Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 9 hours
Official Counter: Kiah Jasper
Observers: Mike Jaber, Noel Herdman, Paul Gosselin
Visitors: Thanks to Noel, Mike and Paul for helping me with the count today. We were visited by Arjun in the morning, and Hugh & Liz stopped by briefly in the afternoon. There were lots of people out and about walking around the park today.
Weather: The day started off with the temperature at 4 Degrees C and the wind from the ENE. The wind changed straight from the East around 08:30 and quickly picked up speed as the morning went on, going up to 30kph gusting to 40kph. The sky was a nice mix of sun and cloud today, with an average of 50% cloud cover. In the afternoon the wind shifted back to the ENE for around 2.5 hours, bringing about a slight drop in the temperature as well. The max temperature in the afternoon was 15.5 C, and the barometer fell from 30.19 to 30.06
Raptor Observations: The first two hours of the count were very slow for raptors, with only single digits observed. Right around 09:00 things started picking up though, and we saw a nice mid morning push of raptors (including 2 Golden Eagles). The activity then died down around 10:30, and remained slow for several hours, until the ENE wind brought the flight back to life at 14:00. We recorded good numbers of Northern Harriers (21), Sharp-shinned Hawks (44), Red-tailed Hawks (179) and Red-shouldered Hawks (36). The highlight birds today were the 6 Golden Eagles and a Short-eared Owl that flew East just after sunrise.
Non-raptor Observations: After being present in low numbers for several days, the American White Pelicans made a comeback today with 97 counted out in the marsh. The strong winds from the East led to a quieter morning flight than yesterday, and overall a lower species total than yesterday. There were still some birds moving though, including; 222 American Goldfinch, 13 Purple Finch, 20 Pine Siskin, 33 Eastern Bluebird and 118 Rusty Blackbirds. European Starlings passed by in giant murmurations throughout the day, with a conservative count of 46,000. Tree Swallows continue to linger around the marsh, with a minimum of 18 counted. Other highlights included our first Common Goldeneye of the season, 3 Common Loons and 9 Sandhill Cranes. We also saw 3 Monarchs pass over the tower, rather surprising for the date. 75 species were recorded today from the tower. To see the full list of all the species recorded, click this eBird link - https://ebird.org/checklist/S201325109
Predictions: Tomorrow there is meant to be strong winds from the South all day and a chance of rain all morning. We don't expect many raptors will be moving, but there could be some Turkey Vultures fighting the wind along the shore. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Kiah Jasper (<kiahbirder...>) Holiday Beach Hawk Watch information may be found at: http://hbmo.ca/
