Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 8 hours
Official Counter: Michael Burton-Smith
Observers: Alessandra Kite, Hugh Kent, Juliette Herdman, Kiah Jasper, Linda Wladarski, Liz Kent, Matt Brannagan, Michael St. Pierre, Mike Jaber, Noel Herdman, Robin Smallwood
Visitors: Thanks to Liz, Kiah, Alessandra, Noel, Juliette, Michael, Robin, Matt, Mike and Hugh for helping conduct today's count. It was great that most of our volunteers got to see at least one Rough-legged Hawk and Golden Eagle (except Mike, who will have better luck next time). It was lovely to be visited by Donald and Cecile, Pille, Jean and her relatives, Leah and Natasha, and Emily and her 6 and 7th graders.
Weather: Gentle northerly into the early afternoon, switching to a very light southerly. Clear skies throughout the day with temperatures lifting to the early twenties.
Raptor Observations: The overhead stream around midday was just fantastic, with raptors concentrated directly over the tower. This allowed for great comparison between the different Buteos, with another good movement of Red-tailed Hawk in the afternoon. Those of us with resilient neck muscles were treated to six Golden Eagle right over our heads, as well as two dark and one light morph Rough-legged Hawk.
There was a good diurnal passerine migration through to the early afternoon, including Purple Finch (50), American Pipit (135), Red-winged Blackbird (2280), and Common Grackle (800). Most spectacular were the armadas of American Crow (3664), casting a macabre shadow over the marsh throughout the day. We were also absolutely delighted to discover that all seven (!) of our baby Common Gallinules are still around.
While a Golden Eagle's wingspan can measure seven-and-a-half feet across, today they shared the sky with thousands of tiny aviators barely bigger than a pencil tip - baby orbweaver spiderlings! Warm days in November trigger mass hatchings, with the offspring dispersing themselves on the wind by casting tiny parachutes made of web, a behaviour called ballooning.
Predictions: In the early morning, we will almost certainly see our regular Red-winged Blackbird (ironically named Spider) feasting on spiderlings that have become caught on the tower's antenna.
Other than him, the day has a lot of promise, with mild northerlies throughout the day hopefully pushing the raptors over the tower. With luck, we will get another good day for Red-tailed and Red-shouldered Hawk, hopefully with a few Golden Eagle and Rough-legged Hawk among them! ======================================================================== Report submitted by Michael Burton-Smith () Holiday Beach Hawk Watch information may be found at: http://hbmo.ca/
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