Holiday Beach Hawk Watch
Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada
Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 10, 2023
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Turkey Vulture 100 157 157
Osprey 5 12 12
Bald Eagle 4 10 10
Northern Harrier 13 29 29
Sharp-shinned Hawk 282 380 380
Cooper's Hawk 8 20 20
American Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0
Broad-winged Hawk 153 251 251
Red-tailed Hawk 14 24 24
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 0 0
American Kestrel 46 131 131
Merlin 7 29 29
Peregrine Falcon 1 6 6
Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0
Unknown Buteo 0 0 0
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Falcon 0 0 0
Unknown Raptor 0 0 0
Total: 633 1049 1049
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Observation start time: 07:00:00
Observation end time: 16:00:00
Total observation time: 9 hours
Official Counter: Hugh Kent
Observers: Chip Ogglesby, Chuck Sharbaugh, Kit McCann, Liz Kent,
Noel Herdman, Paul Gosselin
Visitors:
Many thanks to Chip, Chuck, John, Kit, Neil, Noel and Paul for their
assistance in observing on what was a busy day. It was good to meet Andrew,
Rob and Carole and many other visitors who showed great interest in the
Hawk Watch and the birds on the marsh.
Weather:
Much like yesterday, overcast but clearing a little in the last hour. Wind
moderate, consistently from the north, good visibility with temperature
about 20c for most of the day, rising to mid 20s in late afternoon.
Raptor Observations:
Very much a Sharp-shinned Hawk (282) and Broad-winged Hawk (153) day today,
followed by Turkey Vultures (100). There were a few small kettles mainly
with Turkey Vultures forming the base and the Broadwings and Sharpies
joining in. It seemed too overcast for large kettles to form. It seems a
bit early for the Turkey Vultures to be forming kettles and migrating. We
had 10 species today with American Kestrels reaching 46 and the remainder
no higher than about 10 each. At the end of the day we had a nice
procession of 4 immature Northern Harriers.
Non-raptor Observations:
Interesting day, with Cedar Waxwings (430) again putting on a good show.
The Variety of ducks seems to be increasing with both Northern Pintail (14)
and Northern Shoveler (10) seen. More Chimney Swifts (16) and Ruby-throated
Hummingbirds (16) were seen today. Of interest was the significant amount
of Dragonflies in the air in the afternoon which attracted 5 Merlins in the
last hour and many Gulls. Monarch Butterflies (41) reached the highest
number so far this season. Yellow-rumped Warbler and Rose-breasted Grosbeak
were new species for the season. The list can be found at
https://ebird.org/checklist/S149576255
Predictions:
Mixed messages from the forecasters tomorrow. Some indicate that the wind
will remain from the north for a time, others state it will be from the
south west. Temperatures are due to rise slightly and it will be partly
cloudy, but with less cloud cover than today. Hopefully we will have at
least a similar day as today.
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Report submitted by Hugh Kent ([email protected])
Holiday Beach Hawk Watch information may be found at:
http://hbmo.ca/
More site information at hawkcount.org:
https://hawkcount.org/siteinfo.php?rsite=100
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