Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch Port Stanley, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 12, 2026 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 1 2 4 Turkey Vulture 56 1996 2667 Osprey 0 2 47 Bald Eagle 3 22 165 Northern Harrier 7 137 531 Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 244 2811 Cooper's Hawk 6 24 115 American Goshawk 0 0 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 2 Broad-winged Hawk 0 2 18490 Red-tailed Hawk 2 28 207 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 9 172 1841 Merlin 3 18 71 Peregrine Falcon 18 94 120 Unknown Accipitrine 0 0 0 Unknown Buteo 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 0 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 1 Total: 106 2741 27073 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 06:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 9 hours Official Counter: Harold V., Tom Bolohan Observers: Ken Wootton, Rebecca Seeley, Su Ross-Redmond, Tom Bolohan Visitors: Lots of visitors today to the site so I'm glad some Peregrines decided to do a nice flyby for them. Thanks to Harold, Tom B, Ken, Su and Rebecca for getting today's count done. Weather: Fog early then breaking out by 9:00 a.m. bird time. Temps ranged from 14C to a high of 22C and winds were light to moderate from the SW and SSW providing an updraft at the cliff edge. Pressure was slightly on the rise for the day before starting to drop later in the afternoon. Raptor Observations: Almost exactly the flight I would expect at this point in the season given the winds from the SW up the cliff... species that like to use this updraft for a free ride at the cliff edge. Folks were hoping for a few more Peregrines today and they got several flying along the cliff headed westward. A few N Harriers, Cooper's Hawks as well as Am Kestrels, Merlins and some Bald Eagles. TVs were also moving in small numbers. Non-raptor Observations: Some good non-raptors today with a couple of Common Ravens, a likely local Pileated Woodpecker, a vocal Carolina Wren, Nashville and Yellow-rumped Warblers, Common Loons and lots of Blue Jays. And for those interested in Monarchs... the counters reported 6 crossing through the hawk watch area today. Predictions: A bit of a weird weather day for Tuesday with forecasts showing remnants of post-tropical storm Rachel sweeping across southern and central Ontario into the early hours. This will setup some pretty strong SW winds along the shoreline of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario so IF (and its a big if) the rain all pushes through quickly across Lake Ontario then there may be another flight like today with species like Peregrines using the excellent updraft at the cliff edge to get a free ride to the west. If the rain is still in the Tillsonburg to Hamilton area late into the morning then the flight will likely be halted before it ever gets going. Only time will tell. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Dave Brown (ez.raptor1210@gmail.com) Hawk Cliff Hawkwatch information may be found at: http://www.ezlink.ca/~thebrowns/HawkCliff/index.htm More site information at hawkcount.org: https://hawkcount.org/siteinfo.php?rsite=392