Visitors:
Thanks to Mike, Hugh, Liz, Juliette, and Noel for helping out today. Chuck
and Lucretia visited us from Michigan to help spot birds for most of the
morning. For Remembrance Day, a 2 minute silence was given at 11:00 to
remember the fallen.
Weather:
The morning started off at 8 degrees C, with strong winds out of the
southwest and an overcast sky. For the remainder of the day, the winds were
very strong (25-40 kph) out of the southwest, increasing as the day went
on. The temperature increased in the afternoon, but with the windchill it
often felt colder on the tower. The sky was overcast all day in a classic
November fashion with dark looming clouds rolling overhead. Sunshine broke
through occasionally, though it was only small blue pockets and never
remained very long. The pressure was very low today, averaging around
29.60.
Raptor Observations:
It was a slow day for raptors on the tower, though much better than
yesterday! In the morning we saw several Northern Harriers, Sharp-shinned
Hawks and Cooper’s Hawks fly past the tower, which kept us entertained.
Two groups of Turkey Vultures passed by today but besides that there was
little activity. Our highlights were two Merlins, and one Peregrine Falcon.
Non-raptor Observations:
The high wind led to an overall lower day for species diversity, with a
much reduced morning songbird flight. American Goldfinch (148), Cedar
Waxwing (195), and Rusty Blackbird (554) were the only three species that
were moving in numbers. Two American White Pelicans linger in the marsh and
it seems the large numbers have have moved on. Five late Tree Swallows flew
by in the morning, and despite my best efforts I couldn’t turn them into
the much desired Cave Swallow. Other highlights today include 4 Great
Egrets, and 5 Sandhill Cranes. 53 species were observed from the tower
today (not including migrating raptors). EBird list available here -
https://ebird.org/checklist/S202211641
Predictions:
Tomorrow looks like it will be a good day on the tower with moderate North
winds and partial sunny skies. We expect a nice push of raptors after
they’ve been held back by poor weather for the past several days.
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Report submitted by Kiah Jasper (<kiahbirder...>)
Holiday Beach Hawk Watch information may be found at:
http://hbmo.ca/
