Observation start time: 06:30:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 9.5 hours
Official Counter: Michael Burton-Smith
Observers: Bryan Girling, Cindy Isenhoff, Cramer, David Wharton, Fran, Hugh Kent, Juliette Herdman, Karen Padbury, Kiah Jasper, Linda Wladarski, Liz Kent, Mike Jaber, Noel Herdman, Sandra Nafziger, Stephen Courtney
Visitors: North winds are not just great for birds; they also seem to blow in a lot of birders too! Thanks to Kiah, Mike, Steve, David, Bryan, Fran, Cindy, Cramer, Hugh, Liz, Linda, Karen, Sandra, Noel and Juliette for your help conducting the day's count. Commiserations again to Mike Jaber, who for the second day in a row managed to miss the Golden Eagles! It was great to be joined by Rochaye, Ian, Chip and Kobe to enjoy the fun in the afternoon.
Weather: The day did not go exactly to script, with very little wind and high humidity in the early morning. As the fog lifted, so did the wind speed, with northerlies peaking in the mid-afternoon and temperatures rising to the low twenties.
Raptor Observations: The morning was one of the most depressing, drawn out, soul crushing periods in my long (six week) career as a volunteer hawk counter. Other than a smattering of Sharp-shinned Hawks, there was not a speck in the sky for hours. Then the winds picked up, the humidity dropped, and, like Pterodactyls rising over the horizon in Jurassic World, the raptors began to stream over our heads like an ominous avian armada.
Red-tailed Hawk, Turkey Vulture and Red-shouldered Hawk made up the bulk of the day's movement, but interspersed among them were several great birds. The first was a single Golden Eagle after midday, a little reward for the desperately slow morning. At 1433 local time, however, the gears really got moving. Looking through my binoculars to count the Turkeys, I could hardly believe the words coming out of my mouth: "BLACK VULTURE!!" With those diagnostic white hands and stubby build, we were treated to great views overhead as the bird wheeled back and forth on the thermals.
Within minutes, two more Golden Eagle passed above us. These became a regular feature for the next two hours, including a really awesome sight as five flew over in a group. The final two hours of the day were the Red-tail show, with 232 in just two hours. This included a probable calurus ssp., a very rare visitor to Ontario identified by its distinctly long-winged build and chocolate-brown underparts. A dark morph Rough-legged Hawk was a fitting end to another great day at Holiday Beach.
Last night's clear skies brought in some migrants, with a late Blue-winged Teal and a large influx of Green-winged Teal (277) on the marsh, 69 Ruddy Duck mainly on the open lake, and an Orange-crowned Warbler appearing around the tower. On the cracked corn we got one cute Cottontail, one (VERY) fat black Eastern Gray Squirrel, two White-crowned Sparrow and a Field Sparrow. A real highlight was a female House Sparrow perched nicely on top of the willows, allowing for great looks in the afternoon.
Predictions: The overnight northerlies could bring fresh pickings on the marsh and around the tower, with several winter visitors waiting in the wings to be our next new species for the season. With high humidity forecast again, we will likely have another slow start to the day, but a north wind through the afternoon will hopefully bring more raptors along the northern edge of Lake Erie. Will tomorrow be the day we break our all-time season record for Turkey Vultures? ======================================================================== Report submitted by Michael Burton-Smith () Holiday Beach Hawk Watch information may be found at: http://hbmo.ca/
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