Holiday Beach Conservation Area Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 19, 2015 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 0 54 54 Osprey 1 55 55 Bald Eagle 1 66 66 Northern Harrier 2 185 185 Sharp-shinned Hawk 130 2100 2100 Cooper's Hawk 1 31 31 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 0 10806 10806 Red-tailed Hawk 0 27 27 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 19 670 670 Merlin 0 23 23 Peregrine Falcon 2 6 6 Unknown Accipiter 0 2 2 Unknown Buteo 0 2 2 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 6 6 Swainson's Hawk 0 1 1 Total: 156 14034 14034 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 9 hours Official Counter: Kory Renaud Observers: Cindy Cartwright, Dorothy McLeer, Jeremy Bensette, Jeremy Hatt, Jim McCoy Visitors: Visitors from near and far braved the less than ideal weather. Many people have traveled a great distance to witness the fall hawk migration during this final weekend of HawkFest 2015. Weather: The day started off pretty soggy with steady rain for much of the morning. The winds started out strong out of the southwest but eventually shifted out of the northwest for the afternoon. The rain also let up by early afternoon. It was overcast for much of the day with sunny breaks late in the afternoon. Raptor Observations: Sharp-shinned hawks were the dominant species fighting the weather with 130 flying past the tower. American Kestrels were also flying today. 2 Peregrine Falcons were nice to see. Non-raptor Observations: Tree Swallows continue to feed out over the marsh and the duck counts are continuing to climb. A few Ruby-throated Hummingbirds were moving through late in the afternoon. A highlight for many of the visitors was seeing an estimated 500+ Monarchs roosting in the park this afternoon. Predictions: The forecast for the final day of HawkFest 2015 is looking very good. Winds are predicted to be out of the north / north east with no rain. Seasonal temperatures are expected. Visit hbmo.ca for more details on HawkFest 2015. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Kory Renaud (koryrenaud@gmail.com) Holiday Beach Conservation Area information may be found at: http://hbmo.ca/