Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 30, 2023 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 2077 63956 66956 Osprey 0 5 46 Bald Eagle 5 131 255 Northern Harrier 14 369 741 Sharp-shinned Hawk 96 3571 8774 Cooper's Hawk 5 219 310 American Goshawk 1 4 4 Red-shouldered Hawk 38 372 372 Broad-winged Hawk 0 140 56725 Red-tailed Hawk 212 1383 1558 Rough-legged Hawk 0 4 4 Golden Eagle 0 11 11 American Kestrel 1 1411 2606 Merlin 3 31 126 Peregrine Falcon 1 50 88 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: 2453 71657 138576 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 7 hours Official Counter: Hugh Kent Observers: Aldo Bertucci, Ian Woodfield, Kory Renaud, Liz Kent, Matt Brannagan, Noel Herdman, Peter Veighey Visitors: Big thanks to Noel, Peter, Aldo, Matt, Ian and Kory for help in observing and recording. It was all about dealing with the cold and strong wind today. Thanks to Patti and Juliette who contributed soup, cookies and cakes. It was good to meet Geraldine and Irene and several other visitors who all took an interest in the Hawk Watch. Weather: The wind was strong to very strong from the north west, bringing cold conditions on the Tower with a temperature around 5c. The morning was overcast under foreboding skies, but there was some blue sky and sun in the afternoon. Visibility was good. Raptor Observations: Another good day, with Turkey Vultures (2,077) again starting in the north and moving closer to the Tower in the afternoon. Red-tailed Hawks (212) hung around with the Turkey Vultures, a number of Red-shouldered Hawks (38) appeared on their own in the morning, taking off from nearby trees and the remainder followed the Turkey Vultures. Sharp-shinned Hawks (96) came through on their own for most of the day. An American Goshawk was seen mid afternoon. Falcons were few in number but one of the Merlins (3) buzzed the tower seemingly passing between the counters. Cooper's Hawk (5) and Northern Harrier (14) were lower in number. Non-raptor Observations: More variety today with many Tundra Swan (92) overflying with a good number settling on the marsh. There were many Canvasback (299) overflying, heading north. Two new for the season Bufflehead were seen flying into the marsh. Ducks are again maintaining numbers with rafts of Ring-necked Duck (1,767) sheltering on the northern shore with other ducks. Cedar Waxwing (452) were again flying by in good numbers with some settling on nearby trees. Good Sparrow species count (6) included a first for season Fox Sparrow. Golden-crowned Kinglets (6) have also arrived in greater numbers. The list is at https://ebird.org/checklist/S153435615 Predictions: A light to moderate south west wind is forecast for tomorrow, with a mostly overcast sky. It will be cold (-2c) overnight with the temperature gradually rising to 5c during the day. It is likely we will see fewer raptors than today with the wind change, but no doubt some will fly. ======================================================================== 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