Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 23, 2021 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 2665 38078 42955 Osprey 0 9 26 Bald Eagle 0 46 128 Northern Harrier 20 262 465 Sharp-shinned Hawk 50 3871 7219 Cooper's Hawk 0 116 198 Northern Goshawk 0 3 3 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 76 79 Broad-winged Hawk 0 19 5260 Red-tailed Hawk 29 678 813 Rough-legged Hawk 0 1 1 Golden Eagle 0 1 1 American Kestrel 2 668 1293 Merlin 1 21 111 Peregrine Falcon 0 33 84 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0 Unknown Buteo 0 0 0 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 0 Total: 2767 43882 58636 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 9 hours Official Counter: Hugh Kent Observers: Bob Hall-Brooks, Donny Moore, Liz Kent, Noel Herdman Visitors: We thank all today's observers for their outstanding efforts and those interested in the ongoing Hawk Count. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, access to the top level of Hawk Tower is limited to hawk counters and qualified observers only. The 2nd and lower levels are open to the public practising COVID-19 safe precautions (social distancing). Thank you for your understanding and involvement. Weather: The day remained overcast until early afternoon. After early drizzle, it remained dry for the rest of the day. The wind remained generally from the west, light to moderate. Temperatures remained around 10c all day, rising slightly towards late afternoon. Raptor Observations: Thermal migrators did not appear until the cloud cover reduced early afternoon, resulting in reduced Turkey Vulture (2665) and Red-tailed Hawk (29) numbers. The only raptors flying in early morning were Northern Harriers (20) who kept coming past throughout the day. Sharp-shinned Hawk numbers were lower at 50, and only two American Kestrels were seen. Good views were had of a Merlin as it shot past the Tower. Non-raptor Observations: Three new fall list species were seen today; American Tree Sparrow, Canvasback and Bufflehead. Good numbers of ducks were on the marsh with a total of 12 species seen. Blue Jay (740) numbers continue to reduce, whilst good numbers of Blackbirds passed by in the early part of the morning. Good numbers of Tree Swallow (172) were seen feeding over the marsh. Horned Lark (350) and American Goldfinch (209) numbers were high, passing over the tower on their journey west. The list is at https://ebird.org/checklist/S96618060 Predictions: The good news is it looks like the wind will be from the north tomorrow with initial scattered clouds. Bad news is that it is likely to rain in late afternoon, hopefully after 5pm! If the thermal migrators get their skates on in the morning, we may see more than today. Maybe the reliable Sharp-shinned Hawks will return in greater numbers. ======================================================================== 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 Count data submitted via Dunkadoo - Project info at: https://dunkadoo.org/explore/hbmo/hbmo-hawk-watch-fall-2021