Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 23, 2023 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 2638 54261 57261 Osprey 0 5 46 Bald Eagle 6 90 214 Northern Harrier 5 303 675 Sharp-shinned Hawk 74 2959 8162 Cooper's Hawk 6 150 241 American Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 6 146 146 Broad-winged Hawk 0 138 56723 Red-tailed Hawk 20 432 607 Rough-legged Hawk 0 2 2 Golden Eagle 1 3 3 American Kestrel 5 1389 2584 Merlin 1 27 122 Peregrine Falcon 1 42 80 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: 2763 59947 126866 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 7 hours Official Counter: Hugh Kent Observers: Juliette Herdman, Karen Padbury, Liz Kent, Noel Herdman, Peter Veighey Visitors: Big thank you to Karen, Noel and Juliette, and Peter who stayed all day observing and counting. Good to see Tim from the Hawk Banders and Alain again on the Tower. Weather: The day started cold and clear, the cloud cover gradually increased throughout the day. The temperature started at about 5c and increased to 14c by the end of the afternoon. The wind was from the south, light at first increasing to moderate. Visibility was good. Raptor Observations: Turkey Vultures (2638) started in a rush mid morning and continued until mid afternoon, all were passing to the north. Sharp-shinned Hawk (74) numbers were reduced as were American Kestrels (5). Buteos came through with the Turkey Vultures in smaller numbers than yesterday; 20 Red-tailed Hawks and 6 Red-shouldered Hawks. It was good to spot a sub adult Golden Eagle way off to the north mid afternoon. Non-raptor Observations: Lots of ducks of eleven species, numbers are still increasing, albeit slowly. It was good to see three Common Loons flying west over the marsh and four remaining Tundra Swans. Blue Jay (520) and American Crow (160) numbers were lower today. Lots of Blackbirds continue to fly north with Red-winged Blackbirds (4,474) leading the pack. The late staying Warblers remain with Northern Parula, Tennessee, Palm and Blackpoll all seen in the bushes around the Tower accompanied by Yellow-rumped Warblers (7). American Pipit (12), Horned Lark (26) and Pine Siskin (7) all flew by today. Amazingly we also saw a single Monarch Butterfly fly past the Tower, gamely heading west. The list is at https://ebird.org/checklist/S152938607 Predictions: The forecast is similar to day with a moderate south wind, but clearer skies as the day goes on. The temperature will be higher than today at mid to high teens. Probably we will have a similar mix to today, but it will be interesting to see whether numbers will be higher or lower. ======================================================================== 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