Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 30, 2022 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 367 44907 52091 Osprey 0 5 16 Bald Eagle 0 47 299 Northern Harrier 5 352 670 Sharp-shinned Hawk 8 3183 7029 Cooper's Hawk 1 192 284 Northern Goshawk 0 2 2 Red-shouldered Hawk 37 367 368 Broad-winged Hawk 0 43 65702 Red-tailed Hawk 156 2202 2378 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 13 13 American Kestrel 0 689 2081 Merlin 1 55 114 Peregrine Falcon 1 55 107 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0 Unknown Buteo 0 0 0 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 1 1 Total: 576 52113 131155 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 9 hours Official Counter: Hugh Kent Observers: John Hall, Juliette Herdman, Liz Kent, Noel Herdman, Ralph Billingsley Visitors: Big thanks to John, Juliette, Noel and Ralph for help in observing the raptors today. We had a good number of visitors (40+) including Shana and Jeff from Chatham, Larry, Barry from Hamilton, Dave from Michigan, Matt and Brittany, James and Linda from Port Perry and Jiri and Hana. Thanks to all visitors for your interest in the Hawk Watch and birds on the Marsh. Weather: The day started misty, cold (5c) with scattered clouds. Initially the wind locally was light from the north, although the wind turbines showed a southerly wind. The wind at the tower changed to the southeast mid-morning and remained generally from the south for the rest of the day. Visibility gradually improved throughout the day, but it became overcast mid-morning. The temperature gradually rose to the low teens by midday. Raptor Observations: The great majority of raptor movement happened in one hectic hour around midday. Mixed streams of Turkey Vultures and buteos passed to the north with a total of 367 Turkey Vultures, 37 Red-shouldered Hawks and 156 Red-tailed Hawks. The remainder of species; Sharp-shinned and Cooper's Hawks, Northern Harriers, Merlin and Peregrine were in very low numbers. Non-raptor Observations: Ducks again maintained their numbers; Great Egrets (16) are still hanging around as are the same mix of shorebirds. The sighting of the day was a very obliging Virginia Rail which spent time feeding in the open in the corner of the pond east of the Tower. Good views were obtained looking down from the Tower. Tree Swallows (440) are still maintaining numbers on the Marsh. Today had a similar mix of passerine species to the last few days, including Horned Lark, American Pipit, Eastern Bluebird and Purple Finch. American Crows (2000) again passed by in good numbers. A Fox was also seen moving along the east bank of the pond east of the tower. The list is at https://ebird.org/checklist/S121600810 Predictions: Tomorrow's forecast is for the likelihood of rain for most of the day, with a light wind from the south and overcast. The temperature starts higher than recently at about 12c. Raptor movement is likely to be limited with these conditions. Nice weather for ducks! ======================================================================== Report submitted by Hugh Kent (Hughnkent@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 Count data submitted via Dunkadoo - Project info at: https://dunkadoo.org/explore/hbmo/hbmo-hawk-watch-fall-2022