Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 29, 2019 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 717 48362 49220 Osprey 0 11 36 Bald Eagle 1 99 191 Northern Harrier 3 205 447 Sharp-shinned Hawk 30 2565 4956 Cooper's Hawk 7 175 237 Northern Goshawk 0 6 6 Red-shouldered Hawk 21 213 213 Broad-winged Hawk 0 863 25773 Red-tailed Hawk 48 669 813 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 3 3 American Kestrel 0 481 1702 Merlin 0 25 106 Peregrine Falcon 0 30 51 Unknown Accipiter 0 3 5 Unknown Buteo 0 11 12 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 4 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 1 Total: 827 53721 83776 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 9 hours Official Counter: Maryse Gagné Observers: Dave Martin, Elizabeth Kent, Hugh Kent, Ian Woodfield, Linda Wladarski Visitors: Many people on the tower today! Thank you to Ian Woodfield, John Barnes, Les and John Willams, Dave Martin and Linda Wladarski for all their help with raptors and non-raptors species. Additional thank you to Kathryn, Ed and Ryan Janzen for their enthusiasm and visit at the end of the day. Weather: A misty start, but we experienced a mostly warm day with a full cloud cover and very little wind from the South. The visibility was not the best and the day cooled off late in the afternoon. Raptor Observations: Again a slow start to the day, but once the air warmed up, buteos were flying, with Red-tailed hawks (48) and Red-shouldered hawks (21) coming in relatively high numbers. Turkey Vultures (717), Sharp-shinned hawks (30), a few Cooper's hawks and Northern Harriers graced us with their presence. Like the past few days, the late afternoon was quite bleak and we did not count any hawks in the last hour of the day. Non-raptor Observations: Wow there were a lot of Starlings over the marsh today, 30,900 Starling to be more specific! We observed many murmurations and a long stream of Starlings crossing the marsh that didn't see to end. In the morning, we counted about 100 Tree Swallows leaving a roost and flying over the tower, always happy to see swallows! We are seeing more American Pitpits and Horned Larks migrating over the marsh during the day. Ducks are still present in high numbers including Ring-necked ducks (850) and Gadwalls (332) and a few species are becoming more numerous like the Pintails (72), Shoverlers (45),and Ruddy Ducks (18). Check out our full ebird list here: https://ebird.org/checklist/S61030402 Predictions: Tomorrow looks like a wet day, with rain predicted all day. Winds will the blowing from the North-East, so there is a possibility that some raptors will the flying, hoping for Northern Harriers who will not mind getting a little bit wet. If you swing by the tower, make sure to bring a warm beverage and a raincoat! ======================================================================== 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: http://hawkcount.org/siteinfo.php?rsite=100