Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 29, 2020 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 0 1012 52472 Osprey 0 0 9 Bald Eagle 0 27 86 Northern Harrier 0 128 734 Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 142 8122 Cooper's Hawk 1 65 330 Northern Goshawk 0 1 2 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 212 750 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 45368 Red-tailed Hawk 6 2174 4904 Rough-legged Hawk 0 21 28 Golden Eagle 0 27 36 American Kestrel 0 5 1934 Merlin 0 6 163 Peregrine Falcon 1 8 120 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: 8 3828 115063 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:30:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 6.5 hours Official Counter: Maryse Gagné Observers: Bob Hall-Brooks, 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: A relatively pleasant day on the tower, as the sun was out longer than we had expected. The wind was quite strong in the morning coming out of the South-West, but as it shifted to the South, we became sheltered and enjoyed the warmth in the air. Raptor Observations: We had hoped for a few more birds today, but only 8 decided to come by. Of those 8, one was a Cooper's Hawks, six were Red-tailed Hawks, and the last one was a Peregrine Falcon! Though not many raptors migrated, we were entertained by the 5 Bald Eagles currently staying on the marsh. Today they were very active, flying low over the ducks and spooking them up in the air. The juveniles seemed to be playing "King of the Hill" on the various muskrat mounds on the marsh, pushing each other off their perches. Non-raptor Observations: Not a whole lot of action from non-raptors either. Horned Larks (59) were the most abundant passerine, even the Goldfinches (35) seemed to have taken a break. On the marsh, the number of ducks seemed to have increased overnight. Mallards were the most abundant, but a big raft of Ring-necked Ducks kept their presence on the water. We were happy to see a few American Widgeons and many American Black Ducks. In the morning, one male Common Merganser was seen swimming among a huge raft of Bonaparte's Gulls (160). Full ebird checklist: https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S76876665 Predictions: Tomorrow is our last count day and it might be a doozy! A mix of snow and rain is predicted all day but with strong winds from the North. Odds are, the promising winds and snow will be too much for any hawk to migrating in, but might as well try, you never know! So wish us plenty of "hawk luck" for our last day 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