Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 23, 2020 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 9 60878 62666 Osprey 0 9 31 Bald Eagle 0 30 55 Northern Harrier 1 208 339 Sharp-shinned Hawk 38 2859 4815 Cooper's Hawk 0 50 60 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 149 151 Broad-winged Hawk 0 675 16405 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 7 884 1009 Rough-legged Hawk 0 1 1 Golden Eagle 0 8 8 American Kestrel 1 251 638 Merlin 0 27 46 Peregrine Falcon 0 60 88 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0 Unknown Buteo 0 1 2 Unknown Falcon 0 1 1 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 0 Total: 56 66091 86315 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 14:00:00 Total observation time: 6 hours Official Counter: Kevin Georg Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Michala Burke Visitors: While Lake Erie Metropark is currently open to the public, for the safety of our counter and volunteers we encourage visitors to follow along with the count virtually on HawkCount.org, or our Detroit River Hawk Watch Facebook page. There will be daily updates and photographs.If you do decide to join us in person, please help the counter and volunteers to follow their mandated safety protocols by refraining from approaching them. Please follow the recommended Covid 19 procedures by wearing a mask and maintaining a safe social distance. Thanking you in advance for your cooperation. Stay safe! Weather: The signs were not good today with the barometer dropping and the building winds from the S blowing with gusto. There was a line of thunderstorms approaching from the western side of the state and the birds knew it. It was a sharpie type of day but when the ring of repugnance from the storms approached they quit flying too. It was a nice day to look at in the early hours as the sun was shining and the sky was blue but the barometer was below 30” for the first time in a few days foretelling the danger to come. The skies changed in the early afternoon hours with ominous looking dark clouds at first but as they passed the singular most massive cumulus cloud that most of us had ever seen replaced them. A beautiful billowing, brilliant white castle that had us guessing its height from the planes passing in front of it. During the late afternoon the radar was showing that we were surrounded by pop-up thunderstorms. After a brief shower of crocodile tears, we decided in the interest of safety, and after having zero birds in the previous hour, that further effort was futile and played it safe, calling the watch an hour early. Raptor Observations: The birds knew that something was up today and decided to sit the dance out in our area. We had nine turkey vultures on the day. One harrier was noted flying well out over the lake by a sharp eyed observer. One kestrel was seen in the morning hours. We had thirty eight sharp-shinned hawks but most of those came in the morning hours. Not a great day, but possibly setting up a nice rebound tomorrow. Non-raptor Observations: The swallows that were so numerous yesterday had moved to a different location today. Long strings of ducks were seen in very impressive numbers flying to the east of us. It’s too bad that we do not see those migrants closer to the site, but even so, they move in massive numbers that never fail to impress those lucky enough to see them. One immature Bonaparte’s gull was noted in the cove today. Lots of red-winged blackbirds were seen migrating this morning over the site. Occasional flocks of starlings also flew by. Predictions: Tomorrow, as predicted, has promise. The barometer will be back up after the low that came with the thunderstorms this afternoon. Winds will be from the north and thankfully in moderate strengths that diminish during the day. Cloud cover should ease during the day making for a good viewing sky. It might be a busy day for buteos and vultures. Golden eagles might take advantage of the favorable winds too. Let’s hope that the winds are not too strong and that we have good fortune tomorrow. ======================================================================== 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