Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 28, 2020 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 537 47640 49744 Osprey 0 4 9 Bald Eagle 0 20 53 Northern Harrier 7 361 571 Sharp-shinned Hawk 34 3915 7864 Cooper's Hawk 2 181 253 Northern Goshawk 0 1 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 14 438 439 Broad-winged Hawk 0 195 45368 Red-tailed Hawk 129 1915 2099 Rough-legged Hawk 0 4 4 Golden Eagle 0 6 6 American Kestrel 0 715 1927 Merlin 0 51 154 Peregrine Falcon 0 50 106 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: 723 55497 108602 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 9 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: The sun came out today! Bright blue skies greeted us with a strong wind from the South-West most of the day. The wind managed to keep a chill in air, but temperatures did reach a lovely 11 degrees Celsius. Raptor Observations: A strong start to the day with a number of raptors flying early. Before noon, we had seen the majority of our migrants before the action halted drastically in the afternoon. By the end of the day we had counted 537 Turkey Vultures, 34 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 14 Red-shouldered Hawks, and 129 Red-tailed Hawks. A few Cooper's Hawks and Northern Harriers also made an appearance, with one male Harrier flying so close to the tower I could have reached out and grabbed it! It's always the day you don't have your camera, right? Non-raptor Observations: Ducks everywhere! Thousands of ducks are using the marsh to refuel before continuing on their journeys. Ring-necked Ducks, Gadwalls, and American Coots make up the majority but Northern Pintails, Northern Shovelers, and Ruddy Ducks are also showing strong numbers. A few Green-winged Teals, Buffleheads, and Tundra Swans were also spotted today. Blue Jays and American Crows are still migrating over the tower with a few hundred each day. Finches and Cedar Waxwings are quite common, as well as American Robins and Rusty Blackbirds. Full ebird checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S75537560 Predictions: Winds are shifting to the North overnight and will stay in that direction all day tomorrow. The downfall is that the day looks to be overcast, with thick clouds all day. Hopefully, the potential rain will hold off and most migrants will move close to the tower. An overcast day can go either way; we could get no birds or lots of birds. Let's hope for the latter! ======================================================================== 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