thanks as well to the group from Guelph (Toni, Larry, John, Grainne, Gordon, and Marlene) for their contribution to the non-raptor list for today (including the Hooded Warbler). Also visiting this morning were Ben, Seth, and Emma Sprenger and their parents, Victor and Laura from Milton, ON. Weather: We had drizzle and low, dark cloud for the first hour or two with brisk SW winds throwing sand up over the cliff right along the shoreline. Although the temperature started at 20 degrees Celsius, it felt much colder if you were standing right out in the wind, which was relentless, only calming a bit in the early afternoon. The cloud cover persisted right through the morning, only partially clearing in the afternoon, then quickly filling in again once or twice. We eventually reached a high of 22 C. and in the afternoon, as the wind began to lessen somewhat, the sun also gave us a bit of a break and everybody was able to at least remove their jackets which sounds ridiculous for such balmy temperatures, but without that sun with the wind blasting away at you, it feels a lot colder. Based on yesterdays forecast, this wasnt what we expected, but the bonus was the SW wind which actually gave us an interesting days count. Raptor Observations: We counted 4 species of migratory raptors today; in addition, we included Turkey Vultures (10) in todays total, down from the 20 that originally sailed across the sky in the pattern typical of migrating TVs, and later subtracted 10 to account for the mob that returned from the west later in the morning! The four raptor species counted today were Northern Harrier (4), Sharp-shinned Hawk (6), Merlin (1) and todays big news 11 Peregrine Falcons. Originally, 2 Merlins were counted, but 1 returned and spent the afternoon hunting, then disappeared to the east. Perhaps well re-count him tomorrow. The Peregrines all zoomed across the field about 20 feet north of the cliffs edge. The highest hourly count today was between 9 & 10 AM, but the total of 14 birds included 10 TVs. Throughout the morning hours, local Bald Eagles cruised the cliff. None were seen flying farther north across the field, and none achieved an altitude that said Migrating, so none were counted today. Nevertheless, they are a wonderful sight to see and always a crowd pleaser! Many thanks to Garth Baker, Ken Wootton and Eleanor Kee Wellman for their assistance with todays raptor count. Non-raptor Observations: Observers logged 32 non-raptor, avian species today including about 3500 Blue Jays, which really didnt get going until afternoon, although a trip up the road at mid-morning revealed they were flying west along Dexter Line, low in the tree lines, and thus, couldnt be seen by observers on the knoll. Goldfinches were also migrating today, although we didnt see many flocks near the cliff. At times there were large numbers of Gulls cruising along the cliff including the usual Ring-billed and what seemed to be an unusual number of Herring Gulls today (perhaps they just really liked the wind?) as well as 1 Great Black-backed Gull. On the opposite end of the size chart, we also saw a few Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. A New Species for this season was Winter Wren, found in the woods by some of our visitors, along with a few other highlights: Red-eyed and Blue-headed Vireos, Downy and Red-bellied Woodpeckers plus many Northern Flickers, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Swainsons Thrush, Cedar Waxwing, 7 Warbler species (Black-throated Blue, Bay-breasted, Blackpoll, Am. Redstart, Orange-crowned, Ovenbird and Hooded), Northern Cardinal, Eastern Towhee and White-throated Sparrows. Early this morning, a couple of Eastern Bluebirds were seen along Fairview Rd and there was a mob of House Sparrows at the corner of Dexter and Hawk Cliff Rd. A few stalwart Monarch Butterflies tried to make their way westward, finding success in greater numbers as the sun tried to beat off the cloud in the afternoon, while Orange & Clouded Sulphurs and Cabbage Whites can still be found in the fields and weed patches at the Cliff. Dragonfly species were quite evident this afternoon including mainly Black Saddlebags and Green Darners, although 1 Mosaic Darner (probably Shadow Darner) patrolled in front of the knoll for a while and a few 12-spotted Skimmers crossed the treeline near the knoll. Predictions: In the Hawk Cliff area we are expecting thunder showers over the next 24 hours which will bring some rain. Temperatures will be mild Tuesday, with the likelihood of southerly flow switching to northerly flow in the afternoon, although humidity is going to be very high (100% tomorrow morning) and that is not a good indicator for raptor migration. Even if the showers miss Hawk Cliff, there will be showers in the area, which prevents birds from reaching our hawk watch site, so on all fronts , tomorrow is not a good bet for a high count. Wednesday could be interesting with sunshine, NE winds at about 30 km / hr and a high of 17 degrees Celsius. However, that is going to feel a lot colder than 17 C. with that easterly wind component and birds will fly high as well. ======================================================================== 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
