Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch Port Stanley, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 19, 2024 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 0 0 0 Osprey 4 11 12 Bald Eagle 0 9 9 Northern Harrier 18 75 75 Sharp-shinned Hawk 140 681 681 Cooper's Hawk 1 6 6 American Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 1 1 Broad-winged Hawk 5 648 678 Red-tailed Hawk 0 22 22 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 96 438 439 Merlin 0 20 20 Peregrine Falcon 0 2 3 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0 Unknown Buteo 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 0 Total: 264 1913 1946 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 06:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 9 hours Official Counter: Dave Brown Observers: Chris Burris, Tom Bolohan Visitors: Surprisingly, there were quite a few visitors who joined us on the viewing platform today with many getting good views of those raptors that did pass through especially given they were flying quite low likely due to the fog in the area. Weather: Temp was 15C to start with overcast/fog and the fog came and went on the site all day until right in the last hour when it FINALLY burned away. Winds started light from the NE but quickly backed to E and then right to SE and even went a bit variable for an hour before locking in due S and getting a bit stronger which then brought a bit of a flight along the cliff edge. Raptor Observations: A strange day weather wise and with the fog continually creeping back across the area we actually had birds appearing out of the fog right over our heads! I honestly can't ever remember a day like this at the Cliff before. Even with the less than ideal conditions we ended the day with 264 raptors with lots of Sharpies (140) and Am Kestrels (96). we got some great looks at a few Osprey (4) with some passing below tree top level on the cliff edge and a decent push of N. Harriers (18( with several hunting the field right out in front of the viewing platform. Just a few Broadwings (5) were spotted crossing through today. Non-raptor Observations: It was fairly quiet on the non-raptor front with Chris B providing an eBird checklist of 32 species which you can check out at the following link: https://ebird.org/checklist/S195739773 And for those interested in Monarchs I counted about 30 today with a few passing through each hour. Predictions: The winds are forecast to be light from the E and then back again to the SE (literally the same pattern we've seen now for almost 3 weeks this September!!). The only difference compared to today is there should be no fog so this may allow a bit more of a flight down the shore line. However, the bulk of any flight will almost certainly be pushed inland away from the lake. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Dave Brown (ez.raptor1210@gmail.com) Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch information may be found at: http://www.ezlink.ca/~thebrowns/HawkCliff/index.htm More site information at hawkcount.org: https://hawkcount.org/siteinfo.php?rsite=392