Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 08:45:00 Total observation time: 1.75 hours
Official Counter: Kiah Jasper
Observers: Mike Jaber, Noel Herdman
Visitors: Thanks to Noel and Mike for coming out to keep me company in the miserable weather this morning, and an extra thanks to Noel for bringing hot chocolate for the hawk counter : )
Weather: Today was forecasted to be a wet and windy day, and sure enough that's what it was! When I arrived at the tower it was still fairly dark at 8am due to the heavy cloud cover and rain was hammering down on my car windshield. The temperature remained near 7C for the whole observation period, so at least it was warmer than previous days. The radar showed the possibility of the rain letting up later in the morning, so we decided to wait until 9:30 to see what happened. Unfortunately the weather continued to deteriorate though, so we called it quits at 9:45 since the rain had increased in ferocity and the forecast for the rest of the day remained poor.
Raptor Observations: Two Northern Harriers were seen briefly around 8:30, but they decided not to cross the marsh and headed back to the east. Harriers are the one raptor that often braves the rain and continues to fly even on these poor weather days. No other raptors were observed today.
Non-raptor Observations: There was not migration to speak of for non raptors either, making for a rather dule morning on the tower. 2 Common Loons drifted just offshore on Lake Erie, and on the marsh 80 American White Pelicans and 2 Common Gallinules continue to be seen. Only 41 species were observed from the tower today, for the full list see the eBird checklist below. https://ebird.org/checklist/S282053930
Predictions: Tomorrow should be a chilly day on the tower, feeling only like 2C in the morning. The sky should be clear of rain though, starting off cloudy with the possibility of some sun later in the day. The wind will be strong out of the west, with a small chance of a north component. There should be some vultures and perhaps buteos moving, though the number will really depend on if we can get a northwest wind or not. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Kiah Jasper (<kiahbirder...>) Holiday Beach Hawk Watch information may be found at: http://hbmo.ca/
