Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 14, 2024 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 1 159 181 Osprey 0 10 10 Bald Eagle 1 59 62 Northern Harrier 9 141 160 Sharp-shinned Hawk 183 1024 1026 Cooper's Hawk 3 38 39 American Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 97 513 525 Red-tailed Hawk 14 239 279 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 21 355 363 Merlin 3 33 33 Peregrine Falcon 2 15 15 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 1 1 Total: 334 2587 2694 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 06:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 10 hours Official Counter: Kiah Jasper Observers: Alessandra Kite, Chad Cornish, Jeremy Bensette, Olga Klekner, Paul Gosselin, Peter Veighey, Roland Klekner Visitors: Today was the first day of Hawkfest, so we saw a massive increase of visitors to the tower and surrounding area. Over 270 people made the trek up the tower to visit today, and many more milled around to visit the venders and see what birds they could find infor the conservation area. Presentations were given, cake was consumed (Happy 50th year HBMO!) and birds were seen, though not quite in the numbers we would hope for. Wings Rehab brought us several rehabbed raptors to see up close, and the banding team showed a variety of passerines in hand by the tower, a big hit with the crowds. Big thanks to Chad, Paul and Peter for staying with me all day on top of the tower, it was very helpful : ) Weather: We continue to be stuck with this high pressure in the Great Lakes Region, which means hot and cloudless days with unfavorable southerly winds. In the morning the wind shifted Northeast ever so briefly, but soon changed back to the East and then eventually Southeast. The sky remained clear blue with a light haze higher up, and the temperature reached 27C in the afternoon. Raptor Observations: Despite the wind conditions, we still managed a decent list of raptors today, with 11 species recorded. Most abundant were Sharp-shinned Hawks (183) and Broad-winged Hawks (97), with an assortment of other raptors mixed in. The flight today was very high, sometimes overhead and sometimes inland towards the far treeline. Spotting was very challenging due to the clear blue sky and high flying birds. Non-raptor Observations: It was our most productive day this week for non raptors, with plenty of movement through the area. The Blue Jay passage grows by the day, with 1170 recorded by counters today. 13 warbler species were seen from the tower today, including many flybys in the early morning. a Palm Warbler was our first for the season, and other common warblers today included Bay-breasted, Yellow-rumped and Magnolia. Visitors got to witness a Great Blue Heron catch and swallow a large gar (over a foot long) besides the tower, always an exciting spectacle to see. Our biggest surprise came mid morning, when a stray Budgerigar flew over the tower headed west. 84 Species were seen from the tower today, for the full eBird list click here - https://ebird.org/checklist/S195138284 Predictions: Once again, the winds will be out of the Southeast tomorrow, with blue sky and hot temperatures also. Hopefully like today, we see a hint of North wind at some point! ======================================================================== Report submitted by Kiah Jasper (kiahbirder@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