Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 26, 2022 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 183 812 812 Osprey 1 13 13 Bald Eagle 0 26 26 Northern Harrier 5 182 182 Sharp-shinned Hawk 35 2340 2340 Cooper's Hawk 0 10 10 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 377 61862 61862 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 3 121 121 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 6 657 657 Merlin 0 21 21 Peregrine Falcon 1 15 15 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: 611 66059 66059 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 7 hours Official Counter: Kevin Georg Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Sarah deGuise 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 day in the maelstrom as the slow-moving low-pressure system centered to the north of us continues to dominate the weather. The WNW winds were brisk and very gusty today sending the low-level clouds scudding across the sky while the thinner higher-level ones remained more composed, holding their stations more tenaciously. While it looked from the forecast that we may have a shortened watch due to rain, they missed it by that much, as Maxwell Smart would say. We watched a fair share of nearly black apocalyptic cells moving to the north of us in the richly textured sky and sat through a few light showers but stayed the course. The weather from this system is widespread and is probably affecting the preferred travel routes through Canada for the migrants so the pipeline may have some gaps. Temperatures peaked around sixty degrees. The barometer was rising slowly but the significant jumps will come over the next couple of days. The winds had the white horses galloping out on the lake while the water level in front of us was down a couple of feet, at least. Across the way, it was easy to see who had secured their boats correctly to allow for the seiches that frequent Lake Erie. Raptor Observations: The raptors that fought their way through the robust winds were seen more often in the morning hours as the afternoon seemed slow by comparison. Broadwings led the way again with 377 coming in small groups and flying much lower than normal. Many birds were using the trees as a windbreak today, flying low and on the lee side. Turkey vultures numbered 183 and they too came in small assemblies throughout the day. Next on the list were the sharp-shins who struggled by to a total of 35 souls. Falcons were rare today with only 6 kestrels and 1 peregrine to show for our vigilance. A single osprey was noted. 5 northern harriers rowed by. 3 red-tailed hawks were also tallied. Non-raptor Observations: We saw our first Bonaparte’s gulls in the morning, although they did not stay long. The Caspian terns were feasting today as the low water seemed to make their job of locating fish a little easier. Swallows were once again out in very large numbers, and although wide-spread throughout the sky, they were paying particular attention to some nearby floating vegetation, swarming over it just above the water and shortening the lifespan of numerous newly hatched insects. A small flight of lesser yellowlegs flew by. The blue jays were coming but in lesser numbers. They totaled approximately 2100 birds and they were flying lower than usual and also trying to stay out of the wind. The local eagles enjoyed the high winds as it makes their games of tag easier to play. Predictions: Although the barometer will be rising tomorrow, it will be similar to today in appearance and feel. The winds will still be howling from the same direction and clouds will cover most of the sky. Temperatures will be a little lower in the high fifties. There will be some chance of rain as the cleanup in aisle one from the low-pressure area continues. There are days with more promise coming this week but we shall see if the forecast holds or they miss it by that much, again. ======================================================================== 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