Holiday Beach Hawk Watch
Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
Turkey Vulture 48 48 1945
Osprey 0 0 21
Bald Eagle 4 4 131
Northern Harrier 5 5 528
Sharp-shinned Hawk 166 166 5537
Cooper's Hawk 2 2 92
American Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 1
Broad-winged Hawk 11 11 4269
Red-tailed Hawk 7 7 379
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 0 0
American Kestrel 6 6 1378
Merlin 0 0 57
Peregrine Falcon 0 0 41
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 0 0 1
Swainson's Hawk 0 0 1
Observation start time: 07:00:00
Observation end time: 15:00:00
Total observation time: 8 hours
Official Counter: Kiah Jasper
Observers: Hugh Kent, Liz Kent, Mike Jaber, Noel Herdman
Visitors:
Thanks to Hugh, Liz, Mike and Noel for helping me with the count today. We
were visited by Noreen from Chatham and Chuck from near Amherstburg.
Weather:
Today we experienced very light winds from the Southwest, that then shifted
around to East and Northeast (only locally, winds aloft were West), and
even died completly several times. The temperature started at 18 Degrees C
and went to a high of 26. It was cloudy for the majority of the day, with
the sun coming out strong after 2pm. The pressure remained around 29.74. An
hour after leaving the site the winds increased significantly and rain
began, associated with a frontal boundary moving east.
Raptor Observations:
Much quieter than the previous day, with only 249 raptors recorded. The
most common species today were Sharp-shinned Hawk (166) and Turkey Vulture
(48), with single digits of Red-tailed Hawk, American Kestrel, Bald Eagle
and Northern Harrier mixed in. We had several small groups of Broad-wings,
with 11 counted in total today.
Non-raptor Observations:
Despite being one of those slow, southerly wind days, we still recorded 92
species on the tower. Blue Jays had another very strong flight this
morning, with 75,850 being the final count. Other highlights included; our
first Pine Warbler of the season, late migrants Purple Martin and Least
Flycatcher, American Pipit, Rusty Blackbird and Indigo Bunting. An American
White Pelican also landed briefly in the marsh.
Full eBird list available here -
https://ebird.org/checklist/S197177186
In September, 2024 we recorded 160 species from the tower (our best
September total to date!). To view the full eBird trip report click this
link -
https://ebird.org/tripreport/276315
Predictions:
The wind tomorrow is meant to be from the North in the morning, switching
West in the afternoon. It's predicted to be a cooler, sunny day as well. It
could be quite productive for raptors, especially if the North wind sticks
around into the afternoon.
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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