Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch
Port Stanley, Ontario, Canada
Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 30, 2015
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
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Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 457 511 511
Osprey 2 113 117
Bald Eagle 2 58 58
Northern Harrier 37 439 444
Sharp-shinned Hawk 386 4427 4435
Cooper's Hawk 15 64 64
Northern Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 1 2 2
Broad-winged Hawk 33 12940 12940
Red-tailed Hawk 25 61 61
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 0 0
American Kestrel 101 1596 1605
Merlin 3 55 55
Peregrine Falcon 3 44 44
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: 1065 20310 20336
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Observation start time: 08:00:00
Observation end time: 16:00:00
Total observation time: 8 hours
Official Counter: Mary Carnahan
Observers: Clive Hodder, Don Taylor, Jim Dunn, Keith Sealy,
Mary Carnahan
Visitors:
Many thanks to Ken Wootton, Jacques from the Beamer Hawk Watch, Mark &
Roberta Buchanan, Ann from Illinois for their assistance on the knoll.
Weather:
A front passed through yesterday, bringing us all-day rain with clearing
skies overnight. Result? -- Today was a beautiful fall day at Hawk Cliff,
although the temperature, ranging from 13 to 22 degrees Celsius, felt
different depending on ones location; i.e., it remained chilly on the
observation knoll throughout the day, but birders looking for dickie birds
along the road or in the woods enjoyed some protection from the NNE winds
that blew relentlessly across the field, frequently gusting to 27 or 28 km
/ hr. Cloud movement was rather interesting as different layers of cloud
were moving in different directions. The barometer rose and humidity
dropped throughout the day, but cloud cover was variable.
Raptor Observations:
Birds flew high, high and higher all day long, dropping down a notch
towards the end of the afternoon, at which point our total was 1065 for the
day, of which 608 were migratory raptors and the remainder were Turkey
Vultures (457). Altogether, we counted 11 raptor species comprised of
Osprey (2), Bald Eagle (2), Northern Harrier (37), Sharp-shinned Hawk
(386), Coopers Hawk (15), Red-shouldered Hawk (1), Broad-winged Hawk (33),
Red-tailed Hawk (25), American Kestrel (101), Merlin (3) and Peregrine
Falcon (3). The bulk of todays count was Turkey Vultures with a close
second place held by Sharpies.
The Bald Eagles did their best to confuse counters and observers by flying
very high, even along the cliff, with some returning eastward. TVs did the
same, but most at least kettled once again, headed west. Of the 3 Merlins
counted, 1 came early, while the other 2 came between 3:00 & 4:00 PM and
the lone Red-shouldered Hawk flew past just after 10:00 AM. All 3
Peregrines came close to the middle of the watch.
Non-raptor Observations:
Dickie birders were presented with a very different environment than
earlier in the week. Early in the watch observers saw many, large flocks
of Canada Geese flying at high altitude in all directions as well as large
flocks of Blue Jays (10,000 by 10:00 AM), American Goldfinch (no count
taken) and a few flocks of Red-winged Blackbirds and American Crows and 8
Common Loons. Northern Flickers continue to dominate the treeline across
from the knoll, flying back and forth. In addition, observers found a
significant presence of fall passerines, notably scores of Yellow-rumped
Warblers, which were seen everywhere up and down the road, high in the
trees and low in the shrubs, even above observers on the knoll. Other
highlights were 1 Ruby-throated Hummingbird, numerous other Warblers
including Magnolia, Black-throated Blue, Palm, Black-throated Green,
Bay-breasted, Blackpoll, Black & White, Am. Redstart, Orange-crowned and
Ovenbird. Thanks to Ernie Gribble for his contribution to todays Warbler
list. As well, there were numerous Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Swainsons
Thrush, Gray Catbirds, White-crowned, White-throated & Song Sparrows.
Observers also reported Northern Cardinal, Dark-eyed Junco, Double-crested
Cormorant, Mourning Dove, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Black-capped Chickadee,
House Wren and both Ring-billed and Herring Gulls.
Predictions:
The weather forecast and the raptor forecast are about the same as
today for Thursday and Friday with northeasterly winds at a good clip and
partly cloudy skies. High temps for the day will likely be slightly cooler
tomorrow and again on Friday. Birds will be high and humans will need to
bring extra layers, depending on whether they will be hawk watching on the
knoll or dickie birding in the shelter of the woods. At this point, the
weekend is looking a bit wet.
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Report submitted by Dave Brown ([email protected])
Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch information may be found at:
http://www.ezlink.on.ca/~thebrowns/HawkCliff/index.htm
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