Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 8 hours
Official Counter: Michael Burton-Smith
Observers: Bob Hall-Brooks, David Wharton, Hugh Kent, Liz Kent, Peter Veighey, Stephen Courtney
Visitors: Thanks to Hugh, Liz, Steve, David, Bob, Mel and Peter for helping conduct the day's count. It was lovely to be joined by Lou and Toni, Emily and her joyous third graders (a special mention to the girl who said albatross was her favourite bird!), Pille, Don, David, and Kobe. The best animal encounter of the day was definitely the lovely pup Abby, who enthusiastically received many pats from the volunteers.
Weather: A bitter southerly coming off the lake this morning, gusting in the mid-twenties. By lunchtime, however, the wind had almost completely disappeared and we ended the day under beautiful sunshine with temperatures in the upper twenties.
Raptor Observations: It was a day dominated by one bird - the Turkey Vulture. While other species dribbled by at a snail's pace, the Turkey Vultures pumped through all day long. Between 1000 and 1100 EST, over 1500 individuals passed in a single hour. Unfortunately most were just small dots on the northern horizon, but it was still great to see so many birds on the move.
Florence + The Machine wrote in 2009 that the dog days were over, but at Holiday Beach the duck days certainly are not! Ring-billed Duck were the most abundant (112), but we also had our first Common Merganser (21) in the early morning, and nice flybys of most species through the day.
Other waterbirds included an overhead Common Loon, a nice grouping of 92 American Coot, and five of our gallinule chicks. Otherwise fairly quiet, with a few of the smaller passerines having left overnight.
Predictions: The slight northern component to tomorrow's westerly winds could help push the Turkey Vultures closer to the tower, with clear skies hopefully setting up plenty of thermals for them. Otherwise fairly similar conditions to today, so we should see a few pelicans on the marsh in the morning and a couple of straggling warblers. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Michael Burton-Smith () Holiday Beach Hawk Watch information may be found at: http://hbmo.ca/
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