Holiday Beach Conservation Area Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 11, 2017 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 766 6544 9395 Osprey 0 12 69 Bald Eagle 0 19 111 Northern Harrier 20 104 264 Sharp-shinned Hawk 283 1139 3567 Cooper's Hawk 6 46 107 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 6 15 20 Broad-winged Hawk 1 27 5360 Red-tailed Hawk 4 175 321 Rough-legged Hawk 0 2 2 Golden Eagle 0 1 1 American Kestrel 275 438 1166 Merlin 7 13 45 Peregrine Falcon 0 29 39 Unknown Accipiter 1 1 1 Unknown Buteo 0 2 8 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 1 1 3 Swainson's Hawk 0 1 2 Total: 1370 8569 20481 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 09:00:00 Observation end time: 14:00:00 Total observation time: 5 hours Official Counter: Sean Jenniskens Observers: Visitors: none Weather: Well...the weather today was definitely on the miserable side of the spectrum. And to those of you who know me, no I was not in flip-flops. It was raining quite steady until about 10am local time. The rest of the day remained damp, and windy. The occasional shower from time to time and the strong north to northeast winds made for a chilly one, and kept me off the top platform for most of the day. Raptor Observations: I wasn't expecting much of a flight but within minutes of the rain stopping birds started moving. The first hour yielded 3 N. Harriers, 63 Sharpies, 72 Am. Kestrels and a Merlin. At this point I was expecting a good Sharpie/Kestrel day, but within a few minutes of the second hour Vultures started streaming right over the tower and along the shoreline. To my astonishment, even a few Buteos were flying in the patchy rain. In the 5 hours of counting, I totaled 1370 Raptors. Good flights of TVs (766), Harriers (20), Sharpies (283), Kestrels (275), and Merlin (7). Majority of all birds counted occurred within the first 3 hours. These totals were definitely worth getting a little wet and cold for! Non-raptor Observations: eBird checklist at: https://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S39842459 A big surprise of the day was a Monarch out flying in the strong winds. Predictions: Northeast winds predicted in the morning switching to southeast for the afternoon. Unfortunately though, rain also predicted in the morning. ======================================================================== 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
