Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 19, 2021 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 10685 28353 33230 Osprey 0 8 25 Bald Eagle 7 37 119 Northern Harrier 43 190 393 Sharp-shinned Hawk 364 3478 6826 Cooper's Hawk 14 100 182 Northern Goshawk 0 2 2 Red-shouldered Hawk 7 47 50 Broad-winged Hawk 1 19 5260 Red-tailed Hawk 47 352 487 Rough-legged Hawk 1 1 1 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 47 646 1271 Merlin 1 19 109 Peregrine Falcon 0 28 79 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0 Unknown Buteo 0 0 0 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 0 Total: 11217 33280 48034 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 9 hours Official Counter: Hugh Kent Observers: Bob Hall-Brooks, Dan Loncke, Liz Kent, Michael Arthurs, Olga Klekner Visitors: Thanks to the steadfast efforts of our counters, observers and visitor observers (Andy Fix and Neil Monaghan) we were able to observe and count the large stream of raptors passing today. We thank all today's observers for their outstanding efforts and those interested in the ongoing Hawk Count. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, access to the top level of Hawk Tower is limited to hawk counters and qualified observers only. The 2nd and lower levels are open to the public practising COVID-19 safe precautions (social distancing). Thank you for your understanding and involvement. Weather: There were clear blue skies until a few wispy clouds appeared in the afternoon. The wind was moderate generally from the south west. The temperature rose from 13c to around 23c in the afternoon. The visibility was good. Raptor Observations: An incredible day on the Tower! There was a pretty much a constant stream of Turkey Vultures passing to the north between 11am and 3pm which gave us a top three day total of 10,655. In addition there was a first of the season Rough-legged Hawk - a dark morph. Northern Harriers gave a good showing of 47, with a good proportion of grey ghost males. Buteos were in the mix with 47 Red-tailed Hawks including a dark phase and a smattering of Red-shoulders (7) and one lonely Broad-wing. American Kestrels (47) recovered their numbers, but the only other falcon was a single Merlin. 14 Cooper's Hawks passed by, and 7 Bald Eagles migrated. All in all a great day. Non-raptor Observations: The first two hours were full of migrating Blackbirds, with Red-wings topping the list a 16,670, together with good numbers of Brown-headed Cowbirds (1220) and a few Rusty Blackbirds. Blue Jay numbers (4390) continue to reduce but American Crows (112) are beginning to pass through. A significant number of Killdeer (157) passed by together with Northern Flickers (34). In fact there was a lot of movement in varying numbers of a lot of species including the first Eastern Bluebird fly overs, American Robins and American Goldfinches. Ducks continue to increase in numbers, with 495 Ring-necked Ducks topping the bill. Other waterbird numbers are slowly decreasing. The most notable bird today was a late in the day Tufted Titmouse, giving a short view perching on the dead tree just east of the tower. The list is at https://ebird.org/checklist/S96446653 Predictions: Tomorrow's weather will be pretty much the same as today; bright with a moderate south west wind. The only question is will there be as many Turkey Vultures as today? Hopefully we will also see more Buteos, as the migration seems to have truly got underway. ======================================================================== 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-2021