Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 16, 2023 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 0 2908 70096 Osprey 0 0 46 Bald Eagle 0 87 346 Northern Harrier 0 87 834 Sharp-shinned Hawk 2 209 8995 Cooper's Hawk 3 61 371 American Goshawk 0 4 8 Red-shouldered Hawk 5 305 679 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 56725 Red-tailed Hawk 13 1585 3164 Rough-legged Hawk 0 14 18 Golden Eagle 1 82 94 American Kestrel 0 6 2614 Merlin 1 11 138 Peregrine Falcon 0 8 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 Swainson's Hawk 0 1 1 Total: 25 5368 144225 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 09:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 6 hours Official Counter: Hugh Kent Observers: Juliette Herdman, Liz Kent, Noel Herdman Visitors: Big thanks to Noel and Juliette for helping observe and record. It was nice to have two school groups visit the Tower and answer questions about the Hawk Watch and birds in general. It was good to see Cassandra again who was able to see a Bald Eagle through the Scope. Weather: Another sunny day but partly cloudy. The wind was light to moderate generally from the south. It was hazy all day and the visibility was reduced to 15km. The pressure fell throughout the day. The temperature started at 8c and rose to 15c by mid afternoon. Raptor Observations: A quiet day, with Red-tailed Hawks (13) the most numerous. Red-shouldered Hawks (5), Cooper's Hawks (3), Sharp-shinned Hawks (2) and a single Golden Eagle and Merlin completed the day's tally. No raptors were seen in the first and last hour. Non-raptor Observations: Ducks continue to dominate the list with eleven species seen. Bufflehead (6) and Ruddy Duck (2) are becoming more regular visitors and Ring-necked Duck (5190) numbers were up again, in large rafts across the marsh and within marsh vegetation. The regular mix of small birds was seen with Cedar Waxwing (456) and American Goldfinch (555) numbers remaining good. Some Pine Siskin (39) were in the Goldfinch flocks. American Pipit (17) and Horned Lark (9) continue to fly over. The list is at https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S154586751 Predictions: The forecast shows rain all day tomorrow, so it looks like we won't be counting. We'll have a look out early tomorrow and see whether the rain has arrived as forecast. Saturday looks more promising, although colder it is forecast to be a bright day with a light wind initially from the north west, turning to the west. Hopefully the raptors will be keen to fly again after a wet Friday. ======================================================================== 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