Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 09, 2020 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 0 2 2 Osprey 1 1 1 Bald Eagle 0 1 1 Northern Harrier 8 21 21 Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 8 8 Cooper's Hawk 1 6 6 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 2 3 3 Red-tailed Hawk 11 16 16 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 50 128 128 Merlin 2 11 11 Peregrine Falcon 1 5 5 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0 Unknown Buteo 0 0 0 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 1 1 Total: 76 203 203 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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: A thick fog surrounded the tower today, making it hard to see the treeline at the other end of the marsh. The visibility remained quite poor for most of the day as the clouds stayed very low and we stared into a gray sky to spot birds. Winds we're quite favourable for us, blowing from the North all day, with the exception of a few hours in the mid-afternoon when the air became very still. Raptor Observations: Migration has officially begun at HBMO, thank you Northern winds! Today we counted 76 raports, and once again the majority were American Kestrels (50). We counted more Red-Tailed Hawks flying quite high and getting lost into the clouds. A couple Northern Harriers, Broad-winged Hawks and Merlins also flew over. Our last bird of the day was a Peregrine Falcon flying just above our heads. We are noticing a lack of Sharp-shinned Hawks, and are hoping that the last few days of Northern winds will have pushed them closer to us and they should pass over the tower any day now. Non-raptor Observations: Another major push for swallows today with over 200 Purple Martins and Tree Swallows feeding above us. Mixed in their flocks were many Chimney Swifts and a few Nighthawks. Mingling among the swallows was a constant flow of Monarch butterflies gracefully crossing the marsh. We added a few species of ducks to this year's list; Gadwalls, American Widgeon, and American Black Duck. They were spotted when a motor boat flushed many waterfowl from their homes under the lotus leaves. Additionally, we were fortunate to spot a Common Loon flying above the tower. Warblers and small passerines are still coming through thanks to Northern overnight winds. They are a delight to count in the morning. Full ebird list: https://ebird.org/checklist/S73394724 Predictions: How lucky we are to have another day of Northern winds tomorrow! These last few days have quick-started migration in the region and now we're off to the races. We hoping to count more Sharp-shinned Hawks and continue on the same upward trend. ======================================================================== 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: http://hawkcount.org/siteinfo.php?rsite=100