Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch Port Stanley, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 19, 2015 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 5 475 24839 Osprey 0 1 124 Bald Eagle 0 20 170 Northern Harrier 0 35 1002 Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 38 8382 Cooper's Hawk 0 10 219 Northern Goshawk 0 0 7 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 31 332 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 13000 Red-tailed Hawk 4 815 2615 Rough-legged Hawk 0 6 8 Golden Eagle 0 18 76 American Kestrel 0 2 1936 Merlin 0 3 92 Peregrine Falcon 0 0 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: 9 1454 52878 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 09:00:00 Observation end time: 14:00:00 Total observation time: 5 hours Official Counter: Mary Carnahan Observers: Jim Dunn, Keith Sealy Visitors: None. Weather: Another very windy day with winds from the SSW, then SW. Wind velocity was 25 kph to start but by 1:30 this afternoon, had reached 33 kph, with gusts up to 50 kph. Nevertheless, it was a lovely fall day until about 1:20 PM when a huge, black cloud moved in, blocking out our sunshine. After that, it looked and felt like winter is on the way. Raptor Observations: The SW wind was too much for migrants today, resulting in an extremely low count. Any birds that did make it across the road really struggled to get there. 5 TVs made the grade--and todays list -- along with 4 Red-tailed Hawks for a not-so-grand total of 9 migrants. A Sharp-shinned Hawk was spotted flying low between houses along Sparta Line and a calling Red-tailed Hawk was heard, then seen circling among the trees in the entrance to Hawk Cliff Woods. Non-raptor Observations: A walk in Hawk Cliff Woods yielded some nice finds, including a flock of at least 20 Cedar Waxwings, a couple of Downy Woodpeckers, a little group of Tree Sparrows along with numerous Juncos and Goldfinches, 3 Northern Cardinals, 2 Black-capped Chickadees and a handful of noisy Blue Jays. At the corner of Dexter Ln and Hawk Cliff Rd were the usual mobs of House Sparrows and Starlings plus a couple of Mourning Doves. Flocks of Canada Geese, Mallards and Ring-billed Gulls were seen flying about at locations north of the Cliff, including the B&B and the Ridge. Predictions: We are expecting clearing overnight and clear skies on Friday with plenty of sunshine but with strong W winds and a high of only 4 C. which will probably feel colder in that wind which is expected to reach 40 kph., a pretty strong headwind for even big birds to overcome. That westerly flow will shift through NW to NE overnight Friday into Saturday, bringing cloudy skies, E winds and precip (probably rain / snow mix) throughout Saturday. After that, the forecast calls for mainly Southerly winds to follow not looking positive for the last week of the hawkwatch season. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Mary Carnahan ([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
