Holiday Beach Conservation Area Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 09, 2015 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 1557 10539 11994 Osprey 0 5 72 Bald Eagle 3 25 129 Northern Harrier 7 125 447 Sharp-shinned Hawk 222 1233 6077 Cooper's Hawk 6 50 104 Northern Goshawk 0 1 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 61 64 Broad-winged Hawk 0 152 16636 Red-tailed Hawk 1 103 206 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 1 1 American Kestrel 28 194 1288 Merlin 1 6 43 Peregrine Falcon 4 9 27 Unknown Accipiter 1 2 9 Unknown Buteo 0 6 32 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 2 Unknown Raptor 0 4 16 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 1 Total: 1830 12516 37149 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 15:15:00 Total observation time: 8.25 hours Official Counter: Jenna McDermott Observers: Carol Pitts, Ed Pitts, Jeremy Bensette, Jim McCoy Weather: A low, heavy sky of clouds persisted all day minus a short time in the afternoon. This, combined with on average a 15kph wind from the N and NW made a coat necessary on the tower. Raptor Observations: This same wind brought us a much more exciting day than we have experienced recently. An amazing four Peregrine Falcons passed over, outdoing even the Merlins (of which we saw 2, only one migrated). American Kestrels made a small comeback after a week-long absence. The only buteo of the day was a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk. Sharp-shinned Hawks made up most of the raptor flight, with a few Cooper's, Bald Eagles, and harriers. A group of around 100 Turkey Vultures started off the morning by popping up in the sky overhead and returning to the east. After that they returned with friends and eventually numbered to over 1500, one of which had a yellow wing tag! Non-raptor Observations: A large group of Tree Swallows was present in the morning, punctuated at times by Chimney Swifts. Activity in the bushes around the tower was minimal and Blue Jays were even scarce, with only 3510 being seen. The big news of the non-raptors were our first 4 Tundra Swans of the season, that flew right by the tower! See today's eBird list http://ebird.org/ebird/canada/view/checklist?subID=S25356402 Predictions: Winds will come from the NW in the morning, switching to W and SW in the afternoon. That being said, the morning will likely provide the most 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
