Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 28, 2024 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 1313 62464 64361 Osprey 0 3 24 Bald Eagle 5 205 332 Northern Harrier 6 362 885 Sharp-shinned Hawk 5 3110 8481 Cooper's Hawk 4 124 214 American Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 3 330 331 Broad-winged Hawk 0 73 4331 Red-tailed Hawk 55 1401 1773 Rough-legged Hawk 0 17 17 Golden Eagle 2 42 42 American Kestrel 0 330 1702 Merlin 0 28 85 Peregrine Falcon 0 42 83 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 1 2 Total: 1393 68532 82664 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 8 hours Official Counter: Kiah Jasper Observers: Hugh Kent, Liz Kent, Mike Jaber Visitors: It was quiet on the tower today, though it’s not too surprising since it’s the first day the park is closed for vehicles. Thanks to Mike for helping out in the morning and Hugh and Liz for assisting with the count in the afternoon. Cynthia and Mohsan from LaSalle, Alban and Heather from Windsor were visitors today. Weather: It started off warmer than yesterday, at 5 Degrees C. The temperature later went up to 17 C, and it felt quite warm on the tower. The wind was light (1-10kph) out of the South all day. The sky started off mainly blue, but later clouded over to a max of 60% cloud cover in the afternoon. The pressure remained around 30.13 Raptor Observations: The first 2 hours on the count were incredibly slow, with 0 raptors recorded. It almost went 3 hours, but a few vultures started flying around 10:55 and saved my from the 3rd “tick of disappointment”. The afternoon’s flight was very distant and often required the scope for accurate counting, with vultures shimmering in and out of the heat haze. The vultures aside it was a very slow day on the tower, with the occasional Red-tailed Hawk or other raptor mixed in. Our highlights of the day were two Golden Eagles, which both came in the last half hour of the count. Non-raptor Observations: It was one of the slower days of the fall on the non raptor front, with a nonexistent morning songbird flight and hardly any birds calling around the tower. There were lots of waterfowl flying around though, including several thousand ducks in the marsh and 15,000 diving ducks on Lake Erie. The highlight for me was a White-winged Scoter spotted by Mike, a new bird for our season list. The American White Pelicans continue in large numbers, with a minimum of 480 on the marsh. Other highlights included; 23 Pectoral Sandpipers and a Fox Sparrow. Only 69 species were recorded from the tower today, for the full list click here - https://ebird.org/checklist/S200638534 Predictions: Tomorrow is meant to be warmer (High of 22 Degrees), with stronger Southwest winds. There is also a chance of rain in the morning. We expect a slow flight again, though hopefully the vultures will continue moving in numbers. ======================================================================== 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