Holiday Beach Conservation Area Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 05, 2017 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 388 2018 4869 Osprey 1 3 60 Bald Eagle 1 2 94 Northern Harrier 1 21 181 Sharp-shinned Hawk 29 167 2595 Cooper's Hawk 2 12 73 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 1 2 7 Broad-winged Hawk 0 14 5347 Red-tailed Hawk 5 28 174 Rough-legged Hawk 1 2 2 Golden Eagle 1 1 1 American Kestrel 2 12 740 Merlin 0 0 32 Peregrine Falcon 1 9 19 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0 Unknown Buteo 0 1 7 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 2 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 1 Total: 433 2292 14204 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 9 hours Official Counter: Sean Jenniskens Observers: Jim McCoy, Kory Renaud, Michael Williamson Visitors: Two young British gents came up the tower briefly, and were amazed by one of the local Osprey. Weather: Surprisingly, the day started out with northerly winds for the first almost two hours, but soon switched to southwesterly. Raptor Observations: A very interesting day on the tower today! Majority of the day was basically dead, just a trickle of Turkey Vultures with the odd Sharpie thrown in. The first big surprise came at 3pm local time, when while scanning a loose stream of TV's, I noticed a white flash at the base of one birds tail. To my astonishment it was our first Golden Eagle of the year! A beautiful immature bird; I watched as it soared by along the north shore, and as it got to the far west end of the marsh, it landed in a tree and got harassed by one of the local immature Bald Eagles! About 40min later, again while scanning TV's, I notice a slightly smaller bird, also with a white tail-base. A Rough-leg! Our second Roughie of the year already along with our first Golden...on a south wind day no less! A very surprising afternoon it was, with 12 raptor species being counted migrating. Non-raptor Observations: Good diversity in non-raptor birds today, with 63 species being seen from the tower. The number of both Gadwall and Am. Wigeon seem to have shot up overnight, with several hunder of each out in the marsh. One of the more interesting ducks of the day was a pure white Mallard; I presume it has some domestic genes in it. A total of 52 Killdeer were counted migrating, which included several flocks in the mid teens. 6810 Blue Jays were counted migrating today as well, a new seasonal highcount but still well below last years. Additionally, 2 Am. Pipits and a Purple Finch were first of season species. 7 Sparrow species were observed today as well. Link to the full eBird checklist here: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S39571054 A total of 7 Monarchs were noted migrating today. Predictions: Variable winds and rain predicted for tomorrow. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Sean Jenniskens ([email protected]) Holiday Beach Conservation Area information may be found at: http://hbmo.ca/ More site information at hawkcount.org: http://hawkcount.org/siteinfo.php?rsite=100 _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO) - 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 Visit the OFO Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/OntarioFieldOrnithologists
