Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 12, 2019 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 173 4269 53505 Osprey 0 0 36 Bald Eagle 0 33 226 Northern Harrier 36 184 641 Sharp-shinned Hawk 12 292 5260 Cooper's Hawk 2 35 272 Northern Goshawk 0 0 6 Red-shouldered Hawk 58 212 427 Broad-winged Hawk 0 6 25779 Red-tailed Hawk 171 1120 1938 Rough-legged Hawk 1 7 7 Golden Eagle 0 11 14 American Kestrel 0 17 1727 Merlin 1 5 112 Peregrine Falcon 0 7 58 Unknown Accipiter 0 2 7 Unknown Buteo 1 11 23 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 3 7 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 1 Total: 455 6214 90046 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 9 hours Official Counter: Maryse Gagné Observers: Visitors: Thank you to Noel and Juliette for their lovely visit today! They came at just the right time to spot many Red-tail Hawks with me. Additional thank you to Tim Jarrold who brought up the most gorgeous dark Red-tailed Hawk. Let's keep'em coming! Weather: Hello winter! Yesterday's snow completely changed the marsh, making it look frosty and fabulous! Good amount of snow on the tower which made the stair quite slippery, but it should be cleared by tomorrow. Temperatures today were quite cold, around -6 degrees Celsius most of the day and the wind blowing from the North-West at approximately 20-30 km/h. Thankfully, the sun was out most of the day to warm the air. Clear blue skies in part of the afternoon, causing the raptors to fly very high. Raptor Observations: Another very successful day! Morning started quite typically with many Northern Harriers (16 in the first hour!), and ended with a daily total of 36 Harriers. Turkey Vultures and Red-tailed Hawks were neck and neck for most numerous species today, with the Turkey Vultures coming in first by 2 birds (173 total). An admirable day for the Red-tailed Hawk nonetheless. Among the Red-tailed, you could always spot a Red-shoulder or two, ending their daily total with 58 individuals. Other highlights included a Merlin and a textbook light morph Rough-legged Hawk, flying high and so beautiful against the clear blue sky. Non-raptor Observations: Still many species migrating over the tower, including Tundra Swans, American Crows, Red-winged Blackbirds, and Starlings. Passerines included Eastern Bluebirds, Goldfinches, and Horned Larks. A lone Tree Swallow flew by the tower, and three American Pipits could be seen walking on the frozen pond for most of the day. Parts of the marsh are covered by a thin sheet of ice which was enough to push all the ducks quite far at the other end of the marsh, making it difficult even with a scope to spot and identify them. However, there are still hundreds of ducks out there and some species are easier to identify, such as Buffleheads and Hooded Mergansers. Check out the full ebird list here: https://ebird.org/checklist/S61403671 Predictions: Cold start to the day tomorrow, but should warm up slightly throughout the day. Unfortunately looks like the wind will be shifting back towards the South for the next little bit. Hoping for more and more Harriers and a couple of Golden Eagles. ======================================================================== 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