Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 23, 2022 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 1890 40779 48063 Osprey 0 2 16 Bald Eagle 1 18 49 Northern Harrier 9 117 349 Sharp-shinned Hawk 233 2375 5251 Cooper's Hawk 0 35 59 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 48 51 Broad-winged Hawk 0 28 67350 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 19 506 687 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 8 8 American Kestrel 2 212 967 Merlin 5 31 56 Peregrine Falcon 1 30 52 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0 Unknown Buteo 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 0 Total: 2160 44189 122958 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 7.5 hours Official Counter: Kevin Georg Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Don Sherwood, Michelle Peregord, Patrick Mulawa Visitors: We are located by the boat launch in Lake Erie Metropark in a fenced off area at the Hawk Watch site. This does not mean that we do not welcome interaction with any and all visitors. We enjoy talking about what we do and sharing our knowledge with beginners and experts alike. Please feel free to come up and talk to us. We usually have our backs turned to the parking lot as we scan the skies in front of us. This should not be interpreted as a sign of reluctance to engage; this is how we do our job. We have friendly people that do not bite and the welcome mat is always out. Weather: Another somewhat frustrating day in which the vagaries of the winds were on display with seemingly minor shifts causing the flight lines to shift, albeit sometimes to our advantage. It was a warm sunny day with temperatures reaching seventy degrees and a sky that gradually filled, at first with high wispy cirrus clouds, and then later with altocumulus clouds of more substance. Some of these clouds were showing the effects of the winds aloft; developing trailing tendrils resembling ghostly white jelly fish floating in the blue sea-like setting. At lower altitudes, it was possible to see cumulus clouds in the distance that had probably developed over nearby bodies of water. The wind came from the south again and probably influenced our count. It was less forceful today but equally efficient at producing a nearly impenetrable haze in the north where it had pushed the migrants. Although our number were respectable, it once again felt that we were on the edge of a larger flight. A shift to SE from S, in the last hour caused the red-tails to fly just inside the limits of our vision, before that, we had virtually no buteos. The turkey vultures shimmered and at times melted into the ether as they danced in another zip code. The lake is beautiful to look at, but at times, with its very visible evaporation, it makes our work more demanding, although we knew the job was dangerous when we took it. Raptor Observations: We had to work hard for the turkey vultures today as they were taking the scenic route and going to the north of us in sometimes undisclosed locations. We tried our best though and ended up with 1,890 hard earned specimens. The sharp-shins were spread all over the map today but still plentiful for this time of year. We ended with 233 on the day. Red-tailed hawks came in third, which was somewhat surprising as they were a late arrival in the day with 19 tallied. It was possible that there were many more but our vision was obscured by the haze. Northern harriers were next on the list with 9 noted, some gray ghosts included in that number. Merlins were on the hunt today with 5 noted. Kestrels only made a couple of appearances but our lone juvenile peregrine made a pass-in-review flight in front of us. These fearless birds have nothing to fear from us mere mortals. A single bald eagle was counted. Non-raptor Observations: Our pelicans made a cameo appearance today with three of them noted. The Caspian terns made a comeback after going AWOL for a few days. Forster’s terns were also back in their accustomed spot on the base of the entrance buoys. The swallows were not evident today but they sometimes appear to have moved on, only to return later. We aren’t seeing the large gull concentrations lately but that may change as well. Predictions: Tomorrow will be similar to today with warm temperatures, a fairly steady barometer early, and southern winds. It will be mostly sunny before noon, but may start the transition to the rainy weather that appears likely on Wednesday later in the day. Cloud cover will start to increase and the barometer will start to decline in the afternoon hours. Winds will be hovering around the ten mph range from the SE direction. Not an ideal wind but one that did seem to bring the buteos barely within sight today. Our sharpie counts have been good the last few days on southern winds and with luck that trend will continue. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Andrew Sturgess (ajyes72@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 Count data submitted via Dunkadoo - Project info at: https://dunkadoo.org/explore/detroit-river-international-wildlife-refuge/detroit-river-hawk-watch-fall-2022