Holiday Beach Hawk Watch
Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
Turkey Vulture 27 3425 68146
Osprey 0 0 24
Bald Eagle 2 75 407
Northern Harrier 3 162 1053
Sharp-shinned Hawk 2 262 8751
Cooper's Hawk 1 98 313
American Goshawk 0 1 3
Red-shouldered Hawk 1 279 610
Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 4331
Red-tailed Hawk 18 1583 3378
Rough-legged Hawk 0 10 27
Golden Eagle 0 76 120
American Kestrel 0 3 1706
Merlin 0 19 106
Peregrine Falcon 1 10 96
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
Mississippi Kite 0 0 1
Swainson's Hawk 0 0 2
Observation start time: 08:00:00
Observation end time: 15:00:00
Total observation time: 7 hours
Official Counter: Hugh Kent, Liz Kent, Mike Jaber
Observers: Hugh Kent, Liz Kent, Michael Arthurs, Michelle Mastellotto,
Mike Jaber, Noel Herdman
Visitors:
Thanks to Mike and Liz for taking a spell as Counter today and Michael,
Michelle and Noel for helping observe and count.
Weather:
A very strong and gusty wind from the west initially, turning south west by
the end of the day. It was good to see the sun now and again today with the
sky gradually clearing. The temperature was around 6c, chilly in the wind.
The visibility was good and the pressure remained constant.
Raptor Observations:
Interestingly, Turkey Vultures (27) took the top spot, followed by
Red-tailed Hawks (18) mostly taking a low northern flight line. Next were
three male Northern Harriers, two visiting Harrier Island. A couple of
adult Bald Eagles looked determined to head off west and two Sharp-shinned
Hawks passed relatively close to the Tower. The list was completed by an
eclectic mix of singles of Cooper's Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk and Peregrine
Falcon.
Non-raptor Observations:
We reached our 200th species seen this Fall with a sighting of two Snow
Geese flying over the marsh from the east - woo hoo! Tundra Swans (503)
achieved the greatest day count number since 1988, with many flocks flying
over the marsh. Ducks are maintaining their numbers with Gadwall (1720) the
most numerus today. Good diversity with twelve species seen including all
three Mergansers. Good numbers of Horned Lark (223) and American Goldfinch
(282) flew over heading west. The list is at
https://ebird.org/checklist/S203717571
Predictions:
The forecast tomorrow is for light winds from the south west turning south
early afternoon. Another day with sunny spells and a similar temperature of
around 6c. Hopefully we will see similar numbers and mix of raptors as
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