Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 21, 2025 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 1 1017 59000 Osprey 0 1 44 Bald Eagle 0 90 566 Northern Harrier 2 137 908 Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 242 7519 Cooper's Hawk 2 92 388 American Goshawk 0 0 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 1 127 449 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 40251 Red-tailed Hawk 1 1157 2808 Rough-legged Hawk 0 16 25 Golden Eagle 0 40 72 American Kestrel 0 1 1148 Merlin 3 23 133 Peregrine Falcon 1 13 80 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: 11 2956 113419 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:30:00 Observation end time: 13:30:00 Total observation time: 6 hours Official Counter: Kiah Jasper Observers: Chip Ogglesby, Mike Jaber, Noel Herdman, Robin Smallwood Visitors: Thanks to Noel, Mike, Chip and Robin for helping out today, company is always welcome on these quiet days! Weather: Today was almost a repeat of yesterday weather wise. A dark and gloomy November day with a low cloud layer and poor winds. The temperature started off at 7C, rising to 10C in the afternoon. The wind was light (10kph) out of the Southwest all day, changing to the SSW after noon. Today had higher humidity (nearly 100% all day) and much reduced visibility compared to yesterday at a max of 5km. The barometer fell slightly today, ending near 29.95. Raptor Observations: Less raptors than yesterday, with an average of 1 or 2 per hour today. In a surprise twist of events, Merlin (3) took the top spot today, followed by Northern Harrier (2) and Cooper's Hawk (2)... that does not happen often! An adult Red-shouldered Hawk in close was a nice pop of colour on a dark day. Non-raptor Observations: 66 species were observed from the tower today, 1 less than yesterday though unsurprising given the reduced visibility (we could not see birds on the lake very well) and wind direction. As expected with a light West component wind, there was a strong flight of Cedar Waxwing (1,429) and American Goldfinch (1,982), so that gave us some birds to count at least. American Pipit (37), Eastern Bluebird (9) and Purple Finch (12) migrated past in lower numbers. On the marsh all the ducks were flushed at once as a coast guard helicopter flew past, allowing for a closer count than usual (birds hide in hard to see places at the back edges). Over 6,000 ducks were seen in flight, with Gadwall (1,700) and Mallard (2,900 ) being the most abundant. Other highlights today included 2 Fox Sparrows and a late Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. The eBird list is available here - https://ebird.org/checklist/S285478644 Predictions: Tomorrow should be a more productive day for raptors, with a mainly sunny sky expected. The wind will be light out of the North, potentially shifting to the South in the afternoon. The strength of the North wind, and how long it remains will determine how good the flight is. ======================================================================== 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