Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 16, 2020 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 3843 29602 31706 Osprey 1 3 8 Bald Eagle 1 9 42 Northern Harrier 9 229 439 Sharp-shinned Hawk 169 3167 7116 Cooper's Hawk 1 107 179 Northern Goshawk 0 1 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 7 67 68 Broad-winged Hawk 0 193 45366 Red-tailed Hawk 77 388 572 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 24 702 1914 Merlin 0 44 147 Peregrine Falcon 2 41 97 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 1 Unknown Buteo 0 0 0 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 1 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 1 Total: 4134 34553 87658 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 9 hours Official Counter: Maryse Gagné Observers: Elizabeth Kent, Hugh Kent, Michelle Mastellotto, Paul Pratt Visitors: We appreciate all the interest in the tower and the hawk watch but remind everyone that the tower remains closed to members of the public and has a three-person limit reserved for the Hawk Counters. Thank you to all who are respecting these precautions. Be safe everyone! Weather: Cool start to the day with a low temperature of 3degC, but the air quickly warmed to a pleasant 12degC by the end of the day. The sun was warm against our faces creating a bright blue sky in the morning, until a few clouds came in during the afternoon. The winds blew strongly from the South-West all day keeping the air relatively cool. Raptor Observations: After a few slow days, it was nice to have good action on the tower. Turkey Vultures took the crown with 3,843 individuals passing through, the majority coming in the afternoon. Among them, many Red-tailed Hawks could be spotted, even a few Red-shouldered Hawks. Sharp-shinned Hawks were also quite abundant, but we were happy to add a few more American Kestrels to the count today. Non-raptor Observations: Well folks, at 8:30 this morning, the 1 millionth Blue Jays was counted, and a happy dance was performed on the tower! Of course it was not alone and we counted another 7,500 jays by the end of the day. They seem to be slowing down, we'll see how many more we'll get this year. We had a great day for non-raptors as well with 2 American White Pelican flying low right over the tower. Another exciting find came when we spotted a Northern Mockingbird in the bushes by the tower! This is the second sighting of a Northern Mockingbird at Holiday Beach during the fall count. Ducks like American Coots, American Wigeons, and Gadwall are busy feeding on the marsh and more seem to appear every day! Full ebird checklist: https://ebird.org/MyEBird?cmd=list&time=life&spp=normoc&r=world Predictions: Tomorrow is looking similar to today, with breezy winds from the South-West and a mix of sun and cloud. Hopefully, the hawks will keep migrating in the same fashion. We are really enjoying the buteo season and hope they will keep on coming! ======================================================================== Report submitted by Maryse Gagné (maryse.gagne35@gmail.com) 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