Holiday Beach Conservation Area Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 11, 2015 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 401 13417 14872 Osprey 2 8 75 Bald Eagle 0 27 131 Northern Harrier 2 145 467 Sharp-shinned Hawk 10 1343 6187 Cooper's Hawk 1 53 107 Northern Goshawk 0 1 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 61 64 Broad-winged Hawk 0 152 16636 Red-tailed Hawk 0 107 210 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 1 1 American Kestrel 1 200 1294 Merlin 0 6 43 Peregrine Falcon 2 13 31 Unknown Accipiter 0 2 9 Unknown Buteo 0 6 32 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 2 Unknown Raptor 1 5 17 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 1 Total: 420 15547 40180 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:30:00 Observation end time: 14:00:00 Total observation time: 6.5 hours Official Counter: Bob Pettit Observers: Bob Hall-Brooks Visitors: Small groups of 2s to 5s enjoying the warm day and the long Thanksgiving (Canadian) weekend. Only Bob Hall-Brooks joined me for about 30 minutes and helped count. No other HBMO members arrived. Happy Thanksgiving Canada! Weather: Wind from the SW all day an this made for few hawks seen. Speed was mostly 4 km/h (5 m/h). Temperature 14.9-21.2C. Pressure was steady at about 29.85.Clouds are either over the lake to the south or along the north horizon 5%-15%. The lack of clouds mad for a warm day and birds didnÕt get high so finding them was easy today. Raptor Observations: Turkey Vultures (401) started to us the north horizon following the highway north of the conservation area. They used the path most of the day but fewer birds at the day progressed. They instead began using the north shore of Lake Erie a their migration path later in the day. They would be positioned slightly west-southwest and slip westward using the onshore wind for lift and guidance. They passed in singles or groups up to 25 at a time. They made up 95.5% of the ÔraptorsÓ seen today. Osprey, Harrier, Kestrel, CooperÕs had a double or single showing. Highlight was two Peregrines at different times moving through and not paying attention to anything. Non-raptor Observations: 6,140 Blue Jays. Starlings and ÔblackbirdsÓ (Red-wings and Grackles) were mixed in with the Jays on occasion. Blackbirds also moved through in small independent numbers. A few Waxwings. Swallows (mostly Tree) were feeding over the marsh. The highlight was an Eastern Kingbird that perched for seconds and was gone. Two Monarch butterflies. Predictions: Sunshine early Monday then becoming cloudy later in the day. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible in LATE AFTERNOON. High 71F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Bob Pettit ([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
