Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 31, 2020 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 10 49356 51460 Osprey 0 4 9 Bald Eagle 0 26 59 Northern Harrier 6 396 606 Sharp-shinned Hawk 5 4031 7980 Cooper's Hawk 2 193 265 Northern Goshawk 0 1 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 7 537 538 Broad-winged Hawk 0 195 45368 Red-tailed Hawk 23 2546 2730 Rough-legged Hawk 0 7 7 Golden Eagle 0 9 9 American Kestrel 0 717 1929 Merlin 0 54 157 Peregrine Falcon 2 56 112 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 1 Unknown Buteo 0 1 1 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 1 2 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 1 Total: 55 58130 111235 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 9 hours Official Counter: Maryse Gagné Observers: 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: Brisk start to the day, but the air warmed quickly and the temperature even reached 10 degrees Celsius. The clouds disappeared within a few hours of the count, leaving a bright blue sky behind. The wind was not in our favour, blowing in from the South-East all day. Raptor Observations: Quite the slow day on the tower with only 55 birds counted. At least it's better than no birds! Red-tailed Hawks were the most abundant with 23 individuals, beating out the 10 Turkey Vultures. Seven Red-shouldered Hawks, six Northern Harriers, 5 Sharp-shinned Hawks, and two Cooper's Hawks were our other migrants. Lastly, two Peregrine Falcons raced across the marsh in their falcon fashion. Non-raptor Observations: Today's highlight came from a few sparrows hanging out at the base of the tower; a Field Sparrow and two American Tree Sparrows. Tree Swallows were abundant today, practicing their acrobatics very low over the tower, and keeping our counter entertained during this tedious day. 84 Evening Grosbeaks flew by the tower today, and only 458 American Crows were counted. Over the marsh a few fun species were counted including Buffleheads, Common Goldeneye, Hooded Merganser, and Red-breasted Mergansers. A small flock of Dunlins was also seen flying low above the marsh. Full ebird checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S75664155 Predictions: Tomorrow does not look too great either. The day is predicted to start with some rain which might clear up by noon, with an additional bout of snow/rain in the afternoon. The Western winds will gust quite strongly, keeping everything cool. Hopefully, a few raptors will decide to move throughout the day. ======================================================================== 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