Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch Port Stanley, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 24, 2016 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 140 145 145 Osprey 4 78 78 Bald Eagle 42 74 74 Northern Harrier 38 250 250 Sharp-shinned Hawk 146 1759 1759 Cooper's Hawk 2 30 30 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 44 6780 6780 Red-tailed Hawk 27 39 39 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 37 898 898 Merlin 2 42 42 Peregrine Falcon 0 7 7 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: 482 10102 10102 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 06:30:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 8.5 hours Official Counter: Bob Johnstone, Dave Brown Observers: Bob Johnstone, Dave Brown, Dave Sked, Harold Vanderley, Ian Platt, Keith Sealy, Mac McAlpine, Paul Thomas, Ronnie Goodhand, Steve Birch, Tom Bolohan, Tom Thomas Visitors: Lots of visitors today....Stefan and Kirsten Wasowicz, Sylvia Park, Patrick Cleeve, Dawn Sharo and many more whose names we didn't get. Thanks to the many counters and observers that helped out today...including Bob J., Tom B., Mac M., Steve B., Tom T. Dave S., Paul T., Ronnie G., Keith S., Ian P. and Harold V. Weather: Winds nice and strong from the NE for most of the day though the speed dropped slightly midday. Temp started at a cool 8C and never got above 18C. The small amount of cloud that we started with quickly burned away leaving us staring into a pure blue sky. OUCH! Raptor Observations: With the lack of cloud we watched as the smaller hawks gained altitude and eventually disappeared from view. There's no question a good number of birds were on the move today but we simply couldn't pick them up at those heights. The only way we found smaller birds was by focusing on the Bald Eagles and TVs that we COULD see! The total for the day was 482 birds. We had one of our best days in ages for Bald Eagles (47) providing a great study in the various plumages for the different ages. Even the eagles were at times not visible without scanning with our binos. A bit of a surprise...the Redtails (27) were definitely moving and the majority of appeared to be young birds and we tallied some high flying TVs (140) all within a few minutes during the last hour of the count. Other species included Osprey (4), N. Harrier (38), Sharpies (146), Cooper's Hawk (2), some Broadwings (44) which I suspect is the tail end of their main push, A. Kestrel (27) and Merlin (2) that sped through low. It would be interesting to know just how many raptors snuck by out of sight of the observers! Non-raptor Observations: On the other hand the Blue Jays were already on the move in droves at 6:30 a.m. (EST) and right at treetop height. Counting over several minutes we got an average of 500 per minute and given they continued at that pace for the first 3 1/2 hours we estimate over 11,000 passed the hawkwatch area this morning! It was a real treat for the visitors. Other species observed included a late male Yellow Warbler that landed in a shrub right next to us and began feeding. A couple of nice Common Nighthawks, some Tree Swallows and Chimney Swifts, Belted Kingfisher, Indigo Bunting, Purple Finch, A. Goldfinch, warblers (A. Redstarts, Black and White, Magnolia, Wilson's, BT Blue, BT Green, Yellow-rumped, Blackpoll, Red-eyed Vireo, woodpeckers (N. Flicker, YB Sapsucker, Red-bellied, Pileated), Gray Catbird and Golden-crowned Kinglet. Predictions: Tomorrow (Sunday) is likely to be similar to today weather wise...with lots of sun but moderate to strong E winds. The humidity is expected to be lower which might help get more birds moving...though E winds aren't always the best direction for migrants. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Dave Brown (thebrowns@ezlink.on.ca) Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch information may be found at: http://www.ezlink.on.ca/~thebrowns/HawkCliff/index.htm