Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 22, 2022 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 1247 31192 38376 Osprey 0 2 13 Bald Eagle 0 33 285 Northern Harrier 20 271 589 Sharp-shinned Hawk 143 2771 6617 Cooper's Hawk 13 129 221 Northern Goshawk 0 1 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 94 95 Broad-winged Hawk 0 42 65701 Red-tailed Hawk 7 597 773 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 2 2 American Kestrel 19 666 2058 Merlin 2 45 104 Peregrine Falcon 1 46 98 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0 Unknown Buteo 0 0 0 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 1 1 Total: 1452 35892 114934 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 9 hours Official Counter: Hugh Kent Observers: Andrew Wiebe, Chad Cornish, Donny Moore, Liz Kent, Noel Herdman Visitors: Big thanks to Andrew, Chad, Donny and Noel for helping observe. More eyes on the skies really do make a difference. The sunny weather brought out many visitors who were interested in the Hawk watch and birdlife on the Marsh. It was good to meet Dominique who stayed all day, Josh and Rob and Andrew's wife Kara and little George once again, Kelly and Darren from BC, Nathan and Olga and her family. Weather: A mild bright day on the tower with temperatures around mid-teens under a clear sky. The wind started light from the south and picked up to moderate late morning lasting for the rest of the day. Visibility was good. Raptor Observations: Usual fare with Turkey Vultures (1247) leading the score, starting over the tower in the early morning then ending up as usual, passing north of the marsh. Sharp-shinned Hawks (143) followed with steady numbers for most of the day. Good numbers again for Northern Harriers (20) with a good smattering of Grey Ghosts. American Kestrel (19) and Cooper's Hawk (13) numbers were slightly better than yesterday, but all the other species were below 10. Still disappointing buteo numbers, but I'm sure they'll pick up sooner or later Non-raptor Observations: Ducks still dominate the list with big numbers of Gadwall (430). Both Double-crested Cormorant (64) and Great Egret (26) made a comeback today, probably due to the mild weather. Shorebirds are still present due to the low marsh water levels with Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Pectoral Sandpiper and the ever-present Killdeer poking about in the muddy fringes. Bigger numbers of Red-winged Blackbirds (3530) are present and heading off, with American Robin (65), Horned Lark (77) and American Goldfinch (229) and American Crow (193) all passing by in good numbers. Reduced numbers of Tree Swallow (153) are still feeding on the marsh. Blue Jays (2720) are still migrating, but numbers have been in the low thousands over the last few days. The list is at https://ebird.org/checklist/S121138956 Predictions: The forecast is similar to today, with moderate wind from the southeast, mild and pleasant temperatures and slightly more cloud. That probably means a similar mix of raptors as today. We can only hope for more buteos. ======================================================================== 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 Count data submitted via Dunkadoo - Project info at: https://dunkadoo.org/explore/hbmo/hbmo-hawk-watch-fall-2022