Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 06, 2022 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 377 9931 17206 Osprey 0 0 14 Bald Eagle 1 7 38 Northern Harrier 3 25 256 Sharp-shinned Hawk 51 395 3271 Cooper's Hawk 0 11 35 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 35 38 Broad-winged Hawk 0 25 67284 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 3 279 460 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 2 2 American Kestrel 1 37 791 Merlin 0 5 30 Peregrine Falcon 1 5 26 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: 437 10757 89451 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 7 hours Official Counter: Kevin Georg Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Erika Van Kirk, Mark Hainen, Rosemary Brady 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: We exceeded expectations today, at least as far as the high temperature, which reached seventy-eight degrees. This was designed to soften us up for the twenty-five degree drop due tomorrow. The wind was non-existent for the first couple of hours (as were the birds) and although it changed 180 degrees in direction and grew in strength all day, our position in the lee of the tree wind-break left us feeling nothing but the considerable warmth of the sun. Cloud cover was heavy early in the day but the skies were mostly clear by day’s end with high cirrocumulus clouds decorating the blue dome. The barometer dropped all day but stayed in the 29.9 range all day, dropping hundredths, not tenths. The wind was not helpful today, coming mostly from the SW, which brought in the heat, but drove the birds to the north. After starting ENE early in the morning, it finally went round to WSW from SW, which it was the majority of the day. The western shift perhaps encouraged the turkey vultures to take a more visible route and made it possible for us to pad the puny count numbers at the end of the day. Raptor Observations: In our first two hours, we counted one lonely sharpie today. No wind, was replaced by a growing SW wind which reached over 10 mph with even stronger gusts. SW is our least favorite wind as it pushes the birds west all the way down the Canadian peninsula and they turn inland further to the north and usually out of our sight. Turkey vultures came mostly in the last three hours of the watch and most were at the limit of 10X binoculars. It was a steady trickle with mostly small kettles when they did kettle. We totaled 377. Next on the list were the sharpies, as usual. These birds are hard workers at the best of times with frequent flapping and glide patterns. The do not use the wind as much as the buteos and are less affected by the direction. This is a bird that needs to replenish its energy and we frequently see them stooping into the trees in search of prey. Some of the warblers have an easier journey south than they anticipated…in the crop of a sharpie. We had 51 fight their way into the buffeting winds today. Red-tailed hawks were scarce today with only 3 counted. Also numbering 3 were the harriers, including one male that was making the transition to gray ghost plumage. Bald eagles, American kestrels and peregrine falcons only had one representative apiece today. Non-raptor Observations: As our blue jay counts dwindle, we are starting to see more flights of various blackbirds in the morning hours the last two days. Brown-headed cowbirds, starlings, red-winged and rusty blackbirds being noted this morning. Each of these species seems to have its own distinct shapes to their flight formations. The pelicans were back in force today after a couple of days out of sight. I spoke yesterday of seeing a pair of Forster’s terns but I was not paying close enough attention. It turned out that they were common terns. We usually do not see those in any numbers, but after the Forster’s have departed, we might see one a year. I believe they breed up on Grosse Ile but they must keep to their own neighborhood. Warblers are still present with the usual suspects at this time of year. Gulls and swallows were up in numbers but kept their distance for the most part. Five monarchs fluttered by. Predictions: Tomorrow looks good for migration with the barometer rebounding over a quarter inch during the day. The winds will be from the northern direction bringing the cold air with it. Temperatures will hover around the fifty-degree mark, and perhaps below by a degree or two. Hmm, north wind in our face? Much cooler temps? It’s time to break out the union suit. There is a caveat with all this potentially good news though, and that is the strength of the wind, which will stay above ten mph for the day. It may be a little too strong for our site to gain maximum benefit. Time will tell. ======================================================================== 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