Date: 9/8/26 3:19 pm
From: <reports...>
Subject: [birders] Holiday Beach Hawk Watch (08 Sep 2026) 101 Raptors
Holiday Beach Hawk Watch
Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada




Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 08, 2026
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Turkey Vulture 10 152 152
Osprey 3 9 9
Bald Eagle 3 88 88
Northern Harrier 13 134 134
Sharp-shinned Hawk 55 307 307
Cooper's Hawk 1 14 14
American Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0
Broad-winged Hawk 10 588 588
Red-tailed Hawk 4 102 102
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 0 0
American Kestrel 1 262 263
Merlin 0 16 18
Peregrine Falcon 1 5 5
Unknown Accipitrine 0 0 0
Unknown Buteo 0 0 0
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Falcon 0 0 0
Unknown Raptor 0 4 4

Total: 101 1681 1684
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Observation start time: 07:00:00
Observation end time: 15:00:00
Total observation time: 8 hours

Official Counter: Michael Burton-Smith

Observers: Hugh Kent, Liz Kent, Mike Jaber, Peter Veighey

Visitors:
Yet another massive thank you to Peter, Mike, Hugh and Liz who joined me in
the tower today and kept spirits high even when bird numbers were low! It
was lovely to be joined by visitors Mark, Keith, Steve, David, Mark and
Sarah through the day.


Weather:
Partially cloudy with light north-easterlies turning to south-easterlies in
the afternoon. Temperatures in the high twenties throughout the day,
pushing 30 degrees in the mid-afternoon.

Raptor Observations:
Relatively quiet again without enough wind to squeeze the raptors along the
northern shore of Lake Eerie. Still over a hundred raptors seen across the
day, including 55 Sharp-shinned Hawks which passed through regularly
throughout the day. Unexpectedly, just one Kestrel and no Merlins.

Non-raptor Observations:
The day's checklist can be view at https://ebird.org/checklist/S391132368.

Overall relatively quiet today, with only minor movements of American
Goldfinch through the day and a massive work-up of three-thousand Tree
Swallows in the early morning. The two birds of the day were our first
Purple Finch of the season (a male coming out of breeding plumage), and a
probable hybrid Nashville x Tennessee Warbler. Details of the warbler have
been submitted onto eBird for review, and hopefully it will appear again
and can be photographed for confirmation.

Predictions:
With storms threatening in the afternoon and strong southerlies turning to
easterlies through the day, tomorrow does not look especially promising for
raptor migration. We will try and arrive early to catch any Sharp-shinned
Hawks moving in the morning to avoid the rain, and to see if there is any
increase in warbler activity with the cooler temperatures.
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Report submitted by Michael Burton-Smith ()
Holiday Beach Hawk Watch information may be found at:
http://hbmo.ca/


More site information at hawkcount.org: https://hawkcount.org/siteinfo.php?rsite=100


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