Soaring into 50 more years, Holiday Beach’s Hawk Count marks milestone of sky-high research

The Hawk Count at Holiday Beach Conservation Area in Amherstburg is marking a significant milestone, celebrating 50 years of keeping an eye on the skies.

"Fifty years ago, there was no Hawk Tower, so we had a bunch of people who would sit in deck chairs and start watching the hawks," said Hugh Kent, president of the Holiday Beach Migration Observatory (HBMO).

The iconic Hawk Tower was added in 1988 after being purchased from Edison for just one dollar and relocated to Holiday Beach.

Now, the Hawk Tower provides the perfect spot for tracking birds as they turn westward along the Lake Erie shoreline.

"We’re specifically interested in watching hawks coming from the east, going over our heads," Kent said.

Hawks avoid crossing large bodies of water like Lake Erie due to the lack of thermal uplift, making Holiday Beach a key site for their migration.

Over the last 50 years, the Hawk Count has contributed invaluable data to a network of 150 sites across North America.

"We’ve got 50 years of really good information," said Kent. "Researchers can use that to analyze the health of the raptor population."

One major success has been the recovery of peregrine falcons.

"In the 70s, peregrine falcons were crashing," Kent said, largely due to DDT contamination. "They banned DDT... and gradually we’ve seen an increase in peregrines."

Despite these positive outcomes, some species are still struggling.

"Particularly birds like American kestrels and sharp-shinned hawks are still decreasing overall," Kent said, adding turkey vultures, bald eagles and osprey have seen significant increases.

Volunteers have played a crucial role in the Hawk Count’s success, including bird bander Alessandra Kite. A hawk flies at Holiday Beach Conservation Area in Amherstburg, Ont. (Source: Kiah Jasper)"We trap and take various measurements and give each migratory bird that passes through that we can collect a identifying number," she said.

"When it's recaptured, we'll be able to know exactly when that bird was caught. We'll be able to refer all the measurements and see where that bird was captured because there's bird observatories all throughout Canada, the U.S. and central South America."

Banding efforts provide critical insights into the life history of birds.

"We figure out how old the bird is, whether it's male or female, and measure things like wing length or tail length," said Kite, adding the data collected is shared with bird observatories across North and South America.

"Taking all these physiological measurements gives us a wider picture of what the ranges are for each species. It’s really important for conservation, especially with the increasing threats of urbanization and climate change."

According to Kiah Jasper, Holiday Beach’s official hawk counter, the area's unique location along the Lake Erie shoreline creates a natural funnel for migratory birds.

"This site is really special ... When they hit Holiday Beach, they migrate west along the shoreline and we get a huge concentrations of birds," said Jasper, adding Holiday Beach could see as many as 80,000 blue jays fly overhead "if the conditions are right."

For those keen on observing the migration firsthand, Jasper encourages visitors to come out during the season.

"If anyone is interested in hawk migration this fall, keep an eye on the forecast. We’re here from September 1 all the way through November 30," said Jasper.

As for Kent, he estimates volunteers have logged 100,000 hours of counting efforts over the past 50 years.

"Probably in the next year or two, we're about to reach our four-millionth raptor counted," said Kent. "So let's hope it carries on for another 50 years."