Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 12, 2026 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 214 1886 79638 Osprey 0 0 30 Bald Eagle 3 45 418 Northern Harrier 9 76 1221 Sharp-shinned Hawk 20 142 8821 Cooper's Hawk 5 60 416 American Goshawk 0 0 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 27 102 507 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 107107 Red-tailed Hawk 93 567 3201 Rough-legged Hawk 3 11 23 Golden Eagle 0 9 67 American Kestrel 0 5 2236 Merlin 1 10 176 Peregrine Falcon 1 12 102 Unknown Accipitrine 0 0 5 Unknown Buteo 0 0 11 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 3 Unknown Raptor 0 1 28 Black Vulture 0 0 1 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 1 Total: 376 2926 204013 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:15:00 Observation end time: 15:30:00 Total observation time: 8.25 hours Official Counter: Michael Burton-Smith Observers: Hugh Kent, Kiah Jasper, Peter Veighey, Robin Smallwood Visitors: Thanks to Hugh, Robin, Kiah and Peter for helping conduct the day's count, despite the exceptional misery and hardship. Not since Balto the Dog has such bravery been shown in the face of climactic adversity. Visits from Bob, his canned Peregrine, and Pille were unexpected but welcome additions to our day. Weather: A bleak day on the tower, with a biting northerly wind ripping through us in the afternoon. Bands of mizzle kept our noses damp, and hands were shoved deep into pockets for fear of hypothermia. Raptor Observations: A really strange day given the conditions. The morning started very slowly - amazingly, all six of our first birds represented different species! In the afternoon, as the drizzle set in, we were just about to call it a day when Robin came up the stairs. We could never say no to the latest Robin news from the pickleball court, and so we decided to hang on for another half an hour. Boy, is it lucky we did! Things picked up really quick with a late surge in Turkey Vulture, along with notable passages for both Red-tailed and Red-shouldered Hawk. Among them were three Rough-legged Hawk, including one at relatively good range from the tower. It seems the cold has finally become too much to bear and the raptors have decided it is now or never! Non-raptor Observations: The day's eBird can be viewed at https://ebird.org/checklist/S410055931. A relatively muted migration for most of our diurnal movers except American Goldfinch, who surpassed a thousand individuals for the fourth day in a row, Cedar Waxwing (1185), and Rusty Blackbird (620). We had yet another Common Raven, our fourth sighting this season, flying west along the north end of the marsh. Predictions: We expect relatively similar conditions to today, with a few showers around and strong northerly winds throughout the day. The cold front may motivate northern ducks and songbirds that the time to move is now, so we could see a few winter specialties from the tower. For raptors, we will hopefully get more late-fall buteos accompanied by a smattering of other raptors in the early afternoon. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Michael Burton-Smith () 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