Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 12, 2023 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 4 177 177 Osprey 3 17 17 Bald Eagle 4 15 15 Northern Harrier 25 63 63 Sharp-shinned Hawk 605 1141 1141 Cooper's Hawk 5 27 27 American Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 124 457 457 Red-tailed Hawk 4 31 31 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 93 269 269 Merlin 9 41 41 Peregrine Falcon 3 9 9 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: 879 2247 2247 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 6 hours Official Counter: Hugh Kent Observers: Chip Ogglesby, Juliette Herdman, Liz Kent, Noel Herdman Visitors: Noel and Chip did an awesome job undertaking the count for the first few hours in the absence of the Official Counter and then continued to help out for most of the day. It was good to see John again and to meet Sylvia who used to observe for the Hawk Watch in the 90s. Weather: A moderate wind from the west with a slight northern aspect at times. Overcast to start, with a short period of rain early morning. Cloud cover slowly reduced in the afternoon. The temperature was generally around 20c increasing to 25c late afternoon. Visibility was good. Raptor Observations: Very much a Sharp-shinned Hawk day with 605 seen. Broad-winged Hawks followed with 124. It is likely that due to the wind we missed observing thousands of Broad wings passing to our north with only two kettles observed at a distance. American Kestrels were next with 93 counted. Northern Harriers (25) had a good day. A young Peregrine provided entertainment for about half an hour going for anything that flew, including two Northern Harriers that held their own and fought it off. Non-raptor Observations: The highlight of the day was a new for the season overflight of 22 Pectoral Sandpipers. There were low numbers generally with the songbirds particularly absent, probably sheltering from the wind. The list is at https://ebird.org/checklist/S149748681 Predictions: A gentle breeze from the north is forecast for tomorrow, with scattered clouds. Good conditions for Broad Wing migration, so lets hope they come! ======================================================================== 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