Observation start time: 07:15:00 Observation end time: 15:30:00 Total observation time: 8.25 hours
Official Counter: Kiah Jasper
Observers: Jeremy Bensette, Juliette Herdman, Michael St. Pierre, Mike Jaber, Noel Herdman, Robin Smallwood
Visitors: Thanks to Mike J, Noel, Juliette, Robin, Jeremy and Mike S.P for helping out with the count today. We were visited by Bryce from Tecumseh and Lou, Toni and Jim from Windsor.
Weather: Arriving at the tower this morning I was greeted by a most welcome sight, the weather vane pointing towards the Northeast. All month we have been starved for our favoured Northeast winds, but today we finally got a break. For the rest of the day the wind remained out of the NE/NNE at 5-15kph, dying down to almost no wind after 2pm, and slightly shifting East then. The temperature started off at 2C and only went up to 6C later in the day, which felt both warm and cold at times depending on the cloud cover. To start off it was mainly overcast with a layer of blue sky to the Northwest. That blue sky remained far away for at least two hours, as the clouds moved as a snails pace away from us to the Southeast. By late morning it was mostly sunny, with isolated layers of cirrus clouds spread across the sky. Around 2pm the wind shiftly to light Southeast, dropping the temperature as dark clouds began moving in off of the lake, killing the raptor flight for the day and brining the temperature down. The pressure held near 30.25.
Raptor Observations: It was a positively golden day for raptors on the tower today (pun intended), with 727 birds observed! I knew it was going to be a good day when my first bird was a dark morph Rough-legged Hawk, cruising South overhead and going right over the lake, just after sunrise. The flight started off fairly slow for the first three hours of the count, then began gradually picking up after 10am. The flightline at that point was high along the shoreline, making viewing a challenge against white cirrus clouds reflecting sunlight into our eyes. In the early afternoon things began to get fairly hectic, with kettles of 20 or more Red-tailed Hawks forming to the East and the flightline getting more stretched out. It was almost nonstop action for the following two hours, until a change in cloud cover and a decrease in wind led to the flight moving inland and dying down. Red-tailed Hawk (486) was by far the most common species today, with Turkey Vulture (72) as a distant 2nd. Red-shouldered Hawk (38), Sharp-shinned Hawk (39), Cooper's Hawk (31) and Bald Eagle (32) were all recorded in strong numbers as well. The Bald Eagle count is particularly noteworthy because it makes it into the top 10 all-time daily totals for the species. The Cooper's Hawk count is also quite impressive, our highest for the season and one of the highest daily counts in recent years. Golden Eagles put on an excellent showing today, with a total of 12 seen... definitely the boost our season numbers needed. The goldens were all quite high and distant today, but we can't complain! 3 Rough-legged Hawks were also nice.
Non-raptor Observations: It was a strong day overall for bird diversity on the tower, with 76 species observed. The morning songbird flight featured both good numbers and a few uncommon species, with highlights including; American Crow (9,077), Horned Lark (276), Eastern Bluebird (15), Cedar Waxwing (316), American Pipit (29), Purple Finch (18), American Goldfinch (1,629), Lapland Longpspur (1) and Eastern Meadowlark (1). After a 9 day absence American White Pelicans made a return, with a flock of 83 flying in from the West, circling the marsh and then leaving again. Lake Erie was rather quiet today besides a Common Loon and 55 Bufflehead. Duck numbers on the marsh remain consistent. eBird list available here - https://ebird.org/checklist/S285230472
Predictions: Tomorrow is meant to be overcast with a slight chance of rain, 7C and winds light from the southest (but also variable winds throughout the day). Given these conditions it is unlikely the flight will concentrate along the shoreline or be as impressive as today, but there may still be some birds in the area that are moving. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Kiah Jasper (<kiahbirder...>) Holiday Beach Hawk Watch information may be found at: http://hbmo.ca/
