Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 15, 2020 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 2 162 162 Osprey 0 1 1 Bald Eagle 0 19 19 Northern Harrier 7 78 78 Sharp-shinned Hawk 181 973 973 Cooper's Hawk 1 24 24 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 471 12316 12316 Red-tailed Hawk 1 81 81 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 58 617 617 Merlin 5 31 31 Peregrine Falcon 0 9 9 Unknown Accipiter 0 1 1 Unknown Buteo 0 0 0 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 1 1 Swainson's Hawk 0 1 1 Total: 726 14314 14314 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 9 hours Official Counter: Maryse Gagné Observers: 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 very pleasant day on the tower, with temperatures in the mid-twenties in the afternoon. The winds blew from the South and South-West all day, pushing most migrants North of us. Our clear sky disappeared as the barometer dropped steadily throughout the day, and we were left with a hazy gray sky. Raptor Observations: After counting 11,000 yesterday, anything lower than a 1,000 seems a little disappointing. However, we still had a successful day counting 726 raptors! A few kettles of Broad-winged Hawks were spotted in the morning, but all were very far to the North of the tower, and eventually were too far to see even with scopes. We're hoping our friends across the border managed to catch them! Thankfully, Sharp-shinned Hawks and American Kestrels flew in to liven our spirits. We also counted 5 Merlins zipping across the marsh along with 7 Northern Harriers. Non-raptor Observations: Blue Jays have started their migration as we counted 197 individuals sneaking silently across the marsh. At the base of the tower, we counted 19 species of warblers, something for everyone! We were also happy to see our first White-throated Sparrow of the season as well as 2 Purple Finches. Our other major migrant, with 255 individuals, was the Monarch Butterfly! Steadily they flew across the tower and over the marsh, and we wish the little migrants good luck on their long journey. Full ebird list: https://ebird.org/checklist/S73647342 Predictions: We are expecting a hot day tomorrow with winds blowing from the South-West all day. These winds will give us a nice breeze but won't bring us too many birds. We're hoping to see the same variety as right now; Sharp-shinned Hawks, American Kestrels, and Northern Harriers, and still good numbers. ======================================================================== 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: http://hawkcount.org/siteinfo.php?rsite=100