Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 23, 2020 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 170 41445 43549 Osprey 0 4 9 Bald Eagle 0 13 46 Northern Harrier 1 288 498 Sharp-shinned Hawk 53 3708 7657 Cooper's Hawk 0 158 230 Northern Goshawk 0 1 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 196 197 Broad-winged Hawk 0 194 45367 Red-tailed Hawk 1 851 1035 Rough-legged Hawk 0 1 1 Golden Eagle 0 2 2 American Kestrel 0 711 1923 Merlin 2 50 153 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: 227 47672 100777 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 15:30:00 Total observation time: 8.5 hours Official Counter: Maryse Gagné Observers: Elizabeth Kent, Hugh Kent, Michelle Mastellotto 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: Unseasonably warm day with temperatures reaching 20 degrees Celsius, high humidity, and winds from the South-East. In the early afternoon, as the barometer dropped, menacing dark clouds made their way across the marsh. In the distance, thunder rumbled and I kept my bags packed ready to run down the tower. That time came at 3:30 when the thunder clapped loudly and lightening flashed forcing the count to end. Luckily, I made to the car before the torrential downpour! Raptor Observations: A lazy day for raptors with 227 individuals flying past the tower. As usual, Turkey Vultures made up the strong majority of today's migrants with 170 TVs slowly making their way across. 53 Sharp-shinned Hawks zipped past the tower while only 1 Red-tailed Hawk and 1 Northern Harrier were counted. To our surprise, we counted 2 Merlins flying quickly over the marsh! Non-raptor Observations: Even if no raptors were flying, the sky was still full of birds! Blackbirds made their presence know early, particularly Rusty Blackbirds with their squeaky and metallic call. A wide variety of birds flew over the tower including Eastern Bluebirds, an Eastern Meadowlark, Horned Larks, Cedar Waxwings, Finches, and Starlings. Blue Jays and American Crows took the warm day as an opportunity to keep migrating and we counted 1,915 and 830individuls, respectively. Over a hundred Tree Swallows were seen feeding over the thousand of ducks out on the marsh. American Coots, Gadwalls, and Ring-necked Ducks are currently the most abundant. Full ebird checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S75271154 Predictions: Tomorrow promises to be a good day, with winds from the North and a good mix of sun and cloud to create thermals and breakup the blue sky. Hopefully, hawks will decide to move, especially after today's weather, and we will count a good number of Red-tailed Hawks, Red-shouldered Hawks, and Turkey Vultures. Fingers crossed! ======================================================================== 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