Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 27, 2022 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 8549 50849 58133 Osprey 0 2 16 Bald Eagle 5 26 57 Northern Harrier 10 141 373 Sharp-shinned Hawk 29 2922 5798 Cooper's Hawk 3 39 63 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 44 92 95 Broad-winged Hawk 0 28 67350 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 414 942 1123 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 1 9 9 American Kestrel 0 226 981 Merlin 1 43 68 Peregrine Falcon 4 38 60 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: 9060 55357 134126 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 8 hours Official Counter: Kevin Georg Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Bill Peregord, Don Sherwood, Erika Van Kirk, 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: “Let there be spaces in your togetherness, and let the winds of the heavens dance between you.” Surely Mr. Gibran was referring to the northern winds which filled our spaces with lots of birds today. Although the wind was in a state of flux in both strength of and direction and did not stay in the NE, actually ending up SE, it came on the heels of a low-pressure system and it was moving day for lots of birds. The skies were mostly clear as occasional cumulus clouds of different hues, but never of any heft, moved across the screen in front of us. High icy cirrus clouds eventually replaced them and a sundog was noted as we finished the watch with the sun low in the western sky. The temperature hit the fifty-degree mark but could climb no further. The winds were relatively light so they created no additional discomfort for the worker bees. The barometer was still climbing today and should peak tomorrow well above 30 inches. Raptor Observations: The sharpies never had a chance today. Although we got 0 birds in the first hour with very light winds, it got a little crazy after that. Turkey vultures made themselves very visible in the early hours and even when the light winds shifted and their flight line was more distant, they felt no need to hide below the tree line as they have the past week. We ended up with 8,549. That number, although impressive, was actually exceeded by the number of crows that flooded the sky on all sides of us, at times complicating the counting. We finally had a good day for buteos with red-tails pouring in from different directions, bringing the red-shoulders with them. The counts were 414 and 44 respectively. Sharp-shins finished just off the podium with 29 birds, a rather meager sum considering their stellar efforts lately. Bald eagles were on the move with 5 tallied, and a single golden eagle was observed. Harriers were good for 10 of their species, including a couple of gray ghosts. The falcons were not there in big numbers today with 4 peregrines, a single merlin and no kestrels. Cooper’s hawks made the clicker 3 times. Non-raptor Observations: Crows were the non-raptor stars of the day with over eleven thousand counted. The spacing between them was much wider than usual in the morning hours and there was no consistent flight line with them flying to both the north and south. It was an impressive sight to see that many corvids in the air at one time. Although people may imagine that they bring a cacophony of caws with them, during migration they are silent except for the rare single call. We are starting to see larger flights of ducks in the eastern sky. There are some large rafts out on the lake which can only be seen when they lift off the water’s surface. Great blue herons seemed to be moving today with a flight of five of them playing follow the leader along the tree tops of Celeron Island. A few swallows remain working the sky. It was possible to see the gossamer threads of parachute spiders drifting above if you dared look towards the morning sun. Predictions: Although some cloudiness is predicted for the early morning hours, it should start clearing, ahem, by midmorning. Winds will continue to be relatively tame compared to those of the last week with speeds just north of the five-mph hour mark. The direction will have a mostly eastern flavor to it, trending a little more south as the day progresses. Temperatures should be in the mid-fifties range. The milder winds may keep the birds within sight even though it is not usually our most bountiful wind. Usually, the first day after a high-pressure system moves in with its clockwise northerly winds is the most productive day and things seem to gradually decline after that. Let’s hope we can break that trend tomorrow. ======================================================================== 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