Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 02, 2020 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 925 985 3089 Osprey 1 1 6 Bald Eagle 3 3 36 Northern Harrier 34 43 253 Sharp-shinned Hawk 530 824 4773 Cooper's Hawk 20 22 94 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 1 1 2 Broad-winged Hawk 26 27 45200 Red-tailed Hawk 21 25 209 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 110 219 1431 Merlin 9 12 115 Peregrine Falcon 3 3 59 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 1 Unknown Buteo 0 0 0 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 1 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 1 Total: 1683 2165 55270 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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, Michelle Mastellotto 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: Chilly start to the day with temperatures around 6 degrees Celsius and only warming to 12 degC throughout the rest of the day. Strong winds from the North-West blew in the morning, but shifted further to the West by the end of the day. Little cloud cover in the morning, which let the sun shine brightly and warmed up the air, creating thermals for the raptors to ride. As the afternoon wore on, the clouds returned forcing us to put back on the layers we had shed earlier in the day. Raptor Observations: An absolutely wonderful day on the tower with 1683 raptors! The Turkey Vulture tap was turned on early and we counted 925 TVs migrating past. Some groups formed kettles, and among them Red-tailed Hawks (21), and a single Red-shouldered were be spotted as well as 26 Broad-winged Hawks, offering a different scenario than what we were counting a only a few weeks ago. 530 Sharp-shinned Hawks zipped by the tower, and we welcomed many more of the cousins, the Cooper's Hawk (20). 35 Northern Harriers joined us, including two gorgeous male "Gray Ghosts". Finally, we were happy to count 150 American Kestrels, 9 Merlins, and 3 Peregrine Falcons. Thank you Mother Nature for these Northern winds! Non-raptor Observations: We often describe the movement of Blue Jays as "sheets" of jays flying past. Well this morning, we were counting "quilts" of Blue Jays, with 57,730 individuals migrating! After today, we have counted over half a million Blue Jays this season (appox 540,000). It has been and continues to be an incredible sight every day. In the morning, a few passerines were spotted including Nashville Warblers, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Palm Warblers, and Black-throated Green Warblers. Our first Golden-crowned Kinglet was spotted as well as a female or immature Indigo Bunting, seen at the top of the tree by the tower. Happy to report the sightings of Cedar Waxwings, American Goldfinches, Purple Finches and House Finches, Tree Swallows and Chimney Swifts, a Ruby-throated Hummingbird and a Monarch. More species of waterfowl are slowly invading the marsh, like American Widgeons, Gadwalls, American Coots, and Northern Pintails. Full ebird checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S74333061 Predictions: Winds are expected to stay North-West overnight, but quickly shift to the West in the morning, before hawks really set off for the day. By the end of the day, winds will be coming from the South-West. Due to this, tomorrow may not be as successful as today, but don't let this get you down, we can still expect Sharp-shinned Hawks, a few more Kestrels and a Red-tail or two! ======================================================================== 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