Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 09, 2020 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 414 10887 12991 Osprey 0 2 7 Bald Eagle 0 7 40 Northern Harrier 7 146 356 Sharp-shinned Hawk 143 2522 6471 Cooper's Hawk 7 61 133 Northern Goshawk 0 1 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 7 16 17 Broad-winged Hawk 0 154 45327 Red-tailed Hawk 9 88 272 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 24 657 1869 Merlin 1 31 134 Peregrine Falcon 1 27 83 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: 613 14599 67704 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 9 hours Official Counter: Maryse Gagné Observers: Elizabeth Kent, Hugh Kent 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: What a beautiful October day to be outside! Very slight winds from the South-East and absolutely zero clouds kept the day quite warm and pleasant. Of course the blue sky sent raptors very high up making them difficult to see in the vast blue. Raptor Observations: Much slower day compared to the last week with only 613 raptors. The morning started quite strong with many Sharp-shinned Hawks and a few Kestrels. 7 Red-shouldered Hawks cruised by slowly including a few adults flashing their red chests and dark tail bands. 9 Red-tailed Hawks joined us as well as 7 Cooper's Hawks and 7 Northern Harriers. A few kettles of Turkey Vultures were spotted North of the marsh, but were so far they could barely be seen with scopes. The Detroit River Hawkwatch will probably catch them all and hopefully have a high count today! As the afternoon wore on, any raptor movement came to a screeching halt and we only counted 2 Sharp-shinned Hawks in the last two hours. Can't win them all, I'm afraid. Non-raptor Observations: A plethora of Kinglets surrounded the tower today! Ruby and Golden-crowned Kinglets could be heard and seen fluttering in the bushes, barely staying still enough to get eyes on them. That's how you know it's a Kinglet! Other passerines included an American Redstart and a Least Flycatcher (great finds given the time of the year), a Brown Creepers, Hermit Thrushes, a Winter and Carolina Wren, and a few White-throated Sparrows. Blue Jays are still flying with 26,060 individuals migrating past the tower. Various species of blackbirds are becoming abundant in the morning with Grackles, Red-winged and Rusty Blackbird flying in mixed flocks. Busy morning on the tower, but in the afternoon, even the Jays stopped flying. Incredible how the flow can stop so quickly! Full ebird checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S74618851 Predictions: Tomorrow we are expecting hot temperatures with winds from the South-West most of the day. Given our slow day today, I'm not expecting too many birds, but would love if a few Peregrine Falcons would prove me wrong! Hopefully a few more Red-shouldered Hawks will appear among the Sharp-shinned Hawks. For my fellow Canadian; have a happy and safe Thanksgiving weekend! ======================================================================== 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