Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch Port Stanley, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 07, 2017 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 200 220 1965 Osprey 3 4 64 Bald Eagle 0 0 84 Northern Harrier 6 20 237 Sharp-shinned Hawk 18 45 1913 Cooper's Hawk 1 1 43 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 6 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 4325 Red-tailed Hawk 0 2 39 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 1 1 1 American Kestrel 5 26 1247 Merlin 1 3 58 Peregrine Falcon 77 105 134 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 0 2 Total: 312 427 10118 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 17:00:00 Total observation time: 9 hours Official Counter: Ronnie Goodhand Observers: Chris Burris, Keith Sealy, Mary Carnahan Visitors: LOTS! A huge thanks to everyone that got down today to do the count Ronnie, Keith, Mary, and Rayfield P....and to Chris B. for all the detailed Peregrine Times (see the "Hour Notes" section for each hour below). Weather: The perfect day for a Peregrine flight with strong SW winds as predicted. Comfortable temp to a high of 24C and high cloud to start that morning that started to burn away by the afternoon. Raptor Observations: Wow! An amazing flight of Peregrines today with 77 making up the bulk of the birds observed today (excluding TVs) right along the cliff ! This smashed the previous 1-Day record of 47 set back on Oct 03, 2007 and as well it set a new 1-Hour record of 16 from 12-1 pm breaking the old record of 10 from back in Sep 27, 2006. At times there were 3 at once cruising past! Just glad that quite a few regular counters and observers along with lots of visitors managed to see them. Total birds for the day was 312 and other birds seen included Sharpies (18), N. Harriers (6), a few Osprey (3) still pushing through, a single Cooper's Hawk, some Am. Kestrels (5) and a lone Merlin. The other highlight today was the first of season GOLDEN EAGLE... a young bird that popped up right over the willow tree line on the east side of the field and then passed low and slow right along the cliff using the same free updraft that the Peregrines were making use of. Awesome bird! Non-raptor Observations: Only sighting reported on the non-raptor front was a Chimney Swift which is getting late for this species though all this warm weather is likely helping such species to find bugs to forage on. Predictions: Sunday could bring even MORE Peregrines if the wind doesn't get too far around to the W. If it stays mostly SW there will almost certainly be birds cruising the cliff. ======================================================================== 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 _______________________________________________ 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
