Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 25, 2020 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 0 1009 52469 Osprey 0 0 9 Bald Eagle 0 25 84 Northern Harrier 0 126 732 Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 141 8121 Cooper's Hawk 0 59 324 Northern Goshawk 0 1 2 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 210 748 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 45368 Red-tailed Hawk 0 2131 4861 Rough-legged Hawk 0 21 28 Golden Eagle 0 27 36 American Kestrel 0 5 1934 Merlin 0 5 162 Peregrine Falcon 0 7 119 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 1 Unknown Buteo 0 0 1 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 2 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 1 Total: 0 3767 115002 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 12:00:00 Total observation time: 4 hours Official Counter: Maryse Gagné Observers: Elizabeth Kent, Hugh Kent 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: A very short and wet morning on the tower. Rain started in the early hours of the day and is predicted to continue until later tonight. The wind blew from the South-East, and the temperature hovered around 6 degrees Celsius. The visibility was low to start but got progressively worse, to the point where we lost the windmills, and eventually the other side of the marsh. Raptor Observations: We were a couple of wet skunks on the tower today. Expectations were low, but they were met; no hawks were counted. Non-raptor Observations: Not much to count today, but we had a few really fun observations. The first was the sighting of a beaver on the marsh! Anecdotally, beavers were once very common at Holiday Beach but have not been seen in the last few years. We are used to seeing muskrats on the water, but seeing its larger cousin was a fun surprise. Secondly, a few times this fall we have had evidence of bird of prey activity on the tower when the counters are not around. We usually find discarded wings or feathers and always wondered who was the culprit. Today we found a pellet on the railing of the tower. This pellet could be from a hawk or potentially a Great Horned Owl. A very interesting find if you ask me! With the rain, not any birds flying and ducks were far on the marsh. Ring-necked Ducks are seen in fewer numbers, and a couple of Cormorants are still sticking around. Full ebird checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S76683524 Predictions: The rain should stop in the wee hours tomorrow morning, and stay clear for the rest of the day. The sun is even set to make an appearance in the afternoon, bringing along a pleasant 11 degrees Celsius. The wind will be from the West, which is not bad at all and will hopefully bring some of today's grounded raptors towards us. ======================================================================== 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