Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 8 hours
Official Counter: Kiah Jasper
Observers: Noel Herdman
Visitors: Thanks to Noel for helping out with the count in the morning. We were visited by Bill from Windor and Art from Hammond.
Weather: The day started off on the cold side of things, with a moderate northeast wind and the temperature at 4C.The temperature increased to 15C by the early afternoon, though the cold wind didn't make it feel that warm on the tower. The wind stayed out of the northeast for the first 5 hours, then started shifting to the E/ESE, which seemed to kill our raptor flight. The wind changed back to NE for the last hour of the count, though it seemed to be too late at that point. The sky remained clear blue for the whole day, with a max of 10% cloud cover (never a sky a hawkwatcher loves). The barometer started at 29.72 and fell several points during the day.
Raptor Observations: It turned out to be a decent day for numbers on the tower, with over 2,000 birds counted. The top spot went to Turkey Vultures (1,745) followed by Red-tailed Hawk (271). None of the other raptors made it into the triple digits today, though the 45 Red-shouldered Hawks observed were a nice additions to the lines of vultures and red-tails. The highlights today were 2 Golden Eagles and 2 Rough-legged Hawks.
Non-raptor Observations: The first few hours of the morning were productive for passerine movement, with lots of finches and blackbirds streaming west by the tower. Highlights included 81 Purple Finch, 535 American Goldfinch, 45 Pine Siskins, 90 Rusty Blackbirds and 3 Eastern Meadowlarks. American Crows made a good push today, with 20,400 recorded. On the marsh 80 American White Pelicans continue to be seen, and a large number of Tree Swallows (3,500) were seen foraging over the water. Other highlights inlcude Trumpeter Swan and 3 Pectoral Sandpipers flying by. 72 species were seen from the tower today (including raptors). The list can be found at the link below: https://ebird.org/checklist/S281699086
Predictions: The wind is meant to be out of the east tomorrow, which isn't great for concentrating birds along the shoreline. That said, we should still see some movement, particularly vultures. Wednesday is looking better at the moment, with forecasted northeast winds and sunny skies. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Kiah Jasper (<kiahbirder...>) Holiday Beach Hawk Watch information may be found at: http://hbmo.ca/
