Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 26, 2020 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 2083 46949 49053 Osprey 0 4 9 Bald Eagle 4 20 53 Northern Harrier 16 351 561 Sharp-shinned Hawk 39 3877 7826 Cooper's Hawk 4 177 249 Northern Goshawk 0 1 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 158 414 415 Broad-winged Hawk 0 195 45368 Red-tailed Hawk 447 1755 1939 Rough-legged Hawk 0 3 3 Golden Eagle 2 6 6 American Kestrel 0 715 1927 Merlin 1 51 154 Peregrine Falcon 0 49 105 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 1 Unknown Buteo 0 1 1 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 1 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 1 Total: 2754 54568 107673 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 9 hours Official Counter: Hugh Kent Observers: Elizabeth 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: Overcast all day, with moderate wind from the north. Foggy for the first few hours but cleared during the middle of the day. Fog returned towards end of the day. Temperature hovered around 8c all day. Raptor Observations: The day started slowly with Buteos keeping low and often perching in the trees. The fog lifted and the wind increased by midday and we had 2 hectic hours in the early afternoon when the majority of Turkey Vultures (2083) migrated and the majority of Red-tailed Hawks (447) and Red-shouldered Hawks (158) were seen accompanying the Vultures. We also saw 2 Golden Eagles. Northern Harriers passed throughout the day and we were lucky to see a single Merlin zoom past in the late afternoon. Sharp-shinned Hawk numbers were low compared to yesterday. Non-raptor Observations: A varied day on the non-raptor front, with Evening Grosbeaks (87) in 3 flocks again taking centre stage. Both Trumpeter (7) and Tundra (50) Swans were seen, together with 4 White-winged Scoter on the Lake. Many blackbirds were migrating, including good numbers of Rusty Blackbirds (830). American Crow (1180) numbers were down from the previous two days. Wildfowl still fill the Marsh, but numbers seemed slightly lower today. Checkout the full list at https://ebird.org/checklist/S75453748 Predictions: It looks like a brighter morning tomorrow, but with the possibility of rain in the afternoon, wind will be from the west but with a slight northern aspect. Hopefully the Turkey Vulture migration will continue with more buteos tagging along. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Hugh Kent (Hughnkent@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