Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 15:30:00 Total observation time: 8.5 hours
Official Counter: Kiah Jasper
Observers: Hugh Kent, Ian Woodfield, Liz Kent, Michael Arthurs, Mike Jaber
Visitors: Thanks to Mike A, Mike J, Hugh, Liz and Ian for helping with the count today. We were visited by Dawn from Ohio, Pat and Julie from Mackinnon, Donald from Wardsville, Ray from Chatham-Kent, Alex from DC, Hallie from Chicago, Bella from MZ, John from Chicago and Rob from Chicago. Several school groups brought in by ERCA also visited us in the morning.
Weather: This morning I arrived at the tower to discover the wind coming from the West, not ideal but a nice change after the past few days. Soon after it shifted WSW, not what was forecasted and certainly not a favourable direction. For the rest of the morning the wind retained a southerly component, while dark and stormy clouds rolled towards us from the West. Just after 12:00 rain began to fall, but it only lasted for around 20 minutes. When the rain band ended the wind shifted WNW and the sky began to open up, changing to 50% cloud cover. The wind was fairly strong all day, averaging 15kph but gusting to 30kph at times. Those conditions held for most of the afternoon, though it started clouding over significantly at 16:30. The temperature started at 6 Degrees C in the morning and rose to 15 C in the afternoon, though it felt cooler with the winds. The barometer went up from 29.93 to 30.05.
Raptor Observations: The morning was quite slow for raptors, with only one or two birds recorded each hour. After the rain hit and the sky cleared up, we saw a nice flight begin over the marsh, which lasted from 12:30 until 15:00. As is the norm this time of year, the bulk of the birds were Turkey Vultures (647), followed by Red-tailed Hawks (59) and Sharp-shinned Hawks (22). Highlights included an immature Golden Eagle and a juvenile Peregrine Falcon.
Non-raptor Observations: Due to the strong winds in the morning, we saw a reduced songbird flight. We recorded under 900 blackbirds this morning, a stark contrast to yesterdays numbers. Two species that were moving in numbers though were American Robin (957) and American Goldfinch (935), both passing by until mid afternoon. 108 American White Pelicans were recorded, 100 of those leaving the marsh in the early morning and flying West. 96 Tree Swallow were observed today, high numbers for this late in the year. Other highlights today included; 1 Eastern Meadowlark, 98 Rusty Blackbirds, 1 Pectoral Sandpiper and 6 Purple Finches. 67 species were observed from the tower today, for the full list click this eBird link https://ebird.org/checklist/S201038262
Predictions: Tomorrow is meant to be a cooler day, with a daily high of 11 C. The wind should be from the North for most of the day, but it's meant to be nonexistent at under 5kph. The sky is also meant to be sunny. I can't guarantee it will be a great day, but I think there should be a good number of birds migrating past, as they've been held up for the past 5 days. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Kiah Jasper (<kiahbirder...>) Holiday Beach Hawk Watch information may be found at: http://hbmo.ca/
