Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch Port Stanley, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 27, 2015 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 127 23591 24102 Osprey 0 5 122 Bald Eagle 2 84 142 Northern Harrier 8 500 944 Sharp-shinned Hawk 13 3880 8315 Cooper's Hawk 2 141 205 Northern Goshawk 0 7 7 Red-shouldered Hawk 5 289 291 Broad-winged Hawk 0 60 13000 Red-tailed Hawk 94 1606 1667 Rough-legged Hawk 0 2 2 Golden Eagle 5 50 50 American Kestrel 0 329 1934 Merlin 0 34 89 Peregrine Falcon 0 32 76 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: 256 30610 50946 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 14:00:00 Total observation time: 6 hours Official Counter: 1Counter, Mary Carnahan Observers: Clive Hodder, Don Campbell, Jim Dunn, Keith Sealy Visitors: Thanks to todays visitors for their assistance including in the morning, Peter Middleton from Owen Sound, Anne Goulden from Sarnia, and in the afternoon, Joe and Ivy from London. Weather: Observers experienced the full blast of ENE and then E wind which started out moderately but rose to 20 km / hr with gusts up to 28 km / hr. We had mainly cloudy to overcast conditions throughout the watch, with poor light and less than perfect visibility, which diminished even further towards the end. We could see that the sun was trying to burn off the cloud and a few times we saw blue patches, but they vanished as quickly as they formed. All in all, it wasnt the nicest fall day with conditions that made it difficult to ID birds that were cloaked in haze and very high up. That said, the flight height today was variable. Raptor Observations: Thanks to Clive, Jim, Keith and Don C. for their assistance in today's count. We had 0 birds in the first hour, but lots of birdsong coming from the bushes and trees along the south end of Hawk Cliff Rd, which observers were enjoying and finally, during the second hour observers spotted the first bird a Red-tail, the bird of the hour. In fact it was the ONLY bird of that hour. Things picked up slowly with only 9 birds in the third hour (10 11 AM) but a couple of those were TVs which we figured was a good sign. Since they were way to the north, we soon packed up our equipment and headed for the B&B, where it was colder because it is wide open, but a lot more interesting. In total today we counted 256 migratory birds of which the majority were TVs (127), with Red-tailed Hawks forming the majority of the migratory raptors. We tallied 7 raptor species including 5 Golden Eagles,composed of a mix of adults and juveniles. In addition we counted 2 Bald Eagles and rejected at least 3 others including an adult pair that put on quite a show for visitors late in the watch, low down and impressive along the south treeline at the B&B, and an immature bird that also put on quite a display circling many times out front in a seemingly synchronized dance with a juvenile Golden Eagle. Too bad we didnt have any photographers present at the time as this was classic field guide stuff. Other species tallied were Northern Harrier (8), Sharp-shinned Hawk (13), Coopers Hawk (2), Red-shouldered Hawk (5). Non-raptor Observations: Flocks noted today were Red-winged Blackbirds, still moving through in large flocks, with some Common Grackles mixed in, Am. Crow, Am. Robin (lots of these hanging around as well), Am Goldfinch, Eastern Bluebird. Also seen from the knoll were Canada Goose, Common Loon and Ring-billed Gull, European Starling (many!) while at the B&B we had a great view of a lowdown Great blue Heron. Along the roadsides, observers found a couple of really great birds 2 Fox Sparrows and a Gray Catbird. As well, observers reported White-throated Sparrows, still in large numbers, 3 Song Sparrows, 4 Northern Flickers along with Red-bellied, Downy Woodpeckers, White-breasted Nuthatch, Black-capped Chickadee, Blue Jay, Cedar Waxwing, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Ruby-crowned Kinglet Dark-eyed Junco and Cedar Waxwing. Predictions: It looks like the next couple of days wont be great hawk watching days at Hawk Cliff. Rain is expected to begin overnight tonight; Wednesday will bring SE winds with a 100 % probability of rain likely a lot of rain and Southerly flow of up to 50 km / hr. On Thursday the wind will continue at very high velocity (up to 50 km / hr) but likely shift to more Westerly flow. Friday looks like it might be a hawk watching day with fairly strong NW winds at 20 km / hr, which should bring a good flow of migratory raptors to our area. Highs on Friday are only expected to be in the single-digits, with a high of 9 C. ======================================================================== 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
