Observation start time: 07:30:00 Observation end time: 15:30:00 Total observation time: 8 hours
Official Counter: Kiah Jasper, Michael Burton-Smith
Observers: Bryan Girling, Frances Girling, Hugh Kent, Kiah Jasper, Liz Kent, Mike Jaber, Robin Smallwood
Visitors: Thanks to Wade, Kiah, Mike, Bryan, Fran, Hugh, Liz, Robin and Raven the Poodle for helping to conduct the day's count. Recovering from his early start on the tower this morning, Kiah "The Count" Jasper looked more at home on a Mediterranean cruise as he laxed out on the zero gravity chair in the sunny afternoon - but who could blame him.
Weather: It is wonderful of Canada to quell any of my Southern Hemisphere homesickness by replicating our first month of summer, with clear skies, temperatures in the mid-teens and a gentle breeze off the lake feeling much more like a November from down under. Winds from the west through the morning turned to a very gentle southerly in the afternoon.
Raptor Observations: A fairly steady day as you would expect from a westerly in November, with a few small groups of Turkey Vulture and steady numbers of Red-tailed Hawk throughout the day. The species to watch is Bald Eagle, with a little cluster of high fliers pushing us past 2024 to become the second highest season total in HBMO history. The recovery of Bald Eagle in our flyway really is an unbelievable conservation success story, going from just a single bird in our first year (1974) - and none in 1975 - to exceed four hundred birds for the past three years in a row.
Non-raptor Observations: The day's eBird checklist can be viewed at
If we had a DJ on the tower, they would've been reaching for their CCR album today and skipping to "Fortunate Son" as a massive Chinook helicopter hugged the Detroit River to our east, its heavy thrum echoing across the marsh.
Flying things with feathers were also on the move, with moderate overhead passages of most diurnal migrant passerines and a very strong flight of 1007 American Goldfinch. It was a triple swan day with 9 Tundras, 77 Mutes and 2 Trumpeters on the marsh in the morning, along with a good diversity of other waterfowl including Common Goldeneye. We smashed the season high count of White-tailed Deer, with nine cautiously patrolling the edge of the reeds in the early morning. Leaf the Meadow Vole, Problem the Squirrel. and Peter Cottontail padded out our furry list.
Predictions: Clear skies overnight could be just what we need to renew our songbird stocks around the tower, with Yellow-rumped Warbler, kinglets, creepers and sparrows all in short supply. As the day progresses, thermal uplifts should combine with a slight west-northwest wind to bring over a few November hawks. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Michael Burton-Smith () Holiday Beach Hawk Watch information may be found at: http://hbmo.ca/
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