Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 27, 2020 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 0 1009 52469 Osprey 0 0 9 Bald Eagle 0 25 84 Northern Harrier 1 127 733 Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 142 8122 Cooper's Hawk 0 59 324 Northern Goshawk 0 1 2 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 210 748 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 45368 Red-tailed Hawk 5 2139 4869 Rough-legged Hawk 0 21 28 Golden Eagle 0 27 36 American Kestrel 0 5 1934 Merlin 0 6 163 Peregrine Falcon 0 7 119 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: 7 3778 115013 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 7 hours Official Counter: Maryse Gagné Observers: Elizabeth Kent, Hugh Kent, Michelle Mastellotto, Paul Pratt 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: Unfortunately, the sun never came leaving us slightly colder than we were expecting. The temperature stayed at a cool 7 degrees, while the wind blew steadily from the South-West. Given the humidity, the cold quickly settled into our bones by the early afternoon. Raptor Observations: Only seven raptors were recorded today, 5 Red-tailed Hawks, a Sharp-shinned Hawk, and a Northern Harrier. All but one came during the same hour, from noon to 1 o'clock. Non-raptor Observations: Though not many raptors we had a few exciting migrants. The first was a Lapland Longspur flying in a flock of Horned Larks, which were also on the move with 190 individuals. The second surprise came after we said goodbye to Paul, our sacrificial birder of the day, the bird was a Northern Shrike! We were very excited to spot this ferocious passerine flying past. You never know what you're going to get on the tower. Common Redpolls, American Goldfinches, and Horned Larks were also on the move, flying in big flocks throughout the day. 50 Tundra Swans flew over the marsh, which has the usual distribution of ducks at the moment. Full eBird checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S76769692 Predictions: Tomorrow there should be sun! Cooler start to the day, but will hopefully warm up slightly. Unfortunately, the winds are still from the South-West, but let's hope we see just as many if not more raptors than today. Fingers crossed! ======================================================================== 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