Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 15, 2020 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 270 25759 27863 Osprey 0 2 7 Bald Eagle 0 8 41 Northern Harrier 0 220 430 Sharp-shinned Hawk 7 2998 6947 Cooper's Hawk 0 106 178 Northern Goshawk 0 1 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 60 61 Broad-winged Hawk 0 193 45366 Red-tailed Hawk 8 311 495 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 0 678 1890 Merlin 0 44 147 Peregrine Falcon 1 39 95 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 1 Unknown Buteo 0 0 0 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 1 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 1 Total: 286 30419 83524 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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, Noel Herdman 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: Cold, wet, and windy day on the tower. We should prepare ourselves, plenty more to come in the second half of the count. Rain fell all morning until approximately 1pm, when the sky cleared up and the winds fell a bit. Before that, winds gusted to 40km/h, and blew steadily from the South-West all day. Raptor Observations: Very little raptor action to report today. A single Sharp-shinned Hawk flew in the first 10 minutes of the count before he rain started, then no birds were seen for a few hours. One Red-tailed Hawks tried his luck in the mid-morning when the rain had let up for a few minutes. Once the rain stopped for the day, 270 Turkey Vultures flew quickly across the Northern tree line. A few more Red-tailed Hawks, Sharp-shinned Hawks, and a single Peregrine Falcon also attempted migration after the rain. Non-raptor Observations: Now, the question on everyone's mind...have we seen our millionth Blue Jays? Sadly, no. No Blue Jays were seen flying today, only one was heard in the trees by the tower. But do not despair, they are sure to fly tomorrow! At any rate it will be a nicer day to celebrate. With the rain and all around bad weather, not much was seen, even a good number of ducks took shelter. Nonetheless, Golden-crowned Kinglets and Yellow-rumped Warblers were very active around the tower. Additionally, a good number of Tree Swallows actively fed on the marsh and seemed to play in the wind. Full ebird checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S74863425 Predictions: Prep your tuques for tomorrow morning! Temperatures are dropping to 3degC tonight and will keep cool for most of the morning with a gradual warming to 12degC by the afternoon. Luckily, the sun will shine brightly sending raptors high up above us. Winds will be from the South-West, so we are hoping the raptors won't fly too far North of the tower. Let's also hope that 650 Blue Jays will casually fly by the tower. Fingers crossed for a relatively good day tomorrow. ======================================================================== 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