Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 04, 2024 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 1122 3207 5104 Osprey 0 1 22 Bald Eagle 13 35 162 Northern Harrier 40 80 603 Sharp-shinned Hawk 181 512 5883 Cooper's Hawk 17 22 112 American Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 1 Broad-winged Hawk 12 61 4319 Red-tailed Hawk 36 52 424 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 1 1 1 American Kestrel 105 168 1540 Merlin 1 1 58 Peregrine Falcon 0 4 45 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 Mississippi Kite 0 0 1 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 1 Total: 1528 4144 18276 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 9 hours Official Counter: Hugh Kent Observers: Aldo Bertucci, Chuck Sharbaugh, Karen Padbury, Liz Kent, Michael Arthurs, Mike Jaber, Noel Herdman, Peter Veighey Visitors: It was great to see so many friends who helped out with the count and kept me company today; Peter, Noel, Mike, Michael and Joanne, Liz, Karen, Chuck and Aldo. I was glad that we all were able to see the Golden Eagle. Thanks again to Steve and Marion for helping out and we wish them a safe trip back to UK. It was good to meet Mike and Stephanie from Ohio returning after 15 years. Weather: A light to moderate wind blew from the north all day. We were met by a mist reducing visibility to 5km, but it soon cleared. Clouds gradually increased through the day to an overcast sky early afternoon, clearing slightly by the end of the day. Temperature started mid teens and increased to low 20c by mid day. Pressure remained pretty constant all day. Raptor Observations: A slow start with the mist improved dramatically at 10.32 when we observed the first Golden Eagle of the season amongst a small kettle of Turkey Vultures to the north east. After then there was a pretty steady rate of Sharp-shinned Hawks (181) and American Kestrels (105) tailing off in the last hour. Turkey Vultures (1122) formed reasonable sized kettles to the north east and east generally streaming over or just north of the Tower. Another good Northern Harrier (40) day with an increasing proportion of male 'greay ghosts' Non-raptor Observations: A quiet day except for Blue Jays (37,750) who filled the morning flying past to the north and over the Tower. A flock of Pectoral Sandpipers (22) flew over the marsh mid morning. Great Egrets (22) and Great Blue Herons (31) are beginning to increase in numbers. American Gold finches (360) were the most abundant songbird, but no Cedar Waxwings again today. The list is at https://ebird.org/checklist/S197530366 Predictions: The wind is forecast to be from the North East until mid morning gradually changing to south east over the rest of the day. Clear skies and a temperature of around 20c is forecast. It is likely we will have a similar mix to today, with flightlines moving to the north as the wind changes. ======================================================================== 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