Holiday Beach Conservation Area
Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada
Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 07, 2015
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
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Turkey Vulture 170 864 50717
Osprey 0 1 83
Bald Eagle 0 3 174
Northern Harrier 8 59 725
Sharp-shinned Hawk 21 113 8207
Cooper's Hawk 3 8 191
Northern Goshawk 0 0 2
Red-shouldered Hawk 2 69 301
Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 16636
Red-tailed Hawk 146 401 1194
Rough-legged Hawk 3 5 5
Golden Eagle 1 10 30
American Kestrel 0 2 1518
Merlin 0 0 58
Peregrine Falcon 0 2 46
Unknown Accipiter 1 1 17
Unknown Buteo 3 3 85
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Falcon 0 0 2
Unknown Raptor 0 0 23
Swainson's Hawk 0 0 1
Total: 358 1541 80015
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Observation start time: 08:30:00
Observation end time: 15:00:00
Total observation time: 6.5 hours
Official Counter: Bob Pettit
Observers: Chuck Sharbaugh, Jan Tuite, Karen Cedar, Larry Ludwicki,
Michael Williamson, Mike Fitzpatrick, Paul Pratt,
Steve Greidanus
Visitors:
Ojibway Nature Centre Birding trip members with Paul Pratt, leader visited
for several hours in the AM before breaking for lunch. We had few
non-birding visitors that stayed long enough to see bigger marsh birds
(Mute Swan) or resident Bald Eagle through our scopes. The major folks
(10-15) were on the field trip with Paul Pratt. They all were very helpful
and eager to see birds.
One adult Red-tailed Hawk was brought to the tower from the banding station
where it was adopted by two folks and was released after photographs are
taken using several Canon and Nikon DSLR and over 10 smart phones. Times
have changed.
Weather:
It was very windy today with mostly southwest winds with some movement to
the west later in the afternoon. Speed was between 12 and 25 km/hr, which
caused most birds to travel north of the tower site - mostly along the
northern horizon. Cloud cover varied throughout the day giving good
background for viewing distant birds and cause the temperature to change
several degrees C (10-12.4C).
Raptor Observations:
358 birds were spotted with 170 being Turkey vultures, 146 Red-tail Hawks
and 21 were Sharp-shinned Hawks, and 8 harriers. The remaining 4 species
had 3 or less sighted.
With the wind SW and W Turkey Vultures were primarily flying along the
northern region following the highway. On occasion they would head south
toward the lake but turned before reaching the tower distance and returned
to the north or northwest to continue migration. None were viewed along the
shore.
Non-raptor Observations:
Waterfowl were abundant with the usual players for the past several days.
Paul Pratt was kind to survey the marsh and give out identification to
birds singing as that passed overhead. Several large flocks of Common
Grackles were entertaining (800, 400, 300). There were several groups of
mixed blackbirds totaling 500.
Songbirds: Blue Jay-5, Am Crow-330, Horned Lark-45, chickadee-1, creeper-1,
GC Kinglet-2, RC Kinglet-1, bluebird-6,Am Robin-30, starling-200,
waxwing-130, longspur-1, Am Tree Sparrow-7, Song Sparrow-1, Swamp
Sparrow-2, WC Sparrow-3, cardinal-2, RW Blackbird-200, Rusty Blackbird-70,
grackle-1,500, Purple Finch-2, Pine siskin-10, AM Goldfinch-180.
Predictions:
Temp 52 F/37C. Wind10mph or less starting early from NW and becoming SW for
the remainder of the day. Can't catch a break on the wind direction.
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Report submitted by Bob Pettit ([email protected])
Holiday Beach Conservation Area information may be found at:
http://hbmo.ca/
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