Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 11, 2019 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 0 4096 53332 Osprey 0 0 36 Bald Eagle 0 33 226 Northern Harrier 20 148 605 Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 280 5248 Cooper's Hawk 0 33 270 Northern Goshawk 0 0 6 Red-shouldered Hawk 1 154 369 Broad-winged Hawk 0 6 25779 Red-tailed Hawk 3 949 1767 Rough-legged Hawk 1 6 6 Golden Eagle 0 11 14 American Kestrel 0 17 1727 Merlin 0 4 111 Peregrine Falcon 0 7 58 Unknown Accipiter 0 2 7 Unknown Buteo 0 10 22 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 2 3 7 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 1 Total: 28 5759 89591 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 13:00:00 Total observation time: 6 hours Official Counter: Maryse Gagné Observers: Visitors: Only one visitor to the tower today, thanks Tim Jarrold for your great company in the last little bit of the count. Weather: To put it simply, today was not very pleasant on the tower. Snow and heavy Northern winds gave us practically whiteout conditions, with poor visibility over the marsh. Temperatures hovered around 0 degCel which made heavy and wet snow, perfect for sticking to my glasses and making a snowman. Raptor Observations: I took a chance by coming to the tower today, only expecting to see a few birds, but I was proven wrong with 28 raptors! The most numerous were Northern Harriers (20) with a few being males. There is something quite spectacular about seeing a gray ghost flying over the tower in a snow storm. I also counted a Sharp-shinned Hawk, a Red-shouldered Hawk, 3 Red-tailed Hawks, and a Rough-legged Hawk. Non-raptor Observations: To my surprise, many other birds were on the move today, mostly Red-winged Blackbirds and Starlings. I also counted a Killdeer, a Bluebird, a few Horned Larks, Goldfinches, Dark-eyed Juncos, and to my delight a Yellow-rumped Warbler jumping on the vegetation in the pond by the tower. Ducks are still present on the marsh, however with the poor visibility, it was difficult to tell how many were out there. Check out our full ebird list here: https://ebird.org/checklist/S61372771 In non-bird news: we now have a portable washroom by the tower!! Predictions: Still expecting a little bit of snow tomorrow in the morning, but it should clear by early afternoon. The wind will be staying North-West all day and the temperatures will drop to -5 degrees Celsius. Hoping for more Northern Harriers and a few buteos. ======================================================================== 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