Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 8 hours
Official Counter: Michael Burton-Smith
Observers: Juliette Herdman, Kitty Bradshaw, Mike Jaber, Noel Herdman, Robin Smallwood, Wade Carlton
Visitors: Thanks to Noel, Juliette, Mike, Robin and Kitty for helping to conduct today's count, and to all our visitors who wanted to share in the birds and especially the pelicans! It was also awesome to see Emily and three school groups today, who were all very excited to learn about the hawks and that snapping turtles do, in fact, have tails.
Weather: Northerly winds turning to a mild easterly through the day, with temperatures rising from a nippy fourteen to a slightly toasty twenty as the clouds cleared. Challenging conditions for raptor watching in the afternoon, with clear skies and strong thermals lifting the birds high.
Raptor Observations: We really are the depths of the transition period from our mid-September movers, especially Broad-winged Hawks, into the October migrants like Turkey Vulture and Red-tailed Hawks. Consequently it is overall very quiet at the moment, although a few kettles of Turkey Vulture in the mid-afternoon helped bolster the day's count.
Raptor sighting of the day was absolutely a juvenile Peregrine who swooped in early this morning and caught a migrating Blue Jay, perching on a dead tree to eat the catch!
As an interesting aside, we have seen more of every raptor species compared to the same date last year except three, with Osprey drawing level on 25 individuals, Cooper's Hawk down by just under twenty percent, and Peregrines trailing last year's figures by two. Although Broad-winged Hawks have stolen the headlines this year, there have also been substantial year-on-year increases in Red-tailed Hawk and Turkey Vulture, making it a very promising season for raptor numbers overall.
Today saw the first minor movement of Red-winged Blackbirds, along with our first Rusty Blackbird of the season. Blue Jay migration is also going up the gears, with 6915 individuals in the morning. On the marsh, pelican numbers continue to increase as the lilies die back, with a minimum count of 320 today, although the real number was likely slightly higher. It was also nice to see our family of three Sandhill Crane back on the marsh, as well as a large number of Green-winged Teal.
Non-bird related observations included a Blanding's Turtle and a Common Snapping Turtle observed crossing the drive, and a high diversity of butterflies which were particularly active in the sunny periods of the afternoon.
Predictions: A northerly wind and clear skies will make good conditions for passerine migration overnight, and more mild winds through the day will hopefully mean a few new warblers and possibly even some sparrows around the tower to keep us entertained in the morning! Raptor-wise, the northerly wind and cloudy skies will make for relatively good conditions, and while we cannot expect miracles at this stage in the season we will hopefully see another moderate movement of Turkey Vulture in the afternoon and a slight increase on today's numbers for Sharp-shinned Hawk and American Kestrel. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Michael Burton-Smith () Holiday Beach Hawk Watch information may be found at: http://hbmo.ca/
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