Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 19, 2024 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 9 273 295 Osprey 0 18 18 Bald Eagle 4 93 96 Northern Harrier 20 192 211 Sharp-shinned Hawk 541 2028 2030 Cooper's Hawk 3 56 57 American Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 301 2179 2191 Red-tailed Hawk 2 267 307 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 48 441 449 Merlin 4 44 44 Peregrine Falcon 0 18 18 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 1 1 Total: 932 5610 5717 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 06:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 10 hours Official Counter: Kiah Jasper Observers: Mike Jaber, Patrick Tomlinson, Peter Veighey, Steve Wagner Visitors: Thanks to Peter, Mike, Steve and Patrick for helping with the count today. Hugh and Liz stopped by for a bit in the morning as well. We were visited by Steve from the UK, Mitchell and Terry from Niagara and John from Amherstburg. Weather: Well, it was certainly a departure from the cut & paste sunny sky/southeast wind days that we've experienced for over a week. From 07:00 - 08:20 there was heavy fog all around the area, dropping visibility to under 200m. The fog lifted after that though, and a steady stream of clouds passed by for much of the day (average 40% cover). This was a very welcome change from the clear blue. The wind started off from the North/Northeast, but in the end it wasn't meant to be and it shifted to East, then back to South by 10:30. Another hot day on the tower, with temperatures topping out at 28C (we retreated to the 2nd level) Raptor Observations: Our biggest raptor day of the season so far, with 932 birds observed migrating past. A far cry from normal this time of year, as we usually have had a least one good Broad-wing day by now, but that's the way this fall has been. Sharp-shinned Hawks were the bird of the day, with 531 seen passing by, a large push of those late in the afternoon. It was also a good day for Northern Harriers and American Kestrels. Several kettles of Broad-winged Hawks were seen in the morning (an exciting hour in the morning had 198), but they quickly dropped off when the wind shifted. A Peregrine Falcon was seen hunting Blue Jays in the marsh in the morning. Non-raptor Observations: The Blue Jays are beginning to come through in large numbers now, with 12,850 seen passing by during a few hours in the morning. It was a good day day for warblers around the tower today, with 13 species recorded (many passing over high up until noon). 3 Common Nighthawks hawked for insects over the marsh, mixed in with a large group of Bonaparte's Gulls. The highlight bird today was an Olive-sided Flycatcher seen in the afternoon. 85 species were observed from the tower today, for the full list click this eBird link https://ebird.org/checklist/S195727755 Predictions: Tomorrow the wind is forecasted to be from the South/Southeast, so I'm not anticipating a huge flight. Even a slight change in wind direction could make a big difference though. There is also a chance of rain in the afternoon ======================================================================== Report submitted by Kiah Jasper (kiahbirder@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