Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 06, 2020 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 2639 6008 8112 Osprey 1 2 7 Bald Eagle 1 4 37 Northern Harrier 6 110 320 Sharp-shinned Hawk 192 1710 5659 Cooper's Hawk 5 41 113 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 8 9 Broad-winged Hawk 2 146 45319 Red-tailed Hawk 2 46 230 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 8 404 1616 Merlin 3 20 123 Peregrine Falcon 10 15 71 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: 2869 8514 61619 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 9 hours Official Counter: Maryse Gagné Observers: Michael Arthurs 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: Strong winds from the South-West to start the day, and a cloud cover which lowered the visibility and kept us cool. Luckily, the winds died down in the afternoon and the temperature climbed right up to 20 degree Celsius, meaning I spent the rest of the afternoon in a t-shirt, cherishing every single warm moment! Raptor Observations: Turkey Vultures are really starting to show us who is the boss around here! With 2639 individuals, they were clearly our most numerous migrant, coming in a constant stream all day long. In the last hour, the most abundant group flew-by with 628 Turkey Vultures. Unfortunately, most kettles only had vultures and no other migrating buteos. Sharp-shinned Hawks also had a good number with 192 individuals. We are noticing more adults flying through, with their barring on the chest and red eyes when they fly close. 10 Peregrine Falcons migrated over the tower today, some keeping a low-profile and pretending to be gulls along the beach, others having a go at ducks. A few Northern Harriers, Cooper's Hawks, Broad-winged Hawks, Red-tailed Hawks, American Kestrels, and Merlins made quick appearances. Non-raptor Observations: A respectable 14,070 Blue Jays flew over the tower, in a very disorderly fashion. With the lower visbility and cloud cover it was difficult to see very far onto the marsh, and you could think no birds were flying. However, as soon as you put binoculars to your face, thousands of Starlings, Blue Jays, and Tree Swallows appeared as if out of thin air before your eyes. Not very many small birds, but a few Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Nashville Warbler, Eastern Phoebe, and Black-throated Green Warblers made appearances throughout the day. Still waiting on a few more species of waterfowl to arrive, but for now we are counting many American Coots, American Wigeons, Mallards, and a few Northern Pintails. Full ebird checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S74506422 Predictions: Tomorrow, we are expecting strong Western winds which should shift to the North-West in the afternoon. The temperature is also expected to be warm which may create good thermal action for our raptors to ride. The afternoon could be really good for Red-tailed Hawks and maybe a few more Red-shouldered Hawks. ======================================================================== 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