Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 09, 2023 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 1425 6056 9056 Osprey 0 2 43 Bald Eagle 3 20 144 Northern Harrier 20 86 458 Sharp-shinned Hawk 91 803 6006 Cooper's Hawk 2 43 134 American Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 2 23 56608 Red-tailed Hawk 14 41 216 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 109 925 2120 Merlin 1 12 107 Peregrine Falcon 3 20 58 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: 1670 8031 74950 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:30:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 7.5 hours Official Counter: Hugh Kent Observers: Liz Kent, Paul Gosselin, Ralph Billingsley Visitors: Thanks to Paul and Ralph for helping us observe today. It was good to meet Norm and Yvonne who showed a great interest in hawk identification and Brian Miller from Pennsylvania who was interested in local birding spots. It was also good to meet Ken who had a lot to do with the establishment of the Tower in the 80s. Weather: It was cloudy today with a moderate to strong wind generally from the west, quite gusty at times. The temperature remained around 10c all day and the visibility was good. Raptor Observations: The mix was similar to yesterday with a pretty much constant stream of Turkey Vultures (1425) either heading over the Tower or to the north depending on the subtleties of the wind. American Kestrels (109) again just pipped Sharp-shinned Hawks (91) for second place. We seemed to have a few more 'gray ghost' male Northern Harriers within a total of 20 and Red-tailed Hawks (14) were a bit more regular. Peregrines again added excitement to the marsh by chasing lots of unfortunate birds. A Harrier had a go at a Peregrine, presumably on the premise that attack is the best form of defence. Non-raptor Observations: Birds were again hiding from the wind with numbers generally lower. Red-winged Blackbirds (315) kept up a chatter around the Tower all day, with American Goldfinches (214) upping their numbers and mostly overflying the Tower. Yellow-rumped Warblers (17) also seemed a constant presence in the bushes and trees. There was a definite movement of Herring Gull (81) west along the shore. The list is at https://ebird.org/checklist/S151837280 Predictions: Tomorrow is forecast to be a similar day to today but overcast. Wind will again be moderate generally from the west. A possible shower in the afternoon. Likely we will get a similar mix to today, but maybe with lower numbers due to overcast skies and the possibility of rain. ======================================================================== 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