Holiday Beach Conservation Area Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 14, 2015 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 4388 19847 21302 Osprey 1 10 77 Bald Eagle 9 37 141 Northern Harrier 11 159 481 Sharp-shinned Hawk 137 1522 6366 Cooper's Hawk 10 71 125 Northern Goshawk 0 1 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 6 67 70 Broad-winged Hawk 0 152 16636 Red-tailed Hawk 23 130 233 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 1 1 American Kestrel 14 230 1324 Merlin 2 11 48 Peregrine Falcon 2 15 33 Unknown Accipiter 0 2 9 Unknown Buteo 1 7 33 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 2 Unknown Raptor 1 6 18 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 1 Total: 4605 22268 46901 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 06:45:00 Observation end time: 16:30:00 Total observation time: 9.75 hours Official Counter: Jenna McDermott Observers: Michael Williamson Visitors: Alain from Guelph got the chance to see a nice variety of species once the skies cleared. A local brought their family from Germany to see the beautiful marsh. Weather: Heavy clouds in the morning brought some cold drizzle off and on for a couple hours and the wind switched from W to N. The clouds broke up into the afternoon and it turned into a beautiful day with a high of 17C. The wind switched again by the end of the day to the NW. Raptor Observations: The first few hours started out slowly with the exception of a young peregrine that flew with powerful determination out of the west, chased by a flock of foolish starlings, which were then chased by the peregrine, which disappeared quickly to the east. Things started to pick up a bit with Turkey Vultures kettles popping up all over the place and at all heights, Merlins diving after the owl decoy, and a couple of beautiful Northern Harriers floating close by the tower. We finally had a return of a few Red-shouldered and Red-tailed Hawks that appeared mostly in the afternoon, hidden along with Bald Eagles amongst the TVs that streamed past without pause. At the end of the day, we'd seen 11 species! Non-raptor Observations: The sky in the first few count hours was filled with high-flying ducks, Tree Swallows, and small flocks of Red-winged Blackbirds. The base of the tower was also quite busy, with Yellow-rumped Warblers, Golden and Ruby-crowned Kinglets, and a Black-throated Green Warbler. 76 Pine Siskins made a ruckus around the tower in the afternoon, and 500 goldfinches made their way across the marsh. See today's eBird list http://ebird.org/ebird/canada/view/checklist?subID=S25419492 Predictions: A cool morning with winds from the W, changing to SW and back to W by the afternoon. ======================================================================== 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
