Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 17, 2023 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 46 399 399 Osprey 4 29 29 Bald Eagle 4 70 70 Northern Harrier 20 185 185 Sharp-shinned Hawk 277 2893 2893 Cooper's Hawk 4 45 45 American Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 6538 31842 31842 Red-tailed Hawk 13 85 85 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 79 606 606 Merlin 8 67 67 Peregrine Falcon 0 11 11 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: 6993 36232 36232 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 8 hours Official Counter: Chad Cornish Observers: Hugh Kent, Jeremy Bensette, Jeremy Hatt, Liz Kent, Patrick Tomlinson, Paul Gosselin, Steve Wagner Visitors: Chad did a great job as the Official Counter and thanks for some great observing from a host of people including the two Jeremys, Clay, Steve, Patrick, Paul, Dave and Jane. It was great to meet so many visitors to the Hawk Fest including, to mention a few; Suzanne, Roberta and Heather who also pointed out Hawks, Eric from Pittsburgh, Kevin and Rob, Jason and Cameron. Another great day at the Hawk Fest and a huge thanks to all the HBMO folks who worked so hard to make it a success. Weather: The day started with a light wind from the north, which turned south early afternoon. There was variable cloud cover throughout the day generally with thin, wispy clouds covering most of the sky. The temperature soon rose to mid twenties and stayed there for the day. Visibility was good enabling us to see Hawks against the clouds at a long distance. Raptor Observations: The Broad-winged Hawks (6538) came quite early today with big kettles to the north, but some came closer as the morning wore on, enabling Hawk Fest visitors to see the marvel of the Broad wing migration. They continued streaming over us at high level in low numbers until just after midday. Sharp-shinned Hawks (277) again flew pretty much continuously over the day with American Kestrels (79) starting late morning. Northern Harriers (20) although relatively few in number gave some great views for the visitors. A number of Turkey Vultures (46) seemed now determined to migrate. All in all a good day. Non-raptor Observations: Quiet day on the marsh and around the Tower. The highlight was a late flight of American White Pelicans over the marsh. Whilst looking for Hawks we invariably saw Monarch Butterflies, reflected in the count of 213. The list is at https://ebird.org/checklist/S150167322 Predictions: A light wind from the NW is forecast, with similar conditions to today. So lets hope we get a few more Broad wings, and further Sharp-Shins and Kestrels are pretty likely. ======================================================================== 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