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, Noel Herdman, Peter Veighey
Visitors: If the Turkey Vultures were the day's headline act, Peter's work on the Blue Jay clicker would certainly be a close runner up. Elegantly perched on his foldout chair, Peter clicked 15,760 Blue Jays over five hours, while simultaneously supplying muffins and taking a brilliant shot of the Orange-crowned Warbler.
It was also great to be assisted by Hugh and Noel for the day's count, and to be joined by Fran and Brian, Carl and Cathy, Cecile and Donald, Pille, Don and David, and our fluffy mascot Abby (who is forgiven for stealing the muffin from my backpack).
Weather: Mild westerlies throughout the day, occasionally with a slight northerly component. Clear skies with minimal cloud cover, temperatures rising to the mid-twenties.
Raptor Observations: It is TV time at the hawk tower, with Turkey Vultures absolutely pumping through. Today is the seventeenth highest count for Turkey Vultures in HBMO history, and the third highest total within the first ten days of October. The late morning is the best period to see them in action, as they're just waking up and using the thermals to climb high above their treetop roosts. Thanks to today's seven thousand vultures, we have surpassed 2022 to become the fourth best overall season for the Holiday Beach hawk watch.
It was also a great count for Sharp-shinned Hawks and American Kestrel, both giving great flybys low over the tower. In the late afternoon, there was an impressive passage of fourteen Bald Eagle loosely associating with the Turkey Vulture.
Duck diversity continues to increase on the marsh, with more Ring-necks arriving overnight as well as a small party of Redhead. Excitingly we also had our first Bufflehead of the season, streaming low over the lake to the east, and our first Lesser Black-backed Gulls. It was otherwise fairly quiet, with the only major excitements being another Orange-crowned Warbler, a Great Blue Heron flying by with a gar pike in its mouth, and a slithery Northern Watersnake.
Predictions: With low winds and clear skies forecast, we may see some overnight migration in waterfowl and passerines and it will be interesting to see who is around the tower in the morning. The gentle southerly through the day will likely push most migrating raptors away from us, but we will hopefully see another passage of Turkey Vultures to the north in the late morning. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Michael Burton-Smith () Holiday Beach Hawk Watch information may be found at: http://hbmo.ca/
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