Holiday Beach Conservation Area Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 10, 2010 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 159 16038 17118 Osprey 0 15 123 Bald Eagle 0 24 121 Northern Harrier 18 145 482 Sharp-shinned Hawk 307 2523 8138 Cooper's Hawk 31 132 232 Northern Goshawk 0 2 2 Red-shouldered Hawk 1 52 53 Broad-winged Hawk 1 646 16128 Red-tailed Hawk 5 270 458 Rough-legged Hawk 0 2 2 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 14 292 1393 Merlin 2 16 89 Peregrine Falcon 0 15 40 Unknown Accipiter 0 1 2 Unknown Buteo 0 2 5 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 2 2 Mississippi Kite 0 0 1 Total: 538 20177 44389 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 9 hours Official Counter: Todd Pepper Observers: Chris Craft, Dennis Patrick, Donald Pye, Rayfield Pye Visitors: Many visitors today from Windsor and Essex County out for a visit on this beautiful day; Andrew Barger and his son Daniel from Frankenmuth Michigan (Daniel was a big help picking out and counting Sharpies); Donald Pye; Rayfield Pye and Jim Lynn from Cranberry Marsh Migration Observatory; Dave Martin and Linda Wladarski from Hawk Cliff Migration Observatory; a family of 4 from Guelph; Dennis Patrick and Gwen Gidge from the Windsor Chapter of the Peregrine Foundation; 2 gentleman from Tofino, British Columbia (they won the price for birders from the farthest away) and many others who I negleted or did not have time to get their names. Special gratitude to Donald and Rayfield Pye who assisted when the Sharpies split into 2 distinct flight lines and to Dave Martin for picking up raptors when the flight pattern moved to the far north into the line of haze. Weather: Calm, hot with temp up to 28 Celcius, haze limited visibility all day Raptor Observations: 538 birds of 9 species with Sharp-shinned Hawks dominating the day at 307 individuals. Only 2 kettles of TV's which was surprising given the temperature, although more may have been further north past the haze. Non-raptor Observations: Good mix of other species including: Common Nighthawk (5); Dunlin (15); Lesser Yellowlegs (6); Killdeer (24); 1 Greater Yellowlegs and the Solitary Sandpiper hung out in the pond to the south of the tower all day; first significant movement of "blackbirds" with several clouds of Starlings, Rusty and Redwing Blackbirds, Common Grackle and Brown-headed Cowbirds. Blue Jays started off big with around 2,000 birds per hour but it slowed down and the total for the day was 7,785. Non-bird observations included 2 Monarchs and 3 Green Darners. Predictions: Increasing cloudiness. 60 percent chance of showers in the afternoon. Fog patches dissipating in the morning. High 21. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Todd Pepper (tandjpepper@cogeco.ca) Holiday Beach Migration Observatory information may be found at: http://hbmo.org/