Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch Port Stanley, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 19, 2020 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 156 255 257 Osprey 8 14 18 Bald Eagle 2 37 58 Northern Harrier 54 97 99 Sharp-shinned Hawk 281 1366 1367 Cooper's Hawk 3 19 19 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 1 1 Broad-winged Hawk 977 6181 6184 Red-tailed Hawk 4 4 4 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 21 319 335 Merlin 0 19 19 Peregrine Falcon 0 2 2 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0 Unknown Buteo 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 0 Total: 1506 8314 8363 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 14:00:00 Total observation time: 7 hours Official Counter: Dave Brown Observers: Ches Caister, Derek Lyon, Jason McGuire, Keith Sealy, Tom Bolohan, Tom Stewart Visitors: Lots of visitors today and we were glad to see everyone practicing physical distancing. It was great to see a large number of our usual volunteer counters out today to help despite the unfortunate fizzle out of today's flight. Thanks to Dave B, Tom B., Tom S., Ches C., Derek L and Laura, Keith S. and Jason M. for helping spot the birds today and get the count done. Weather: The day started out with such promise with moderate NE winds and lots of sunshine. Unfortunately, we didn't see ANY cloud cover for the first several hours and by 10 a.m. the birds had disappeared up into the blue not to be seen again. Temp got to a high of 17C. The winds backed around to the E and then quickly to the SE and S pretty much ending the flight for the day. Raptor Observations: It was a great start to the day for the first 3 hours with a strong push of Northern Harriers with 34 in just the first 2 hours and ALL juvenile birds and nice and low as they flew through. We ended the day with 54 Harriers... one of the better days for this species in quite a while. The total birds for the day was 1,506... with the bulk being Broadwings (977) and Sharpies (281). We also had several nice Osprey (8) flybys with a few along the cliff edge after the winds backed around to the S. Non-raptor Observations: Lots of passerines around today especially early with 16 warbler species: Wilson's, Am. Redstart, Black-and-White, Tennessee, Magnolia, Yellow, Blackburnian, BT Green, BT Blue, N. Parula, Pine, Cape May, Nashville, Yellow-rumped, Chestnut-sided and Blackpoll... Woodpeckers, 6 species: Pileated, Downy, Hairy, Red-bellied, YB Sapsucker and N. Flicker... Vireos, 4 species: Red-eyed, Philadelphia, Warbling and Yellow-throated. Also Rock Pigeon, N. Cardinal, E. Phoebe, GC Flycatcher, Alder Flycatcher (vocalizing), E. Towhee, Am. Robin, Am. Goldfinch, Am. Crow, Gray Catbirds, several RT Hummingbird, lots of Ring-billed and Herring Gulls along with a few Bonaparte's Gulls, both White-breasted and Red-breasted Nuthatches, Cedar Waxwings, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Great Blue Heron, a single Black-billed Cuckoo, E. Starlings and several White-throated Sparrows. Predictions: Sunday looks like a instant replay of today as winds go back to the N tonight but then start the day ENE backing to E and then again to SE by mid-afternoon. If you're looking for birds I'd get down to the site early on Sunday. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Dave Brown (thebrowns@ezlink.ca) Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch information may be found at: http://www.ezlink.ca/~thebrowns/HawkCliff/index.htm More site information at hawkcount.org: http://hawkcount.org/siteinfo.php?rsite=392