Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 02, 2022 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 3628 5158 12342 Osprey 0 1 12 Bald Eagle 16 20 272 Northern Harrier 30 52 370 Sharp-shinned Hawk 379 671 4517 Cooper's Hawk 19 29 121 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 52 59 60 Broad-winged Hawk 19 37 65696 Red-tailed Hawk 218 287 463 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 127 316 1708 Merlin 2 6 65 Peregrine Falcon 1 3 55 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: 4491 6639 85681 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 10 hours Official Counter: Hugh Kent Observers: Cindy Isenhoff, Cramer, Donny Moore, Jacob Stasso, Juliette Herdman, Liz Kent, Noel Herdman Visitors: A huge thanks once again to Cindy, Cramer, Donny, Jacob, Juliette and Noel for helping spot the many raptors today, particularly the sneaky buteos in the Turkey Vulture streams! Thanks to Dave and Kim for joining HBMO and for their kind donations. Thanks to Deane and Dawn for also helping spot raptors and to all our other visitors for their interest in the Hawk Watch. Weather: Moderate to strong winds from the north today, with clear skies and a temperature in the mid-teens made for another pleasant day on the Tower, albeit a bit blustery at times. Raptor Observations: Turkey Vulture numbers (3628) continue to increase with many streams coming directly over the Tower. Sharp-shinned Hawk (379) and American Kestrel (127) numbers continue to be healthy. But the real story of the day was an increase in buteos enjoying the blustery weather; Red-tailed Hawks (216), Red-shouldered Hawks (52) and Broad-winged Hawks (19). The Broad-wings generally came in singles indicating that we are towards the end of their migration. We also saw good numbers of Northern Harriers (30) and Cooper's Hawks (19). Other falcon numbers were low. Again, a good variety with 11 species seen. Non-raptor Observations: The blustery conditions kept songbird numbers suppressed. Great Egrets are again present in good numbers and shorebirds continue to be present due to low marsh water levels. A season first of a flock of Dunlin were spotted. Blue Jay numbers still remain high at 31,150, together with American Goldfinches (420). Seasons first Horned Larks were also seen flying over the Tower in the early morning. The list is at https://ebird.org/checklist/S119870531 Predictions: Tomorrow NE moderate winds are forecast with scattered clouds. Similar temperatures to today. Hopefully the buteos will continue in at least the numbers seen today. It is pretty likely that the Turkey Vultures will also be migrating in numbers! ======================================================================== 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-2022