Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 06, 2021 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 126 782 4900 Osprey 0 1 20 Bald Eagle 0 1 35 Northern Harrier 11 77 273 Sharp-shinned Hawk 73 734 3648 Cooper's Hawk 0 1 12 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 1 6 Broad-winged Hawk 2 7 22229 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 1 14 75 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 1 American Kestrel 5 67 716 Merlin 4 5 28 Peregrine Falcon 1 7 33 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0 Unknown Buteo 0 0 1 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 0 Total: 223 1697 31977 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 7 hours Official Counter: Kevin Georg Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Patrick Mulawa, Rosemary Brady Visitors: We are still dealing with the residue of the Covid 19 situation. The workers at the site will be in an enclosed area that is designed for four people only. We still love to interact and share our love of hawk watching with visitors. Feel free to ask questions and look over our shoulders to help you follow the birds. Watch the weather for favorable forecasts as the birds are predictable to some degree based on weather situations. One other thing of note this year; the boat-launch bathroom building has been shut down for the foreseeable future due to plumbing issues. There are Porta-Johns in the parking lot should you require them. Weather: Fool me twice, shame on me. Once again, we spent the day looking into a whiter shade of pale that occasionally dropped misty rain on us just to rub it in. The predicted partly-cloudy skies did not materialize, unless you consider 100% solid cloud cover all day long as “partly cloudy”. The winds were from a nice direction, ENE, growing during the day up to eight mph. The barometer rose to 30.32” at one time before beginning its predicted decline over the next few days as rain approaches to join the pre-existing clouds. Temperatures stayed in the sixties today and the wind out of the north subtracted a few real-feel degrees. Raptor Observations: We had to work pretty hard to find birds in the mist and cloud today. It wasn’t unusual to see them disappear into the wool. We did count one hundred and twenty-six turkey vultures but there must have been more out there. Eleven northern harriers swam their way by. We had hopes for more buteos today but only one red-tailed hawk and two broad-winged hawks showed up. Falcons were relatively rare with five kestrels, one peregrine and four merlins that powered their way through. Seventy-three sharp-shins were dug out of the soup, sometimes showing up overhead, having penetrated our defenses. Upon further review: The highlight of the day, the only highlight as it turned out, appeared to be a northern goshawk passing our way. This was based on a picture that looked very promising on the back of the camera. The image did not look so convincing on the computer. I am therefore taking that bird off the board. Non-raptor Observations: It was a strangely quiet day in the skies. We did not see, or were not able to see, any blue jays or other migrating passerines. Our local eagles and osprey were not present today. Even the gulls seemed mostly AWOL. Swallows were more frequently seen in the sky today, although compared to past seasons they seem fewer in number. A pair of pied-billed grebes were observed on the lake. Predictions: After the last couple of days, I have cancelled my subscription to Weather Underground. I think they need to update their algorithms. Tomorrow is predicted to be cloudy again with a dropping barometer and rain predicted for the evening hours. Consequently, I will take my suntan lotion. Winds should be mostly SE climbing back up to eight mph. The southern winds should raise the temperature back to the seventies. This does not bode well for seeing birds…. so, I will make sure the clicker is well oiled tonight. ======================================================================== 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-2021