Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 06, 2020 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 41 410 51870 Osprey 0 0 9 Bald Eagle 0 3 62 Northern Harrier 6 35 641 Sharp-shinned Hawk 8 43 8023 Cooper's Hawk 0 7 272 Northern Goshawk 0 0 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 7 30 568 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 45368 Red-tailed Hawk 23 131 2861 Rough-legged Hawk 1 1 8 Golden Eagle 1 5 14 American Kestrel 1 1 1930 Merlin 0 1 158 Peregrine Falcon 0 3 115 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: 88 670 111905 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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, 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: A beautiful day on the tower! With a bright sun and slight winds from the South, the air warmed up quickly and reached 15 degrees Celsius by the afternoon. The only downfall was a fog in the morning, lowering the visibility. After the fog lifted, the visibility did not improve much making it difficult to spot raptors flying over the Northern tree line, their preferred route today. Raptor Observations: A nice variety of migrating raptors today. We were happy to see an American Kestrel, a Light-morph Rough-legged Hawk, and an immature Golden Eagle. Quality not quantity people! Other migrants included Red-tailed Hawks (23), Red-shouldered Hawks (7), Sharp-shinned Hawks (8), a few Northern Harriers (6), and finally Turkey Vultures (41), for a grand total of 88 raptors. We were happy to enjoyed the warm day and count a few birds. Non-raptor Observations: Still seeing big movements of passerines including Cedar Waxwings (273), American Robins (268), American Goldfinches (306), and Pine Siskins (98). A few more Horned Larks (40), Eastern Bluebirds (71), and American Pipits (4) also came in small flocks over the tower. Over the marsh, a small flock of Dunlins seen, flying over slightly smaller groups of American Coots. Their numbers as well as Gadwalls are dwindling. Bonaparte's Gulls are gaining in numbers with approximately 80 individuals flying around the marsh today. Full ebird checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S75911855 Predictions: Tomorrow is predicted to be very similar to today; hot, no clouds, and winds from the South. This does not bode well for raptors passing over our area. We need a strong North wind to push them towards us. However, let us still hope for a good variety of buteos, maybe another Roughie! ======================================================================== 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