Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 11, 2025 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 46 718 58701 Osprey 0 1 44 Bald Eagle 0 35 511 Northern Harrier 2 84 855 Sharp-shinned Hawk 3 102 7379 Cooper's Hawk 1 17 313 American Goshawk 0 0 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 53 375 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 40251 Red-tailed Hawk 9 247 1898 Rough-legged Hawk 0 12 21 Golden Eagle 2 20 52 American Kestrel 0 1 1148 Merlin 0 6 116 Peregrine Falcon 1 8 75 Unknown Accipitrine 0 0 0 Unknown Buteo 0 0 21 Unknown Eagle 0 0 2 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 3 Black Vulture 0 0 1 Total: 64 1304 111767 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:30:00 Observation end time: 13:30:00 Total observation time: 6 hours Official Counter: Kiah Jasper Observers: Mike Jaber, Robin Smallwood Visitors: Thanks to Mike and Robin for helping with the count today. Robyn visited us from Alberta, joining me for a few hours on the tower. Weather: Another cool and blustery day on the tower! The wind teased us with a slight northern hint (WNW) initially, bringing a cold, winter-like feel similar to what we experienced yesterday. That was short lived though, soon the wind shifted to the West, then the Southwest, where it remained for the rest of the day (gusting to over 30kph). The south component brought a cold and damp wind off of Lake Erie, the kind of chill that seeps into your bones. The temperature increased from -3C to +2 during the count, allowing the snow to begin melting off the tower. It was overcast for the majority of the day, clearing up to around 60% CC briefly for just over an hour in the morning. The barometer fell several points today, ending near 29.96. Raptor Observations: Considering the poor winds today, I was pleasantly surprised to see a few raptor migrating. Turkey Vultures (48) took the top spot, with small groups fighting their way slowly West into the wind. Most of the vultures were on the far edge of the marsh, dipping below treeline frequently. Highlights today included a Peregrine Falcon and 2 Golden Eagles, the goldens passing by within 5 minutes of each other around 11:40. Somehow we recorded more goldens today than yesterday, when we had nice Northwest winds! After 12:00 the sky grew darker and the wind shifted to the south-southwest and increased in strength, which seemed to kill what little of a flightline there was. We stuck it out until 1:40pm, but conditions continued to worsen so we ended the count early. I often find it interesting to compare numbers on to nearby Detroit River Hawkwatch. Today was very similar at both stations, we had 48 Turkey Vultures, they had 42… We had 9 Red-tailed Hawks, they had 10. Non-raptor Observations: Despite being a cold and windy day, we still managed to identify 73 species from the tower. It will be interesting to see how long these 70+ species days can last into the month, as more and more species begin leaving our region. Not many passerines wanted to fight their way into a strong headwind this morning, so we had a rather reduced morning flight. Cedar Waxwings (832) were the exception, with flocks moving through all day. 6 Evening Grosbeaks flew past with a flock of waxwings late in the morning, always a nice highlight here. Tundra Swans (112) and Canvasback (70) continue to increase, both late season species that often observed migrating high overhead. Some highlights on the lake included Horned Grebe (3), Common Loon (8) and an increase of Red-breasted Merganser (900). On the marsh duck numbers remain strong, with over 4,000 dabbling ducks being observed daily. Most of the marsh was frozen this morning, so the ducks were restricted to smaller pockets of open water at the back corners. Great Egrets (7) and Tree Swallows (20) continue to linger late into the season. The eBird list can be viewed here - https://ebird.org/checklist/S284055568 Predictions: Tomorrow will be slightly warmer at (6C), though the wind will still be quite strong out of the West. Combined with an overcast sky it likely won’t be a very productive day for raptors on the tower. Thursday is currently looking like it will be sunny with lighter west winds, so hopefully we’ll see a few more birds then. ======================================================================== 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