Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 22, 2021 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 3129 35413 40290 Osprey 1 9 26 Bald Eagle 9 46 128 Northern Harrier 10 242 445 Sharp-shinned Hawk 33 3821 7169 Cooper's Hawk 2 116 198 Northern Goshawk 1 3 3 Red-shouldered Hawk 20 76 79 Broad-winged Hawk 0 19 5260 Red-tailed Hawk 162 649 784 Rough-legged Hawk 0 1 1 Golden Eagle 1 1 1 American Kestrel 4 666 1291 Merlin 0 20 110 Peregrine Falcon 1 33 84 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 Total: 3373 41115 55869 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 9 hours Official Counter: Hugh Kent Observers: Ian Woodfield, Jim McCoy, Liz Kent, Michelle Mastellotto, Olga Klekner Visitors: We thank all today's observers for their outstanding efforts and those interested in the ongoing Hawk Count. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, access to the top level of Hawk Tower is limited to hawk counters and qualified observers only. The 2nd and lower levels are open to the public practising COVID-19 safe precautions (social distancing). Thank you for your understanding and involvement. Weather: The wind remained light to moderate generally from the north west all day. The day started cold at around 6c and the temperature rose to 11c in the afternoon. Cloud increased throughout the day, but visibility remained good. Raptor Observations: The first Golden Eagle of the season flew gracefully past the Tower at about 1.15pm. Turkey Vulture numbers remained high at 3129 and we are beginning to see more buteos: 162 Red-tailed Hawks and 20 Red-shouldered Hawks, generally passing by at quite a high level with the Vultures. Northern Harrier numbers (10) were reduced, with good numbers of Bald Eagles (9) passing high. Accipiter numbers were lower with only 33 Sharp-shinned Hawks, but another Northern Goshawk passed high along the shoreline. Falcon numbers were low with only 4 American Kestrels and a single Peregrine seen. Non-raptor Observations: Blue Jay numbers seem to be holding up at 3,210, but American Crows are catching up with 1,090 seen today. More Eastern Bluebirds (22) are passing high and 69 American Robins were seen, generally accompanying the Jays. Good numbers of Blackbirds headed west in the first couple of hours: 3,340 Red-winged Blackbirds, 605 Common Grackles and 375 Brown-headed Cowbirds. There was a good variety of Sparrows, but not in large numbers. A very fine male White-crowned Sparrow was present all day around the tower. Duck numbers on the Marsh continue to increase, especially Ring-necked Duck (930). The list is at https://ebird.org/checklist/S96568341 Predictions: Tomorrow the wind turns to the west, so the raptors are likely to pass us further north. Light rain is possible. Temperatures will be similar, but the clouds should clear in the afternoon. Hopefully raptor numbers will remain similar to today. ======================================================================== 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 Count data submitted via Dunkadoo - Project info at: https://dunkadoo.org/explore/hbmo/hbmo-hawk-watch-fall-2021