Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch Port Stanley, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 10, 2014 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 4047 7863 7983 Osprey 2 30 113 Bald Eagle 4 9 67 Northern Harrier 20 64 457 Sharp-shinned Hawk 433 1375 5951 Cooper's Hawk 19 34 104 Northern Goshawk 1 1 2 Red-shouldered Hawk 2 2 2 Broad-winged Hawk 81 83 70647 Red-tailed Hawk 72 85 111 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 71 395 2140 Merlin 4 11 53 Peregrine Falcon 4 105 150 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0 Unknown Buteo 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 0 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 1 Total: 4760 10057 87781 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:30:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 7.5 hours Official Counter: Ches Caister, Jim Dunn Observers: Bob Johnstone, Cary Graham, Ches Caister, Chris Burris, Jason McGuire, Keith Sealy, Mac McAlpine, Mary Carnahan Visitors: Tons of visitors today got to enjoy an all around great birding day at Hawk Cliff. Thanks to the entire crew of regulars for getting today's count done...Jim, Mary, Mac, Ches, Keith, Chris B., Bob J., Jason and Cary G. Weather: A near perfect day for hawkwatching with light to moderate WNW and NW winds with a mix of sun and cloud. Temp got to a high of just 5C which is the coolest day so far this season. Raptor Observations: As expected the birds were on the move today with a total of 4,760 tallied. It was a typical breakdown for early October with 13 of our usual species observed. The bulk of today's flight was TVs (4,047)...with the remainder made up primarily of a good Sharpie push (433), a small number of late Broadwings (81) and Kestrels (71) and early Redtails (72). I figured we'd see our first Red-shouldered Hawks today and indeed we had 2 with many more to come I'm sure. Other species were Osprey (2), Bald Eagle (4), N. Harrier (20), Cooper's Hawks (19), a single N. Goshawk and Merlins (4). The 4 Peregrines spotted today brings our season total for this species to 150 which is a new 1-year record for Hawk Cliff. Non-raptor Observations: What a great day for birding at Hawk Cliff today! Many of the Hawk Cliff regulars along with far too many visitors for us to obtain everyone's name enjoyed a wide variety of non-raptor species with 2 New Species for this season. The big highlight was a TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE spotted by several observers including Ches and ID-ed by Jason McGuire. The bird hung around the knoll for a couple of hours providing great views and photo ops for many observers. We heard from Dave Martin that here is at least one previous record for Townsend's Solitaire. Kevin McLaughlin and Shay Redmond saw one at Hawk Cliff on October 29, 2000. It remained in sight only briefly. It's written up in Birds of Elgin County , page 183. Observers noted a new migration trend today as several new species joined the flocks of Blue Jays and Goldfinches which have been heading west over the past week and a half, including American Crows, Red-winged and Rusty Blackbirds (today's Rustys were the first we've seen at Hawk Cliff this season), European Starlings, Pine Siskins, Tree Swallows and Cedar Waxwings. Similarly, many observers reported seeing 2s and 3s of Hermit Thrush, White-throated and White-crowned Sparrows moving through the bushes and Warblers seemed to be absolutely everywhere! In total we had 15 species today including Magnolia, Black-throated Blue, Chestnut-sided, Yellow-rumped (in abundance), Palm, Black-throated Green, Bay-breasted, Blackpoll, American Redstart, Tennessee, Nashville, Northern Parula, Wilson's and Common Yellowthroat. In addition, 4 Woodpecker species were noted today (Downy & Red-bellied Woodpeckers plus Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and numerous Northern Flickers). Also, observers reported sightings of Blue-headed Vireo, Brown Creeper, White-breasted Nuthatch, Northern Cardinal, Eastern Towhee, 3 Wrens (House, Carolina and Winter), Common Loon, Ruby- & Golden-crowned Kinglet, Gray Catbird, Robin, Eastern Bluebird and Song Sparrow. Many thanks to the visitors and regulars (Keith, Mac, Chris, Jason, Jim, Bob, Ches, Ernie and Cary) who contributed to today's non-raptor list . In other non-raptor news fewer than 10 Monarch Butterflies were seen today but observers reported seeing several Orange Sulphurs, a few Clouded Sulphurs, an Eastern Comma and a Red Admiral. Only 1 Dragonfly, a Common Green Darner was reported today. Predictions: Let's hope for a continuation of this flight for Saturday as winds are predicted to be light from the NW with a mix of sun and cloud. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Dave Brown (thebrowns@ezlink.on.ca) Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch information may be found at: http://www.ezlink.on.ca/~thebrowns/HawkCliff/index.htm