Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 23, 2023 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 248 902 902 Osprey 0 32 32 Bald Eagle 6 103 103 Northern Harrier 17 296 296 Sharp-shinned Hawk 160 4401 4401 Cooper's Hawk 7 69 69 American Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 66 56217 56217 Red-tailed Hawk 9 125 125 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 32 842 842 Merlin 2 84 84 Peregrine Falcon 1 20 20 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: 548 63091 63091 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 8 hours Official Counter: Chad Cornish Observers: Hugh Kent, Liz Kent, Noel Herdman Visitors: Big thanks to Chad as Official Counter for the day. Thanks also to Noel for so ably assisting Chad. It was good to see Dave and Jane, and John. It was good to meet Scott from Simcoe, Phil and Julie from Chatham and Daniel from Toronto who all took a great interest in the Hawk Watch. Weather: There was a moderate north easterly wind today, with temperatures starting at the mid teens and gradually rising to the low twenties. There was little cloud cover throughout the day, until late afternoon when it increased. Humidity was high to start with but decreased throughout the day. Visibility was good. Raptor Observations: Turkey Vultures (248) took the top spot today, followed by Sharp-Shinned Hawks (160). Broad-winged Hawks (66) were mostly seen mid morning rising from their roosts in the trees. American Kestrels (32) are still coming through in relatively low numbers, we have seen fewer than this time last year. Seventeen Northern Harriers floated past including a single 'Gray Ghost'. Non-raptor Observations: The Blue Jays have started their move west with 2,343 seen today. Not a huge number compared with last year at this time, it will be interesting to see how their numbers increase in the coming days. Very quiet songbird day (again) but we did have American Pipits (4) over, a new species for the season. Duck numbers lower today, they must be hiding in the vegetation. The list is at https://ebird.org/checklist/S150599158 Predictions: A sunny day with gentle winds from the north east is forecast. Temperatures a bit lower. Possibly we will see some further Broad-wing stragglers and more Turkey Vultures. Sharp-shins and Kestrels will hopefully keep coming. Maybe we will also see more Blue Jays! ======================================================================== 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