Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch
Port Stanley, Ontario, Canada
Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 30, 2017
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
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Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 1622 1745 1745
Osprey 1 59 60
Bald Eagle 18 81 84
Northern Harrier 47 203 217
Sharp-shinned Hawk 437 1845 1868
Cooper's Hawk 16 41 42
Northern Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 2 4 6
Broad-winged Hawk 411 4300 4325
Red-tailed Hawk 29 35 37
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 0 0
American Kestrel 179 1186 1221
Merlin 3 53 55
Peregrine Falcon 4 29 29
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
Swainson's Hawk 0 1 1
Total: 2769 9582 9690
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Observation start time: 06:00:00
Observation end time: 15:00:00
Total observation time: 9 hours
Official Counter: Dave Brown
Observers: Bob Johnstone, Chris Burris, Derek Lyon, Don Campbell,
Jennifer Lyon, Keith Sealy, Phoebe Campbell,
Ronnie Goodhand, Tom Bolohan, Winston Celik
Visitors:
Thanks to a great crew of observers and counters for one of the better hawk
watching days in a while... Bob, Jen and Derek, Tom B, Chris, Ronnie, Don
and Phoebe, Keith, Tom S, Paul and Jim. Had quite a few visitors today who
were lucky enough to get some good birds.
Weather:
Fantastic day for hawk watching with a nice mix of sun and cloud to start
then lots of blue skies as the day progressed. Very enjoyable though it
made it tough spotting the birds! Temp started out at 8C and got to a high
of 16C. Winds were light to moderate from the NNE to NE for the day then
switching all the way around to SE for the last hour.
Raptor Observations:
A great flight today with a total of 2,769 birds. Even without the TVs
(1,622), there were still 1,147 other birds of 11 different species
including a lone Osprey, Bald Eagles (18), a nice push of N. Harriers (47)
including an adult male, a good number of Sharpies (437) and Cooper's Hawks
(16), a couple of Red-shoulders, what were most likely the last decent
numbers of Broadwings (411) for this season, the first real start of
Redtails (29), Am. Kestrels (179) and Merlins (3). We did spot a few
Peregrines with 3 that passed over us quite high with a few of the
Broadwings. The 4th one (which was the last bird of the day) was a young
Peregrine spotted on the deck coming through the gap in the trees right out
in front of us. It actually swung in behind the bushlot where we thought
it had snuck away on us. About 5 minutes later it popped out over the
bushlot and winged away north and began circling up... then tried dive
bombing a hapless N. Harrier before heading westward. Nice way to end the
count.
Non-raptor Observations:
Some good non-raptors today with the highlight a Short-eared Owl that I
flushed right along the Cliff at first light. It popped up not 20 ft from
me floating along the cliff edge and then circling a couple of times in
front of me before diving over the cliff. Great bird! Also had a number of
woodpeckers with YB Sapsucker, Downy, Hairy, N. Flicker and Red-bellied,
several sparrows with Song, Field, Swamp, White-crowned and White-throated,
Eastern Bluebirds, am. Robins, Am. Pipits, Am. Goldfinch, Am. Crow, WB and
RB Nuthatches, RC and GC Kinglets, Gray Catbirds, Eastern Phoebes, Cedar
Waxwings, Common Yellowthroat, Winter and House Wrens, GB Herons, Canada
Geese, DC Cormorants, RT Hummingbird and Belted Kingfisher. Blue Jays
were definitely on the move today with 3,625 tallied.
Monarchs counted: 21
Also... Buckeye, Painted Lady and Yellow Sulphur
Predictions:
Sunday likely won't see as much of a flight as the winds are predicted to
be SE and S for the day.
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Report submitted by Dave Brown ([email protected])
Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch information may be found at:
http://www.ezlink.ca/~thebrowns/HawkCliff/index.htm
More site information at hawkcount.org:
http://hawkcount.org/siteinfo.php?rsite=392
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