Observation start time: 06:30:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 8.5 hours
Official Counter: Kiah Jasper, Michael Burton-Smith
Observers: Chip Ogglesby, Hugh Kent, Jaron Wilkinson, Juliette Herdman, Kiah Jasper, Michael Burton-Smith, Mike Jaber, Noel Herdman, Robin Smallwood
Visitors: Thanks to Kiah for his help running the count today (and for identifying the Winter Wren!), and to Hugh, Noel, Julie, Mike, Jaron and Robin for assisting us both on the tower. It was also lovely to be joined by Christine, Brian and Fran throughout the day.
Weather: Clear skies throughout the day with high barometric pressure keeping things bright. Gentle southerly breeze weakening in the afternoon.
Raptor Observations: We've counted nearly 180,000 raptors this year and yet there are still new things to see on the tower! Kiah looked through his scope with a wry smile and said, "Now this is a new one for the season!" A white rump, but a tail too short and round for a Northern Harrier. A black terminal band, but a body too small for a Golden Eagle... A Rough-legged Hawk! That lifts us to 143 species for October, the second highest total in HBMO history, and levels us with 2024 for 180 species by October 19.
Otherwise, raptors were mostly limited to frustrating specks on the horizon (the game of close starling or distant vulture will not make it as a popular sport), but it was great to see a decent number of Red-tailed Hawks in the later part of the day with a few Red-shoulders amongst them.
After a long discussion about when we last saw Canada's emblematic mammal, Noel's mid-morning shout of "BEAVER" was better comedic timing than you'd get from a Monty Python skit. Also on the non-bird list were our two muskrats, a few late Black Saddlebags and Monarchs, and some Midland Painted Turtles crossing the path on a quest for warmer water.
On the bird front, we may need to petition that the European Starling is renamed the Holiday Beach Starling, with 38,010 flying over the tower today! There were notable movements of Horned Lark (172), American Crow (214), American Pipit (165) and Red-winged Blackbird (5580). The second latest Indigo Bunting in HBMO history was a nice bonus, as did nine Eastern Meadowlark flying over the marsh in the early morning.
Predictions: Gentle northerlies and clear skies overnight may facilitate another movement in waterfowl, so it will be worth keeping an eye out over the marsh and on the lake tomorrow morning for any new arrivals. The northerly breeze through the day will hopefully push the Turkey Vultures closer to the tower, along with other raptors following them on the thermals. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Michael Burton-Smith () Holiday Beach Hawk Watch information may be found at: http://hbmo.ca/
-- Birders is a service of the Great Lakes Commission. Visit us at www.glc.org
Messages and content distributed on Birders are the sole responsibility of the subscriber providing such content and do not reflect the views, policy or position of the Great Lakes Commission. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Birders" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to birders+<unsubscribe...> To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/a/great-lakes.net/d/msgid/birders/<010101a1565069f8-fa8e7eb1-d539-462d-ac55-7fb54813ff5c-000000...>
