Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch Port Stanley, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 01, 2021 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 0 0 0 Osprey 8 8 11 Bald Eagle 14 14 16 Northern Harrier 15 15 20 Sharp-shinned Hawk 2 2 3 Cooper's Hawk 1 1 1 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 10 10 10 Red-tailed Hawk 0 0 0 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 62 62 89 Merlin 2 2 2 Peregrine Falcon 0 0 0 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 Total: 114 114 152 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 8 hours Official Counter: Chris Burris Observers: Dave Brown, Matt Oswald Visitors: Just a couple of visitors today and thanks to Chris and Matt for being there to do today's count with me. Weather: Temps ranged from 15C to 23C. The wind was a constant NE at around 20 km/h with occasional gusts to 40 km/h or so. Cloud cover was variable, from near total overcast to scattered cumulus by the end. Raptor Observations: There was decent variety (10 species, including local Turkey Vultures and Red-tailed Hawks) and not-bad numbers (114 total) for earliest September and the start of another fall hawk watching season at Hawk Cliff. American Kestrels topped the chart (62), but appreciable numbers of Bald Eagles, Ospreys, and Northern Harriers (including a couple of adult males) were on the move, along with the first trickle of Broad-winged Hawks. Note that all of the Bald Eagles counted as migrants today were 1) flying in a direct manner and often very high suggesting migration and 2) were all immature plumaged birds and virtually every bird was uniquely patterned and easily separated from other eagles that had already gone through. Many of these birds were exhibiting molt in their flight feathers and some in their tails. Most adults (unless on a very high direct flight westward) we not counted and no HY young birds potentially still in their natal area were counted. Non-raptor Observations: Non-raptors included: Canada Goose, Ring-billed Gull, American Crow, Blue Jay, American Goldfinch, European Starling, Northern Flicker, Northern Cardinal, Cedar Waxwing, Mourning Dove, Song Sparrow, American Redstart, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Indigo Bunting, Eastern Kingbird, Killdeer, Rock Pigeon, Wood Duck, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Barn Swallow, Great Blue Heron, Chimney Swift, Black-throated Green Warbler, Warbling Vireo, Red-bellied Woodpecker, and Common Nighthawk. (And I missed including Black-billed Cuckoo on yesterday's report). Predictions: More northerly to NW winds all day tomorrow which typically helps bring the birds down to the hawk watch area. Potentially a similar flight to what we saw today. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Dave Brown (thebrowns@ezlink.ca) Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch information may be found at: http://www.ezlink.ca/~thebrowns/HawkCliff/index.htm More site information at hawkcount.org: https://hawkcount.org/siteinfo.php?rsite=392