Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 31, 2021 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 396 60294 65171 Osprey 0 9 26 Bald Eagle 6 60 142 Northern Harrier 2 304 507 Sharp-shinned Hawk 19 4259 7607 Cooper's Hawk 2 157 239 Northern Goshawk 0 5 5 Red-shouldered Hawk 27 403 406 Broad-winged Hawk 0 21 5262 Red-tailed Hawk 52 1386 1521 Rough-legged Hawk 0 1 1 Golden Eagle 3 13 13 American Kestrel 0 677 1302 Merlin 1 27 117 Peregrine Falcon 0 37 88 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 Black Vulture 0 1 1 Total: 508 67654 82408 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 8 hours Official Counter: Hugh Kent Observers: Kit McCann, 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 started with a few clouds which cleared in the late morning and became overcast at the end. Visibility was good all day. The wind was moderate from the west. The temperature started at 9c and gradually rose to a high of 15c mid afternoon. Raptor Observations: Most of the raptors came in the mid morning under clearer skies. There was very little movement in the afternoon. Turkey Vultures again topped the bill with 396, but today was very much an eagle day, with 8 Bald Eagles remaining around the marsh and 6 migrating. 3 Golden Eagles passed by; 2 in the morning and one in the last hour under sunlit dark skies, making a great picture. Buteos showed up in reasonable numbers, Red-tailed Hawks 52 and Red-shouldered 27. Sharp-shinned Hawks struggled at 19 and only one falcon, a Merlin was seen. Only 2 Northern Harriers passed by. Non-raptor Observations: The early morning blackbird movement happened again; Red-winged Blackbirds (2618), Rusty Blackbirds (225) and Common Grackles (195). American Crows (1073) were abundant with a couple of large flocks. Songbirds picked up slightly today with Eastern Bluebirds (50), American Goldfinches (139) and Horned Lark (22). A great sight was a large flock of Tree Swallows (670) roosting on marsh vegetation early morning, prior to taking to the skies to feed. Duck numbers were again high, particularly Mallard (617) and Ring-necked Duck (425). A total of 10 duck species were present. The list is at https://ebird.org/checklist/S96960881 Predictions: Tomorrow will be similar to today with wind from the west. It is forecast to be a bit brighter, although with a cold start. Hopefully this will encourage greater numbers of thermal migrators throughout the day. ======================================================================== 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