Observation start time: 06:30:00 Observation end time: 15:30:00 Total observation time: 9 hours
Official Counter: Michael Burton-Smith
Observers: Kiah Jasper, Michael St. Pierre, Mike Jaber, Noel Herdman, Robin Smallwood
Visitors: Thanks to Kiah, Noel, Mike, Michael and Robin for their help conducting today's count, and to Jacquie, Fred and Pille who visited us on the tower.
Weather: Clear skies throughout the day, with cool temperatures in the early morning lifting into the low twenties. Winds from the north moderate in the morning, shifting to the light southerlies in the afternoon.
Raptor Observations: In the brisk morning air we were treated to a real show by two immature Bald Eagle hunting waterfowl across the marsh. After a few failed attempts, we saw one flying into the trees with a mallard in its talons! A perched Red-shouldered Hawk was an added early bonus, along with a tailless Turkey Vulture (dubbed the Turkey Nugget) which was surprisingly unimpeded by its reduced rear-end.
Things picked up around lunchtime, with all four Buteos, including notable shifts of Red-tailed and Red-shouldered Hawk and nice views of a Rough-legged Hawk in the afternoon. As the wind direction changed most of the migration drifted to the north, but we were rewarded for our scoping with two Golden Eagles in the last hour of the count.
For those of us who honed our birding skills on the other side of the Atlantic, Snow Buntings are associated with pebble beaches, miserable sideways rain, and frighteningly cold winds gusting off the North Sea. To see a small squadron of them flying through sunny skies in inland Canada certainly is a change of pace! These were a first for the season, as were nine Eastern Bluebird migrating high overhead. In the late morning, a Greater Yellowlegs flew by with a smaller, longer shorebird - a Stilt Sandpiper! This is the first seen by the Hawk Count for over a decade.
An unfolding drama at the Holiday Beach Hawk Tower is "Cracked Corn-gate," where the feed we put out for migratory sparrows seemingly vanishes overnight. The culprit? One Cottontail who lives under the decking has become suspiciously round, along with two squirrel accomplices who seemed very dismayed not to have their larder refilled this morning.
Predictions: Winds are not great for migration overnight but it is always worth keeping an eye open for new sparrows and ducks around the tower. Tomorrow morning's northerly winds should keep raptors closer to the tower before the conditions shift around midday, with the stream likely to be concentrated north of the marsh in the afternoon. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Michael Burton-Smith () Holiday Beach Hawk Watch information may be found at: http://hbmo.ca/
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