Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 13, 2023 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 11789 24756 27756 Osprey 2 4 45 Bald Eagle 12 47 171 Northern Harrier 31 220 592 Sharp-shinned Hawk 74 1074 6277 Cooper's Hawk 24 85 176 American Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 43 57 57 Broad-winged Hawk 65 123 56708 Red-tailed Hawk 84 171 346 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 21 1193 2388 Merlin 0 17 112 Peregrine Falcon 2 33 71 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: 12147 27780 94699 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:30:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 8.5 hours Official Counter: Hugh Kent Observers: Karen Padbury, Liz Kent, Nicole Shangi, Paul Gosselin Visitors: Huge thanks to Karen, Nicole and Paul G for help in observing and counting on another busy day. Your spells on the clickers are much appreciated. It was good to meet Liz and Nick and Becky and James from Bruce County who took a great interest in the Raptor migration spectacle. Weather: Another overcast day with a moderate and at times strong wind from the north east. The temperature started in the low teens and ended at about 16c. Visibility was generally good, reducing slightly by the end of the day Raptor Observations: The river of Raptors continues! Turkey Vultures started off perched in the trees, taking off in waves, then eventually coming over the Tower in high streams in the afternoon. Today was the 3rd highest daily count on record - 11,789! Buteos took more of a centre stage, generally flying within the stream. Red-tailed Hawks (84) were the highest number followed by Broad-winged Hawks (65) and Red-shouldered Hawks (43). Sharp-shinned Hawks (74) snuck in third, with Northern Harriers (31) having another good day. Cooper's Hawks (24) are starting to appear in larger numbers, with a couple of really large females seen. Falcons were in low numbers today with only 21 American Kestrels passing by, usually high in the sky. Non-raptor Observations: Blue Jay numbers (14,470) are still being maintained, but with more appearing in the afternoon than usual. Red-winged Blackbird (3160) numbers continue to grow with more Rusty Blackbirds (45) appearing. Brown Creeper and Hermit Thrush were new for the season. The list is at https://ebird.org/checklist/S152116390 Predictions: Tomorrow is forecast to be very wet, with rain most of the day, so it is unlikely that we will count tomorrow. However Sunday is looking better with a moderate wind from the north, with a slight chance of showers. We will be holding our HAWKTOBERFEST from 9am to 3pm on Sunday at the Tower. You all are welcome to come along to experience the spectacle of Hawk migration! ======================================================================== 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