Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 13, 2020 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 3102 35898 37684 Osprey 1 9 32 Bald Eagle 1 20 45 Northern Harrier 6 158 289 Sharp-shinned Hawk 54 2306 4259 Cooper's Hawk 0 32 41 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 2 23 25 Broad-winged Hawk 0 676 16406 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 30 278 403 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 3 240 627 Merlin 0 14 33 Peregrine Falcon 2 54 82 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0 Unknown Buteo 0 1 2 Unknown Falcon 0 1 1 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 0 Total: 3201 39710 59929 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 7 hours Official Counter: Kevin Georg Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Don Sherwood, Sam Heilman Visitors: While Lake Erie Metropark is currently open to the public, for the safety of our counter and volunteers we encourage visitors to follow along with the count virtually on HawkCount.org, or our Detroit River Hawk Watch Facebook page. There will be daily updates and photographs. If you do decide to join us in person, please help the counter and volunteers to follow their mandated safety protocols by refraining from approaching them. Please follow the recommended Covid 19 procedures by wearing a mask and maintaining a safe social distance. Thanking you in advance for your cooperation. Stay safe! Weather: The thunderstorms rolled through last night as predicted and unfortunately the SW winds came quickly on the northern wind’s heels before we started the watch. The skies were all blue to start but occasional bands of high cirrus clouds, in unusual at times formations, floated through without a lot of drama. The wind did build and as it did our ability to see raptors diminished as they were pushed to the north. The afternoon scarcity of raptors was not for those faint of heart, or short of patience. The barometer was 30.1” to start and dropped a gradual tenth in the later hours. It was a lovely day to look at but not a lovely day for looking. Raptor Observations: I think we were on the edges of a fairly decent movement today with the high moving in but simply too far from the expressway to see the travelers. Turkey vultures led the way as they are distinct and visible from much further than other species. We had twenty eight hundred and ninety three. One osprey was noted as well as one bald eagle. Six harriers with were seen chopping their way south. Thirty red-tails were seen, often soaring for periods of time, whereas yesterday they were shooting through on a more favorable wind. Three red-shoulders came along for the ride. The falcons were low today with only three kestrels and two peregrines observed. Non-raptor Observations: One hummingbird was the standout today in the non-raptor department. A few Forster’s terns took up residence on one of the entrance buoys. Good to see our old friends but they did not feed close to us. The change in the water level was notable today. When we started the watch it was down nearly two feet on our reference marker, it rose very quickly to cover the pipe in a matter of a few hours. Lake Erie’s water sloshes back and forth like a bathtub’s only driven by the wind; today was a very good example of that. Predictions: Tomorrow will be another day of transition as the high departs and is replaced by a low. As is usual, there will be winds between the two systems. The barometer will drop and the winds will rise as the day progresses. Winds should be a SSE direction. Cloud cover should be extensive and temps will be lower than today. This low may bring rain on Thursday but set up a good rebound day on Friday with WNW winds and a rising barometer. We had a good high today but missed on the winds so it all depends how things come together over the next few days. I would not expect tomorrow to be a special day. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Kevin Georg (kevin.l.georg@gmail.com) Detroit River Hawk Watch information may be found at: http://www.detroitriverhawkwatch.org More site information at hawkcount.org: https://hawkcount.org/siteinfo.php?rsite=285