Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 26, 2023 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 140 55754 58754 Osprey 0 5 46 Bald Eagle 0 91 215 Northern Harrier 3 311 683 Sharp-shinned Hawk 68 3102 8305 Cooper's Hawk 2 161 252 American Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 152 152 Broad-winged Hawk 0 138 56723 Red-tailed Hawk 11 536 711 Rough-legged Hawk 0 2 2 Golden Eagle 2 8 8 American Kestrel 3 1393 2588 Merlin 0 27 122 Peregrine Falcon 0 43 81 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: 229 61723 128642 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:30:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 7.5 hours Official Counter: Hugh Kent Observers: Aldo Bertucci, Juliette Herdman, Liz Kent, Michael Arthurs, Noel Herdman, Peter Veighey Visitors: Big thanks to Aldo, Michael, Noel and Juliette and Peter for observing and recording today. It was good to see Colleen and Chris, Pearl and Rod and Dennis who took a great interest in the birds of the marsh and the Hawk Watch. Weather: There was a light wind from the south south east all day, with the temperature gradually increasing from mid teens to high teens by the end of the day. It remained overcast but with small breaks in the cloud now and again. Visibility was good. Raptor Observations: Two Golden Eagles today, both way off to the north. Turkey Vultures (140) drifted back and forth mostly in the middle of the day until they caught the wind and headed west. Sharp-shinned Hawks (68) came through intermittently throughout the day. Red-tailed Hawks (11) travelled on their own, gliding past swiftly to the north. Low numbers of American Kestrel (3), Northern Harrier (3) and Cooper's Hawk (2) completed the tally. Non-raptor Observations: Ducks are maintaining their numbers with eleven species seen with seven Canvasback settled on the marsh. A small flock of Semi-palmated Sandpiper (30) was seen heading across the marsh and out over the lake. Starlings (7,540) were the dominant bird in the afternoon with large flocks flying to the north and hawking over the marsh, matched only by a very large number of Tree Swallows (3000) hawking high and low over the marsh in the morning. More Cedar Waxwing (575) were present today and it was nice to see and hear a flock of Eastern Bluebirds (21) heading west over the tower - first of the season. We also saw three late Monarch Butterflies. The list is at https://ebird.org/checklist/S153126256 Predictions: Tomorrow's forecast is for a moderate wind from the south west, overcast with sunny periods. Temperature will reach the low 20s by midday. The wind may provide more lift so hopefully we may see slightly more than today. ======================================================================== 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