This is an official posting from the High Park Hawk Watch. Station: High Park, Toronto, Ontario View Period: September 13-15, 2010 Station coordinator: Don Barnett Counters: D. Barnett,H. Elliot C. Harte, M. Kelch, A.M. Leger, N. McHugh, N. Murr, D. Peuramaki, H. Shapiro, GTRW Webmasters: D. Woods A rather slow week with 546 total raptors of which 440 were Turkey Vulture, but the weather was nice. We observed our first Golden Eagle of the year. Nearly half of our birds this week were seen on, October 7 when we counted 252 total raptors of which 179 were Turkey Vultures. Our totals for October 7, the past week and year to date are: Species Oct 1 Oct4 to 10 Year to Date Turkey Vulture...............179................440................1610 Osprey.............................1...................3....................43 Bald Eagle........................-...................2.....................35 Northern Harrier.................2...................2....................45 Sharp-Shinned Hawk........47.................62.................1641 Cooper's Hawk..................4...................4.....................46 Northern Goshawk.............-....................-......................2 Red-shouldered Hawk........-...................1.......................7 Broad-winged Hawk...........2...................2.................1157 Swainson's Hawk..............-.....................-......................1 Red-tailed Hawk...............4..................17...................181 Rough-legged Hawk...........-....................-.......................- Golden Eagle....................-....................1......................1 American Kestrel..............9..................13...................231 Merlin..............................2...................3......................14 Peregrine Falcon..............1....................1.....................19 Unidentified......................-....................3......................60 Total............................252.................546..................5085 High Park Site Description High Park is a 400 acre wooded park dominated by a Black Oak Savannah located just west of Downtown Toronto near Keele and Bloor. The park is operated by the City of Toronto Parks Department. The Count site (Hawk Hill) is located on a small hill at the north end of the Grenadier Restaurant parking lot. It is located about 1.5km (1 mile) north of Lake Ontario, at an elevation of 110 metres above sea level and 38 metres above Lake Ontario. The site location is N 43 degrees 37 minutes 03.8 seconds, W 79 degrees 28 minutes 56.5 seconds. This station is at the highest point and near the centre of the park; a steep slope that descends to a large pond is immediately west of the station. Full time counts have been recorded here since 1993. The following are partners in our raptor migration monitoring in the Greater Toronto Region: City of Toronto Parks and Culture Department, Toronto Ornithological Club, and Local Naturalist's Clubs. More information including a summary of our past observations is available at: http://www.greatertorontohawkwatch.com/ Observations for this season are not yet available. -- Howard Shapiro email: hprw2006-hawks@yahoo.ca