Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 30, 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 0 65 330 Northern Goshawk 0 1 2 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 212 750 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 45368 Red-tailed Hawk 0 2174 4904 Rough-legged Hawk 0 21 28 Golden Eagle 0 27 36 American Kestrel 0 5 1934 Merlin 0 6 163 Peregrine Falcon 0 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: 0 3828 115063 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:30:00 Observation end time: 12:00:00 Total observation time: 3.5 hours Official Counter: Maryse Gagné Observers: Elizabeth Kent, Hugh Kent, Noel Herdman Visitors: I would like to thank all our volunteer observers for coming out to help during this season. Your help and company was most valued. I particularly want to thank you all for complying with our 3-person rule on the tower and graciously taking turns to stand up there. I also want to thank the visitors with whom we had lovely conversations from the top of the tower. Weather: We were hoping for a good last day on the tower, but Mother Nature had other plans, and she's the boss. Of course, we knew this system was coming but decided to try anyways. Strong winds came from the North, gusting at 40 km/h and bringing along a mix of rain and snow. The temperature hovered around 1 degree Celsius and it did not take long for our frozen selves to call it a day. Raptor Observations: Hawks were smarter than us and all decided to stay home. Quite the uneventful last day with no hawks counted. We did spot 3 of our local Bald Eagles flying over the marsh, so at least we left still seeing a few raptors! We end our season with 115,068 raptors and take the 4th place for highest season total! Given the upside down and backwards year we've had, there is triumph in counting a whole lot of hawks. Stay tuned for our end of season report coming out in the new year for a complete breakdown of our sightings. Non-raptor Observations: Like the hawks, most other birds stay put. Two small flocks of Cedar Waxwings attempted flight as well as a few American Goldfinches. On the marsh, 4 Double-crested Cormorants stood their ground on the water, probably reflecting on their life choice that lead them to this cold point. The raft of Ring-necked Ducks (500) was still visible, but hid in the remaining vegetation. Full eBird checklist: https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S76912886 Predictions: Well, that's all folks for 2020 annual fall count at HBMO! What a year this has been and we are so grateful to have been able to record it all. Big thanks to all the hawks for migrating over us, they are the real stars of the show. And last but not least, keep looking up! -Maryse ======================================================================== 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