Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 17, 2020 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 0 972 52432 Osprey 0 0 9 Bald Eagle 2 21 80 Northern Harrier 8 111 717 Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 130 8110 Cooper's Hawk 0 46 311 Northern Goshawk 0 1 2 Red-shouldered Hawk 19 160 698 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 45368 Red-tailed Hawk 116 1626 4356 Rough-legged Hawk 1 17 24 Golden Eagle 3 22 31 American Kestrel 0 4 1933 Merlin 0 3 160 Peregrine Falcon 1 6 118 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 1 Unknown Buteo 0 0 1 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 2 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 1 Total: 151 3119 114354 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:30:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 8.5 hours Official Counter: Maryse Gagné Observers: Kory Renaud, Michelle Mastellotto, Paul Pratt 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: The day started with a little fall of styrofoam-like snow which lingered for a few hours. The temperature stayed cool all day, never reaching higher than 2 degrees Celsius. The killer today was the wind. The promising North-West wind blew very strongly, gusting at 40km/h. Thankfully, the sun came out from time to time, warming us up just enough to endure the next gust of wind. Raptor Observations: We had our hopes set high for today, the North-West winds, mix of sun and cloud pointed to a great day. But the wind got eager and blew with slightly too much gusto for our raptors. We still had a good flight with 151 raptors. Red-tailed Hawks were the most abundant with 166 individuals, and 19 Red-shouldered Hawks mixed in as well. We were very happy to count a Peregrine Falcon aggressively passing over the marsh and swiping at the Bonaparte's Gulls sitting on the water. 3 Golden Eagles graced us with their presence in the afternoon, and the first bird of the day was a Rough-legged Hawk. Not a bad day overall! Non-raptor Observations: Drastic decrease of most species in area. Smaller birds were few and far between but included Ruby-crowned Kinglet, American Tree Sparrow, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Cedar Waxwings, American Goldfinches, and Pine Siskins. Also happy to count a few Common Redpolls in the morning. Blackbirds have all but disappeared as only a few Red-winged Blackbirds (45) and a single Rusty Blackbird were seen. The ducks seemed to huddle at the edges of the marsh, protecting themselves from the wind. Northern Pintails and Northern Shovelers were abundant today. Lastly, the highlight species of the day was a Common Loon flying low across the marsh. The eBird platform is currently undergoing maintenance for 48 hours. Checklists will be uploaded at a later time. Predictions: Tomorrow should be warmer than today, that's a plus! Unfortunately, the winds will shift back to the South-West early in the morning. Let's hope that the migrants that were pushed close to the lakeshore today will continue on that path and fly right by us on the tower. ======================================================================== 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