Holiday Beach Conservation Area Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 10, 2010 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 44 2280 38115 Osprey 0 1 134 Bald Eagle 5 11 158 Northern Harrier 6 65 698 Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 97 9420 Cooper's Hawk 10 112 524 Northern Goshawk 0 2 7 Red-shouldered Hawk 5 278 479 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 16133 Red-tailed Hawk 69 2556 3678 Rough-legged Hawk 3 34 37 Golden Eagle 4 33 41 American Kestrel 0 0 1445 Merlin 0 6 125 Peregrine Falcon 0 0 50 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 2 Unknown Buteo 0 1 13 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 2 Mississippi Kite 0 0 1 Total: 146 5476 71062 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 8 hours Official Counter: Jim Pawlicki Observers: Jim McCoy, Larry Ludwicki Visitors: Larry Ludwicki showed up in the morning and brought over some much appreciated soup and coffee from Ure's Country Store down the road. Jim McCoy also stopped by in the afternoon and in time for 2 of the Goldens. Weather: Heavy overcast in the morning, turning to partly cloudy and clear by the end of the count. Temps. were mild with a high of 15C, while winds varied from light NE to E. Raptor Observations: A slow morning, although things started picking up in the afternoon with a decent flight of Red-tails plus a few each of Harriers, Red-shouldered, and Cooper's Hawks. A few small kettles of Turkey Vultures continue to move, while for the first time in a while, no Sharp-shins were recorded. There was decent movement of Eagles with 5 Balds (2 ad., 3 juv./1st-yr.) and 4 Goldens (2 ad., subad., juv.) observed. The first Golden of the day was perched nicely in the trees at the far NW corner of the marsh, and even in the overcast conditions its golden brown "hackles" appeared to light up. After being discovered and dive-bombed a few times by a Red-tail, it eventually got up and drifted off to the west. Nice looks at all 3 (light) Rough-legs were a highlight as well. Non-raptor Observations: Not many today--still several flocks (totaling 110+) of Rusty Blackbirds flying back and forth between the woods and marsh, while the raft of 600+ Scaup sp. remains on the lake, along with a small group of 7 Ruddy Ducks. Predictions: Sunny and mild with fog patches dissipating early in the morning and a high of 15C. Winds light out of the SE. Should be similar to today with raptors on the move once the fog clears. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Jim Pawlicki (Jmpawli88@aol.com) Holiday Beach Migration Observatory information may be found at: http://hbmo.org/