Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 28, 2026 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 944 72892 76365 Osprey 0 4 30 Bald Eagle 1 156 363 Northern Harrier 9 526 1107 Sharp-shinned Hawk 23 3207 8641 Cooper's Hawk 2 233 345 American Goshawk 0 1 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 3 376 377 Broad-winged Hawk 0 53 107107 Red-tailed Hawk 66 2046 2448 Rough-legged Hawk 0 8 8 Golden Eagle 4 52 52 American Kestrel 0 861 2230 Merlin 3 56 159 Peregrine Falcon 1 50 84 Unknown Accipitrine 0 4 5 Unknown Buteo 0 9 11 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 1 3 Unknown Raptor 1 5 27 Black Vulture 0 1 1 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 1 Total: 1057 80541 199365 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 8 hours Official Counter: Hugh Kent, Kiah Jasper, Michael Burton-Smith Observers: Bryan Girling, Frances Girling, Hugh Kent, John Winebrenner, Kiah Jasper, Lisa Silvey, Liz Kent, Matt Brannagan, Michelle Mastellotto, Noel Herdman, Robin Smallwood Visitors: Thanks to Hugh and Kiah who stood in for me this morning - Kiah proved he is an asset even in absence by phoning in a Golden Eagle he saw while driving home!! It was lovely to be assisted by Bryan, Fran, John, Lisa, Liz, Matt, Michelle, Noel and Robin, who kept great company when the birds were slow. Fran's chocolate chip muffins have set a very high bar for bakers on the tower. Even now that the park is closed to vehicles we still have plenty of visitors, and it was lovely to see Doug, Sally, Dan, Jude, Brenda, Peter, Anne, and three precious pooches through the day. Weather: Mainly clear skies, although a heavy haze on the horizon intensified in the afternoon. Light southeasterly winds throughout the day limited temperatures to the upper teens. Raptor Observations: A very quiet morning but a significant one, with three Merlin pushing us to within six of our all time season record. The afternoon stream of Turkey Vulture and Red-tailed Hawk was distant and only occasionally punctuated with Red-shouldered and Cooper�s Hawk. This flight line north of the marsh is usually frustrating, but today the more horizontal angle created rare opportunities for aging Golden Eagle, Red-tailed Hawk and male Northern Harriers more specifically than can be done when the birds are overhead. Non-raptor Observations: The day's eBird checklist can be viewed at https://ebird.org/checklist/S406161518. Four Horned Grebe over Lake Erie were a pleasant sight and just our second record for the season so far. A late scream of "Monarch!" was met with a cheer from across the tower. The marsh has some added furniture thanks to the local Musk Rats, with their sizeable lodges repurposed into comfortable sun sofas by Mute Swan, Great Blue Heron and two of our immature gallinules. The gallinule chicks increasingly have us feeling like parents of a teenager in their final year of high school, knowing that one day very soon they will be ready to venture off into the world leaving us behind. Predictions: As indicated by today's drop in barometric pressure, there will likely be some scattered showers around tomorrow - whether these hit the tower or not is another story! The winds are generally poor for raptors, but the strong southerlies and good cloud cover may create nice conditions for lake-watching through the day. If we can defy the weather and get a few kettles of Turkey Vulture and Red-tailed Hawk in the afternoon, listen for us cheering from as far away as Detroit as we hopefully celebrate our 200,000th raptor for the year! ======================================================================== 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