Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 12:00:00 Total observation time: 5 hours
Official Counter: Kiah Jasper
Observers: Hugh Kent, Liz Kent, Mike Jaber, Paul Gosselin
Visitors: Thanks to Mike, Paul, Liz and Hugh for helping keep me company today, it certainly wasn't a pleasant day to be on the tower!
Weather: There was a large thunderstorm passing through the area last night, dumping much rain over the Holiday Beach area in the early hours of the morning. We had expected this system would move off by the time the count started, and the radar showed nothing for rain in the area during the morning... yet that wasn't the case at the tower. Persistent mist and light rain continued from 08:00 until 12:00, pushed across the marsh by strong (20kph) Northeast wind. Visibly was limited to the edge of the marsh for most of the morning. The rain briefly held off for held an hour around 12:30, but then started up after 13:00. Since the forecast was grim for the rest of the day we packed it in early. The temperature remained around 12 degrees C today, and the barometer hovered at 29.74
Raptor Observations: Very slow on the raptor front today, probably because most of the birds were sensible and decided to roost somewhere today and wait this poor weather out. A single Merlin at 8:00 was followed by several hours of 0 raptors. There was a quick spike in activity following the gap in the mist just after 12:00, with several Sharp-shinned Hawks and Northern Harriers, but that was short lived.
Non-raptor Observations: There was basically no visible migration of passerines or waterbirds today, save for a single Greater Yellowlegs that flew over. The main highlight today was watching large numbers of sparrows foraging around the base of the tower during the morning, mainly White-throated and White-crowned, but also Field, Chipping, Swamp and Song Sparrows. Our first Eastern Towhee of the season joined them briefly. Tree Swallows frantically foraged over the marsh in enormous numbers during the day, with a minimum of 12,000 recorded. These late season cold days with rain are often very good at congregating swallows over bodies of water. Over 200 American White Pelicans continued to be seen in the marsh today, though there may have been more just out of view. 69 species were observed from the tower on this drizzly day, for the full list click this eBird link - https://ebird.org/checklist/S198763168
Predictions: Much like today, tomorrow's count is going to be very rain dependent. The wind should be North/Northwest for the majority of the day, so as long as it doesn't rain we could be in for a nice flight of raptors. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Kiah Jasper (<kiahbirder...>) Holiday Beach Hawk Watch information may be found at: http://hbmo.ca/
