Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 03, 2022 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 0 0 0 Osprey 0 0 0 Bald Eagle 0 0 0 Northern Harrier 0 7 7 Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 0 0 Cooper's Hawk 0 0 0 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 0 13 13 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 0 19 19 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 0 5 5 Merlin 0 2 2 Peregrine Falcon 0 0 0 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: 0 46 46 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 7 hours Official Counter: Andrew Sturgess Observers: Mark Hainen 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: Kate Bush made an album named “50 Words for Snow” in which she drew inspiration from the Inuit’s expansive vocabulary for describing snow. I was thinking along the same lines today, except my words would be describing zero, as in zero birds, from Aught to Zilch. I thought better of it once I reached the comfort of an air-conditioned space after my turn in the Easy Bake Oven of the hawk watch today. The weather forecast had changed considerably overnight and the forecast SSW winds never really materialized. In fact, the first few hours of winds that we felt did not agree with what the weather app was showing. It finally settled into the familiar SSE direction that we have come to appreciate as an attemperator of the hot humid weather. The morning clouds made for an attractive diversion from the scarcity of birds with a parade of stratus clouds resembling the discards from a fish processing factory with plenty of mackerel scales and rib bones on display. These clouds had more heft than the cirrus clouds from yesterday but they were in turn replaced by high cirrus clouds resembling stacked Nike swooshes. Change, however, was the order of the day and eventually, widely scattered cumulus clouds were the principal occupants of the blue dome. The temperatures did climb to the mid-eighties but the humidity added a few more degrees to the real feel. The barometer was fluctuating slightly and dropping off in the later hours, but when rounded off to one tenth it was a consistent 30.1 inches. Usually, the further you get into a high pressure zone the fewer birds you see and we have had a consistent decline from day one. Tomorrow a cold front may pass and change the winds to an easterly direction and drop the temperatures. A new high is moving in with more favorable winds, although there may be thunderstorms during the transition. Raptor Observations: No migrating raptors were seen today, not for want of effort to find them. Local birds were up today, mostly in the afternoon when the winds picked up in strength and maintained a consistent direction. A first-year eagle was seen plucking a fish from the lake, the freshness of the fish could not be ascertained, but eagles are not picky eaters. Later, it engaged in a chase scene with an adult eagle, although headed away from the camera, of course. These birds are playful and like to engage in mock battles. Our local ospreys were seen on several occasions, although not with any fish. One red-tail was seen briefly, but it was behind us and I assumed it to be one of the locals. Non-raptor Observations: Even the non-raptors were hard to find today, no doubt feeling the general malaise that prevailed. A single lesser yellowlegs was seen flying by. Only one cedar waxwing showed up at the end of the day and did not stay long. A tailless red-winged blackbird caught our eye. A couple of great egrets made brief appearances. It seems that warbler activity on the trail by the museum is still good, although timing is everything with the constantly moving warblers. Double-crested cormorants seem to be gathering in larger groups but not the 1K+ groups that will probably show up later. Predictions: The forecast for the next four days shows mostly easterly winds. Four days of winds from the same direction is unusual, especially from the east. It reflects the size of the high-pressure system that is approaching. The winds are not predicted to exceed 10 mph, and if moderate enough we may benefit, although a more northern element to the wind would be better. Tomorrow is calling for scattered thunderstorms so the watch may not see a full day of activity. Temperatures should be in the more comfortable mid-seventies. Transitional weather around the Great Lakes is not easy to predict with pinpoint accuracy so we shall see what we shall see. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Jerry Jourdan (jerry.jourdan@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