Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 18, 2023 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 2567 42082 45082 Osprey 0 4 45 Bald Eagle 1 56 180 Northern Harrier 9 275 647 Sharp-shinned Hawk 119 2475 7678 Cooper's Hawk 5 116 207 American Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 76 76 Broad-winged Hawk 2 135 56720 Red-tailed Hawk 12 232 407 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 1 1 American Kestrel 9 1312 2507 Merlin 3 24 119 Peregrine Falcon 1 39 77 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: 2728 46827 113746 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:30:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 7.5 hours Official Counter: Hugh Kent, Peter Veighey Observers: Aldo Bertucci, Hugh Kent, Juliette Herdman, Liz Kent, Michael Arthurs, Noel Herdman Visitors: Big thanks to Peter and Aldo for taking over the Count at midday. Michael, Juliette and Noel did a great job as usual observing and recording. We welcomed another school group to the Tower, to see the wonders of the Marsh and to understand a bit about Hawk Migration. It was good to meet Linda and Trevor from Stirling who also helped out observing. Weather: Today the wind started moderate from the south, reducing to light after midday. The temperature started in the low teens but finished up in the low twenties by late afternoon. The cloud reduced in the middle of the day. Visibility was generally good. Raptor Observations: Turkey Vultures (2,567) generally streamed to the north with a few passing over the Tower. Most of the Sharp-shinned Hawks (119) flew by from mid morning to midday. There were only a few American Kestrels (9) and Northern Harriers (9) passing throughout the day. Most buteos seen were Red-tailed Hawks (12) with two Broad-winged Hawks, generally flying with the Turkey Vultures. Merlins (3) and a Peregrine added a bit of excitement to the day. Non-raptor Observations: A good varied list today with the sun shining at times enabling good numbers of ducks to be spotted on the marsh. Ten species were seen. Blackbird numbers were a bit lower, with Blue Jays (981) also failing to reach a thousand. Many flocks of American Goldfinches (392) 'chipped and dipped' by. A new for the season Eastern Screech Owl was heard early in the day in the wood to the south. Sparrows and Warblers kept up appearances with five species each. The list is at https://ebird.org/checklist/S152568149 Predictions: Tomorrow's forecast looks as though light showers will appear from early afternoon. The wind will be moderate from the south and the temperature around the mid teens. We'll take it as it comes and see what we see. Not expecting a lot, especially in the afternoon. ======================================================================== 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