Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch Port Stanley, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 26, 2014 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 0 75 75 Osprey 0 76 76 Bald Eagle 2 56 56 Northern Harrier 24 338 348 Sharp-shinned Hawk 133 4095 4105 Cooper's Hawk 5 55 56 Northern Goshawk 0 1 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 19 70478 70509 Red-tailed Hawk 0 24 24 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 34 1534 1567 Merlin 1 35 36 Peregrine Falcon 1 42 42 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 1 1 Total: 219 76810 76896 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 14:00:00 Total observation time: 7 hours Official Counter: Jim Dunn Observers: Don Taylor, Keith Sealy, Mary Carnahan Visitors: Some visitors today...including Bruce, Monica & Sarah Gates and Harv, Tom and John (Simcoe) and a few others whose names we didn't get. Thanks to everyone for the help today including Mary, Jim, Keith, Don T. and Tom S. and all the visitors. Weather: Winds were light to moderate from the several direction from ENE to NE and back to ENE then backing to SE and finally all the way around to SW by the end of the day. A bit warmer today starting at 10C and getting to a high of 23C. Very little cloud for most of the morning then building in a bit by the end of the count period. Raptor Observations: Today's flight wasn't too bad on the NE winds though the flight height was quite variable. Total birds tallied for the day was 219 with only 8 different species...Bald Eagles (2), N. Harriers (24), Sharpies (133), Cooper's Hawk (5), Broadwings (19), Kestrels (34), Merlin (1) and Peregrines (1). This was an ADULT PEREGRINE low and right over the mound in the last few minutes of the count which was a great reward after another day of scouring the WILD BLUE YONDER! Non-raptor Observations: The biggest non-raptor news of the day was the tremendous push of Blue Jays with 12,500 counted by 11:00 AM and while the steady stream became somewhat more sporadic after that, Blue Jays were still streaming westward in small flocks at 2:20 PM. Many of them were holed up in local tree lines and observers who took the time to walk the roadway, listening, could hear the constant chatter going on among the birds that stopped there. In contrast, only 2 Ruby-throated Hummingbirds were seen crossing the field during today's hawk watch...and observers found a paltry 3 Warbler species today but one was a Northern Parula, which made up for the lack of other species. The two others were Magnolia and Nashville. In addition, there were multiple sightings of Red-eyed Vireo plus a Philadelphia Vireo; all were found along the roadside between the path leading into the woods and the ravine. We also had good sightings of both Carolina and House Wren and several Ruby-crowned Kinglets. Catbirds called from almost every bush up and down the road and a Song Sparrow showed itself just north of the knoll. We had four species of Woodpecker today including a juvenile Yellow-bellied Sapsucker in the same location as the warblers, plus Red-bellied and Downy and Northern Flickers. Black-capped Chickadees and White-breasted Nuthatches were particularly active and vocal today up ad down the road. The Monarch flight today was less than yesterday's, and although Monarchs were still flying westward in the mid- to late-afternoon, they were few and far between. Similarly, dragonflies were much diminished in numbers throughout today with sightings of only Green Darers and Black Saddlebags. ======================================================================== 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