Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 26, 2020 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 0 1009 52469 Osprey 0 0 9 Bald Eagle 0 25 84 Northern Harrier 0 126 732 Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 141 8121 Cooper's Hawk 0 59 324 Northern Goshawk 0 1 2 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 210 748 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 45368 Red-tailed Hawk 3 2134 4864 Rough-legged Hawk 0 21 28 Golden Eagle 0 27 36 American Kestrel 0 5 1934 Merlin 1 6 163 Peregrine Falcon 0 7 119 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: 4 3771 115006 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:30:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 7.5 hours Official Counter: Maryse Gagné Observers: Noel Herdman 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: A gray November day on the tower. The predicted sun did not show its face and the thick cloud cover stayed put all day. The wind blew from the West in the morning and shifted to the South-West after a few hours. Luckily, the temperature was not too cold, staying around 7 degrees Celsius. Raptor Observations: Today's raptors could be counted on our fingers as only 4 birds came by. Three were Red-tailed Hawks, but the fourth one was a Merlin! The quick falcon almost snuck by me as it attempted a low fly-by, just over the water and blended in with the background. Thankfully for me, these feisty falcons cannot resist diving at ducks on the way out which caught my attention. Non-raptor Observations: Slow in the non-raptor department as well. American Goldfinches and Common Redpolls flew in a few flocks in the morning, with 44 and 35 individuals respectively. A couple of House Finches also flew over the tower in the afternoon. Brown Creepers, Chickadees, and Cardinals rule at the base of the tower. Over the last few days one male Lesser Scaup has been spending time on the marsh close to the tower and has visited with the Coots, Pied-billed Grebes, and Gadwalls. Finally, the giant raft of Ring-necked Ducks has dwindled down to approximately 260 individuals. Full ebird checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S76728749 Predictions: Tomorrow looks to be slightly warmer and the sun is set to make an appearance, hopefully it follows through! If the sun does shine, even in South-West winds, let's hope it will encourage a few hawks to make their way in our direction. We also wish a Happy Thanksgiving to our American friends! ======================================================================== 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