Observation start time: 07:30:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 7.5 hours
Official Counter: Paul Gosselin
Observers: Hugh Kent, Jaron Wilkinson, Kiah Jasper, Kory Renaud, Liz Kent, Mike Jaber, Noel Herdman, Paul Gosselin, Robin Smallwood
Visitors: A huge thank to our counters : Hugh, Kiah, Jaron, Kory, Liz, Mike, Noel, Robin. Grateful that Sam and Olivia stopped by after they had the first sight of the Northern Shrike! Always interesting to talk to other birders from different parts of Ontario with Drakye and Amanda from Algonquin stopping by with their friend Jordon from Windsor. It was good to see Meghan and Joan on the Tower.
Weather: A typical November day with full cloud cover, high temperatures of 7C and breezy north-western winds. Sun was forecasted but wasn't able to push through the heavy clouds. Making it a chilly day on the tower.
Raptor Observations: A complete flip from yesterday with only 97 raptors crossing the cloudy skies. A Golden Eagle (6) at 8:05 started us off with the rest of them crossing during the first half of the day. Red-Tailed Hawks (51) lead the pack with Red-Shouldered Hawks (13) far behind, the only other raptor with counts over a single digit. A Merlin (2) gave us a close flight over the tower after chasing off a flock of Goldfinch. After breaking 80,000 yesterday the tap of Turkey Vultures (2) seem to be slowing down.
Non-raptor Observations: While the raptors were caught sleeping today, the other birds definitely showed up! Our season first Northern Shrike, last seen in 2023 and a Iceland Gull which is a first for HBMO, bringing our total species count to 273 and our 2026 total to 198, only 2 away from our goal of 200 with about 2 weeks left, fingers are crossed. With the Iceland Gull, a Greater and a Lesser Black-backed we had a 6 gull day which was not on my bingo card. American Goldfinches (4931) got the memo of cold weather and flew with impressive numbers doubling the record set just yesterday. Watching the American Coots (407) crowd around the tower gave us some entertainment during the slower periods.
Predictions: Monday is looking warmer with a high of 11C with partly cloudy skies. West-southwest winds aren't what we want to see but hopefully the birds capitalize on the somewhat sunny skies and warmer temperatures to escape the approaching cold. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Paul Gosselin (<paulgosselin25...>) Holiday Beach Hawk Watch information may be found at: http://hbmo.ca/
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