Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 8 hours
Official Counter: Chad Cornish
Observers: Bob Hall-Brooks, Chuck Sharbaugh, Kitty Bradshaw, Mike Jaber, Patrick Tomlinson, Steve Wagner
Visitors: Thanks to Chad for doing official counter duties today, ably assisted by Bob, Chuck, Kitty, Mike, Patrick and Steve. We were able to welcome two home school groups led by Jess, the second group were lucky to see a group of about 30 Broad wings close to the Tower. It was nice to see Lou, Chris, Dave and Christine on the Tower again.
Weather: Clear skies for the day accompanied by at light to moderate northerly wind, which moved to the south mid afternoon. The temperature soon rose from an initial 15c to 26c by midday. Barometric pressure dropped slightly throughout the day. The visibility was a hazy 20km.
Raptor Observations: What an amazing day! just after lunch the wind increased from the NE and we had a river of Broad-winged Hawks streaming over the Tower in a massive wide band - over 20,000 in an hour! Other raptor numbers were good too, with 591 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 122 American Kestrels, but nothing approached the day total of Broad-winged Hawks of 28,755. It was good to see 2 Peregrines, which have had a slow start this season. However Merlin's have had a good start including one flying over the Tower today munching a dragonfly!
Non-raptor Observations: Lower diversity today, but we still saw 7 American Pelicans over the marsh and a significant number of Tree Swallow (1500) hawking over the marsh. 68 Monarchs passed by the tower today. The list can be found at https://ebird.org/checklist/S273781414
Predictions: #Clear skies with light winds from the NE forecast for the morning, changing to south in the afternoon. Temperatures similar to today rising to 25 by midday. Similar conditions to today. Let's hope for more Broad wings! ======================================================================== Report submitted by Hugh Kent (<Hughnkent...>) Holiday Beach Hawk Watch information may be found at: http://hbmo.ca/
