Holiday Beach Hawk Watch Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 01, 2024 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Turkey Vulture 41 41 63 Osprey 4 4 4 Bald Eagle 20 20 23 Northern Harrier 45 45 64 Sharp-shinned Hawk 6 6 8 Cooper's Hawk 1 1 2 American Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 40 40 52 Red-tailed Hawk 87 87 127 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 116 116 124 Merlin 3 3 3 Peregrine Falcon 1 1 1 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 Mississippi Kite 1 1 1 Total: 365 365 472 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 9 hours Official Counter: Kiah Jasper Observers: Alessandra Wilcox, Bob Hall-Brooks, Chad Cornish, Hugh Kent, Liz Kent, Mike Jaber, Noel Herdman, Paul Gosselin, Peter Veighey Visitors: Several keen observers stopped by during the day, with a few staying for the full 9 hours. Big thanks to Hugh, Liz, Alessandra, Chad, Paul, Noel, Kit, Peter, Bob and Mike for helping with the count. Weather: The wind started off from the West, then shifted NW in the early afternoon. The temperature hovered around 25 degrees for most of the day, but a the wind helped cool things down. The sky started off totally blue and then averaged around 50% cloud cover for the afternoon. Raptor Observations: The flight started off quiet in the morning, but quickly picked up after noon with the arrival of the Northwest wind. For our first day of the season today started off great, with pleasant weather and good numbers of birds. 12 species of raptor were recorded, with highlights being a nice push of American Kestrel (116) and Northern Harrier (46). The best bird of the day came just after 4pm, when a young Mississippi Kite flew over the tower! Only the 2nd fall record for Essex County and a rare bird in Ontario overall. Non-raptor Observations: It was a good day for non raptors as well, though there wasn't much of a passerine flight due to the west winds in the morning. Highlights included 39 Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, 104 Chimney Swifts, 5880 Purple Martins and 665 Cedar Waxwings. Full list available here https://ebird.org/checklist/S193624035 Predictions: Tomorrow looks quiet promising for an early season flight, with wind from the north and clear skies. It should be another interesting day on the tower. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Kiah Jasper (kiahbirder@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