Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 20, 2023 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 15 531 531 Osprey 0 30 30 Bald Eagle 3 93 93 Northern Harrier 8 240 240 Sharp-shinned Hawk 126 3911 3911 Cooper's Hawk 4 52 52 American Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 0 56095 56095 Red-tailed Hawk 1 105 105 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 19 765 765 Merlin 4 80 80 Peregrine Falcon 0 14 14 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: 180 61916 61916 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 8 hours Official Counter: Hugh Kent Observers: Juliette Herdman, Liz Kent, Noel Herdman, Patrick Tomlinson, Peter Veighey, Steve Wagner, Xander Campbell Visitors: Thanks to Juliette and Noel, Neil, Patrick, Peter, Steve, Xander, Dave and Jane and Tim who all helped observing today. It was good to meet John from NW Ohio and Joanne and Guy who showed a great interest in the Hawk Watch. Weather: Wind started almost calm from the east and quickly turned light to the south, becoming moderate in the afternoon. It was mostly overcast all day, but the cloud was high. Temperature was around 20c most of the day but rose to about 25c late afternoon. Visibility was again good. Raptor Observations: The wind dictated a quiet day with Sharp-shinned Hawks (126) topping the table, followed way back by American Kestrels (19). A few Turkey Vultures (15) flew north of the marsh. It was good to see another 'gray ghost', one of eight Northern Harriers. Merlins (4), Cooper's Hawks (4) and Bald Eagles (3) completed the days count. Non-raptor Observations: Ducks again dominated the list with a full house of dabbling ducks (9 species). American Coot numbers are starting to rise with 58 seen today in little black lines on the marsh. It is always good to see Chimney Swift (5) over the Tower and Ruby-throated Hummingbird (14) are still being seen in good numbers feeding on the Jewel weed. Dunlin and Ruby-crowned Kinglet were new for the season. The list is at https://ebird.org/checklist/S150358712 Predictions: A similar day to today is forecast with light winds from the south west, mix of sun and cloud with temperatures rising in the afternoon. So it is likely Sharp-shinned Hawks and American Kestrels will be the fare of the day, hopefully with more Northern Harriers and a Merlin or two. ======================================================================== 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