Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 01, 2020 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 60 60 2164 Osprey 0 0 5 Bald Eagle 0 0 33 Northern Harrier 9 9 219 Sharp-shinned Hawk 294 294 4243 Cooper's Hawk 2 2 74 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 1 Broad-winged Hawk 1 1 45174 Red-tailed Hawk 4 4 188 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 109 109 1321 Merlin 3 3 106 Peregrine Falcon 0 0 56 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: 482 482 53587 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 13:00:00 Total observation time: 6 hours Official Counter: Maryse Gagné Observers: Elizabeth Kent, Hugh Kent, Noel Herdman 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: Our first day of October was met with all kinds of weather! We started with winds from the West and a mix of sun and cloud. Luckily the sun warmed up the air for a few hours and encouraged migration. As the morning wore on, dark clouds appeared from the South-West and moved closer and closer. Thunder rumbled in the distance and we kept an eye out for flashes of light. With big dark clouds above, and big cracks of thunder, lightening was finally seen in the distance and we were forced to come down from the tower. Just as we were packing up and hurrying down, the sky opened up and the rain fell hard, with small pieces of hail in the mix. By the time we arrived at our cars we were soaked and called off the rest of the count. Raptor Observations: Despite a shorter day, it was a busy one with 482 raptors in total. Sharp-shinned Hawks are still our main migrant, but today the American Kestrel had a very good showing with 109 individuals. Just before the rain, we had a big push of Kestrels with a group of 15 falcons popping up from the tree line. A few more buteos today, like Red-tailed Hawks as well as a Broad-winged Hawk, which has some catching up to do! 60 Turkey Vultures made their way across when the air was warm, as well as 9 Northern Harriers. A few Cooper's Hawks, and Merlins also flew across the marsh. Non-raptor Observations: We after yesterday's rest, Blue Jays came out in full force today with 66,660 individuals. They were simply covering the sky in the morning. American Goldfinches were also very abundant with 3,426 individuals, often flying in big flocks of twenty birds. Only a few Pine Siskins were spotted in the mix. Yellow-rumped Warblers are the main warbler seen at the moment, but we did spot a Nashville Warbler and a few Blackpoll Warblers in the bushes. Other delightful species to see were a Ruby-throated Hummingbird and two Monarch Butterflies. Tree Swallows are abundant over the marsh, with a few Chimney Swifts among them. On the water, Widgeons, Shovelers, Gadwalls, and a Red-breasted Merganser were spotted today. Full ebird checklist:https://ebird.org/checklist/S74286320 **Correction from yesterday's report: 10,810 Blue Jays seen, not 100,810* Predictions: Winds are shifting to the North-West tomorrow! Hopefully the raptors will get the memo and we will continue to see our usual migrants but also see more buteos slowly starting their migration. The overnight NW winds may also bring a few more remaining passerines to the base of the tower. On paper, tomorrow promises to be a good day, let's hope it delivers! ======================================================================== 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