Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 11, 2020 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 10967 22415 24519 Osprey 0 2 7 Bald Eagle 1 8 41 Northern Harrier 35 190 400 Sharp-shinned Hawk 149 2844 6793 Cooper's Hawk 27 93 165 Northern Goshawk 0 1 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 32 48 49 Broad-winged Hawk 33 187 45360 Red-tailed Hawk 118 209 393 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 9 676 1888 Merlin 1 40 143 Peregrine Falcon 4 34 90 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: 11376 26747 79852 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 9 hours Official Counter: Hugh Kent Observers: Elizabeth Kent, Noel Herdman, Paul Gosselin 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! You may notice that sometimes we report more than 2 observers. This is because observers take turns on the tower ensuring that the three-person limit is maintained. Weather: Wind was mostly from the north and light to moderate. Visibility was good but cloud cover changed throughout the day. Temperature was a comfortable high teens. Raptor Observations: The day bought gradually increasing numbers of Turkey Vultures kettling generally close to the shore reaching a respectable 10,967. A good selection of buteos accompanied the Turkey Vultures with Red-shouldered Hawks (32), Broad-winged Hawks (33) and Red-tailed Hawks (118) in the mix. Northern Harriers (35) were also in the stream. Sharp-shinned Hawk numbers were slightly lower at 149, falcon numbers were also low. Non-raptor Observations: When we thought that Blue Jay numbers were on the wain, once again they amaze with an incredible 99,175!!!! A constant stream most of the day. Maybe one million this season is possible! The marsh is gradually filling with more ducks, with a noticeable increase in Ring-necked Duck, Gadwall and of course American Coot. Blackbird species and numbers are increasing with a nice 4 Rusty Blackbirds alighting in a nearby tree. Also a nice flock of Pine Siskin paid a visit. A full eBird list is at https://ebird.org/checklist/S74716723 Predictions: It looks like the predicted rain will not arrive until tomorrow evening, so hopefully it will remain dry throughout the day. Temperatures are forecast high for the time of year but the wind switches to the east. We may have a foggy start but it looks brighter thereafter. We will probably have more Turkey Vultures over with hopefully accompanying buteos. Likely that the numbers will be lower though. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Hugh Kent (Hughnkent@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