Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 30, 2023 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 873 3000 3000 Osprey 1 41 41 Bald Eagle 6 124 124 Northern Harrier 16 372 372 Sharp-shinned Hawk 145 5203 5203 Cooper's Hawk 4 91 91 American Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 122 56585 56585 Red-tailed Hawk 15 175 175 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 152 1195 1195 Merlin 1 95 95 Peregrine Falcon 5 38 38 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: 1340 66919 66919 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:30:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 7.5 hours Official Counter: Hugh Kent Observers: Juliette Herdman, Karen Padbury, Liz Kent, Noel Herdman Visitors: Big thank you to Noel and Juliette for looking after the count for a couple of hectic hours in the morning. They were helped by Anne and Jerry. Thanks also to Karen for helping observe. Good to see Bob, Eric, Phil, Steve and Lauren on the Tower. Good to meet Barbara and her partner and Sid from Farmington Hills, MI who all showed a great interest in the Hawk Watch. Weather: The first two hours were misty, complete with a 'Mistbow' to the west of the Tower. The sun eventually burned off the mist and we were left with clear skies initially, with the cloud cover gradually increasing. The wind was initially very light from the north turning south early afternoon, the temperature started in the high teens, gradually reaching above mid twenties by late afternoon. Visibility was very low initially with the mist, but then was good for the rest of the day. Raptor Observations: Turkey Vulture migration is slowly stepping up with 873 seen today. American Kestrels (152) took the second slot for the first time this season, pipping Sharp-shinned Hawks (145). Broad-winged Hawks (122) are still accompanying Turkey Vultures. Northern Harriers (16) and Red-tailed Hawks (15) reached double figures. Eleven species were seen today. Non-raptor Observations: Yet another good Warbler day with ten species seen foraging in the trees and bushes around the Tower. Two Yellow- breasted Sapsuckers turned up today, new for the season. It was nice to see Rose-breasted Grosbeaks sitting on the trees in photographable positions, with a hatch year male starting to show rose on it's breast. Oh, I nearly forgot, we had another 18,080 Blue Jays past the Tower, lower than yesterday but still a good number. The list is at https://ebird.org/checklist/S151118470 Predictions: The forecast is similar to today with very light winds generally from the north, switching to south around midday. Likely to be more cloud cover than today initially, but clearing early afternoon. Similar temperatures to today, increasing throughout the day. Probably we will have a similar mix as today, hopefully with American Kestrel passing by in good numbers. ======================================================================== 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