Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 26, 2023 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 99 1557 1557 Osprey 0 36 36 Bald Eagle 4 115 115 Northern Harrier 11 334 334 Sharp-shinned Hawk 105 4947 4947 Cooper's Hawk 4 80 80 American Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 36 56405 56405 Red-tailed Hawk 2 152 152 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 13 979 979 Merlin 3 92 92 Peregrine Falcon 4 30 30 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: 281 64727 64727 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 8 hours Official Counter: Hugh Kent Observers: Chip Ogglesby, Juliette Herdman, Kit McCann, Liz Kent, Noel Herdman Visitors: Many thanks to Chip, Juliette and Noel, Kit and Matt for helping observe and record today. The raptors were generally quite high and challenging to spot. We had a few visitors to day who took an interest in the Hawk Watch and birds on the marsh. Weather: The day started overcast, but after rain early morning cloud cover slightly decreased throughout the day. The wind remained moderate from the south east and the temperature hovered around 20c all day. Visibility was generally good apart from during the rain. Raptor Observations: Sharp-shinned Hawks (105) again just pipped Turkey Vultures (99) to the top spot. It is interesting to note that we have seen almost double the number of Sharp-shins compared to this time last year. Broad-winged Hawk (36) stragglers again appeared mostly quite high up. American Kestrel (13) numbers were again low with Northern Harriers (11) closely behind. Again 10 species were seen, including 4 Peregrines, possibly the highest day total so far. Non-raptor Observations: Another good Warbler day but with slightly reduced numbers and species (10). Orange-crowned Warbler, Bonaparte's Gull and House Sparrow were new species for the season. Many Tree Swallows (340) were hawking for insects above the marsh. Three species of Shorebird were seen flying over the marsh including two Wilson's Snipe. Blue Jays (4,231) have returned in modest numbers today after a virtual absence yesterday. The list is at https://ebird.org/checklist/S150828655 Predictions: A moderate wind from the east is forecast tomorrow, with a slight hance of rain first thing. Temperatures will be slightly lower and it will be mostly overcast, possibly cloud cover slightly reducing through the day. Most likely we will see more Turkey Vultures and Sharp-shins, probably in similar numbers as today. Hopefully other species will also tag along. ======================================================================== 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