Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 29, 2022 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 591 44540 51724 Osprey 0 5 16 Bald Eagle 0 47 299 Northern Harrier 6 347 665 Sharp-shinned Hawk 14 3175 7021 Cooper's Hawk 8 191 283 Northern Goshawk 1 2 2 Red-shouldered Hawk 153 330 331 Broad-winged Hawk 0 43 65702 Red-tailed Hawk 440 2046 2222 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 3 13 13 American Kestrel 1 689 2081 Merlin 2 54 113 Peregrine Falcon 0 54 106 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0 Unknown Buteo 0 0 0 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 1 1 Total: 1219 51537 130579 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 9 hours Official Counter: Hugh Kent Observers: Andrew Wiebe, Juliette Herdman, Kara Wiebe, Liz Kent, Noel Herdman Visitors: Big thanks to observers Andrew, Juliette, Kara and Noel for helping spot and identify the many buteos today. It was great to see Dave and Kim, Judy, Jade and Cole, David and Steven and Wanda again. Welcome to Annette and Don and Sean and Melissa. Thanks to you all for your interest in the Hawk Watch and the birds on the Marsh. Weather: We were met by an ethereal sight this morning - mist backlit by the rising sun creating a 'mistbow'. It took a few hours for the mist to completely clear but then we had clear skies for the remainder of the day. The wind started light from the north, remaining light throughout the day but switching to the south late morning. The temperature started at a low 3c but rose to 15c by the end of the day. A pleasant day on the Tower. Raptor Observations: It was a slow start due to the mist but the Red-shouldered and Red-tailed Hawks appeared flying from tree to tree waiting for the thermals to appear. They did and we had good totals of Red-shoulders (153) and Red-tails (440). They flew together and sometimes with Turkey Vultures (591) who appeared in reduced numbers today. We had a typical fleeting glance of a low-level Northern Goshawk in the early part of the day and 3 Golden Eagles to the north with Turkey Vultures in the last two hours. Sharp-shinned Hawks (14) were notable by their relative absence. The remainder of 10 species seen were in low numbers. Non-raptor Observations: Ducks again are dominating the scene. Numbers are increasing as are species with 11 seen today. The same mix of shorebirds (Pectoral Sandpiper, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs and Killdeer) are on the marsh, with an extra single, Black-bellied Plover appearing on the lake shingle bank. Good numbers of Tree Swallow (405) are still on the marsh. A variety of Sparrows are still present but in low numbers. Eastern Bluebird, Horned Lark and American Pipit are still overflying the tower. American Crows (1100) are making up for reduced numbers of Blue Jays (150). No Yellow-rumped Warblers were seen today, first time in a while. The most numerous blackbirds were Common Grackles (730). It is a sign of the mild weather that we saw 7 Monarch Butterflies pass the tower today. The list is at https://ebird.org/checklist/S121533848 Predictions: Tomorrow is forecast to be not as cold with light winds from the southeast. Scattered clouds initially then possibly becoming overcast. Hopefully the buteo migration will continue, but conditions are not as favourable as today. Maybe we will see a resurgence in the Sharp-shinned Hawk numbers. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Hugh Kent (Hughnkent@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 Count data submitted via Dunkadoo - Project info at: https://dunkadoo.org/explore/hbmo/hbmo-hawk-watch-fall-2022