Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 26, 2026 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 1727 70710 74183 Osprey 0 4 30 Bald Eagle 11 150 357 Northern Harrier 16 503 1084 Sharp-shinned Hawk 35 3169 8603 Cooper's Hawk 7 222 334 American Goshawk 0 1 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 8 368 369 Broad-winged Hawk 0 53 107107 Red-tailed Hawk 160 1883 2285 Rough-legged Hawk 0 6 6 Golden Eagle 11 43 43 American Kestrel 5 860 2229 Merlin 2 53 156 Peregrine Falcon 1 49 83 Unknown Accipitrine 0 4 5 Unknown Buteo 0 9 11 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 1 3 Unknown Raptor 0 4 26 Black Vulture 0 1 1 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 1 Total: 1983 78093 196917 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 17:00:00 Total observation time: 10 hours Official Counter: Kiah Jasper, Michael Burton-Smith Observers: Alessandra Kite, Bella Maiwurm, Bryan Girling, Caroline Staddon, Fran, Hugh Kent, Jaron Wilkinson, Jordan Burton, Kiah Jasper, Mel Diotte, Michael Burton-Smith, Mike Jaber, Noel Herdman Visitors: Thanks to Kiah, Alessandra, Mike, Jaron, Bryan, Fran, Mel, Bella, Jordan, Noel, Hugh, Liz and Caroline for helping conduct the day's count. I would especially like to thank Jaron and Noel who helped me find my lost silver clicker (it was in my hand behind my rice crispy). It was great to be visited by Toni, Lou, Quinton and Dana through the day. Weather: Clear skies throughout the day with temperatures lifting to the low twenties. Mild southerly winds turned to northerlies in the mid-afternoon. Raptor Observations: It was a remarkably dull start to the day with the gentle southerly giving us nothing to work with. Things improved slightly after lunch with Turkey Vulture and Red-tailed Hawk peaking in the late afternoon. We were treated to a few flurries of Golden Eagle, including one amazing flyover by four individuals and an immature Bald Eagle for comparison. Non-raptor Observations: Today's eBird checklist can be viewed at https://ebird.org/checklist/S405682906. Familiar faces kept us entertained on a fairly birdless day. Spider the Red-winged Blackbird sang from his usual perch, and Pewee the Starling (named for his masterful impressions) called several times. Cracked-corngate has turned violent, with one squirrel launching attacks on Peter the Eastern Cottontail. Peter, nonchalant as always, simply jumped over the assailant with ease. A new addition to the cracked-corn-consumers was an Eastern Meadow Vole named Leaf (a leaf fell on him and it was really cute). Four of our immature Common Gallinule and one Musk Rat were an added bonus. The real drama came from a massive stag White-tailed Deer, who cautiously crossed the bridge by the hunt club in the early morning. He then proceeded to launch himself at Bryan and Fran on the path, leap into the pond and nearly topple over in the process, bash through the dogwood like a lost Brachiosaurus, and gallop back past the hunt club and over the bridge for no apparent reason. Predictions: Light cloud cover and northerly winds could make the morning interesting for raptors, with easterlies developing around midday. Cold weather and strong northerly winds further north in Ontario may motivate some boreal migrants to get moving, so keep eyes open on the marsh and around the tower for species like Tundra Swan, Hooded Merganser and American Tree Sparrow. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Michael Burton-Smith () 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