Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 09, 2022 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 0 6 6 Osprey 1 2 2 Bald Eagle 1 7 7 Northern Harrier 1 16 16 Sharp-shinned Hawk 259 329 329 Cooper's Hawk 0 3 3 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 5 12491 12491 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 1 72 72 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 16 127 127 Merlin 1 7 7 Peregrine Falcon 1 5 5 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: 286 13065 13065 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 7.5 hours Official Counter: Kevin Georg Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Mark Hainen, 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: We had our own form of Pamplona today with the running of the sharpies. Not to worry, no one was gored. We were greeted by a radiant sun this morning as was predicted. Apart from a few cumulus clouds around the perimeter, indicating where bodies of water might be located, we saw nothing but blue skies. The winds were nonexistent at the start of the watch, although Weather Underground will say zero mph from the north as if nothing has a direction. This was soon to change as the winds went southerly and grew more robust as the day progressed. Robust is a relative term however, and the top speeds stayed just below 10 mph. Temperatures climbed to very near 80 degrees but our good luck continued with just enough breeze off the lake to keep us from feeling the worst effects of the heat. The barometer peaked in the morning hours and tailed off during the rest of the day, ending below 30 inches for the first time in a few days, but not by a significant amount. The real drop will come on Sunday if the predictions hold and rain moves in. Raptor Observations: As I mentioned, sharp-shinned hawks were the bird of the day. They are not as particular from which direction the winds are coming so a moderate southern wind is fine with them. We ended with 259 on the day. They must have warned the other species of birds that they were having their picnic today, so for the most part, they had the sky to themselves. American kestrels were the next highest count with only 16 making the show. Broadwings were essentially a no-show with only five counted, a few early in the day and then at the very end of day. We stayed a little longer to see if any more would come, but in vain. Buteos and southern winds do not play well at our site. We counted single ospreys, northern harriers, bald eagles and red-tails. We did manage to see one merlin and one young peregrine that gave us a nice fly-by in close proximity. (Film at eleven, on Facebook) Non-raptor Observations: It was a quiet day, except for the sharpies, which demanded constant attention. Swallows continue to work the sky but so far, they have not been interfering with our viewing as can be the case sometimes. Double-crested cormorants seem to be congregating in larger numbers as one line seemed to stretch over the lake for a considerable distance. Warblers still seem to be present although we had no first-hand reports of species. A Carolina wren kept us awake with its frequent songs. A northern flicker was seem coming over from Gibraltar Island. Hummingbirds continue to zip by at breakneck speed. The monarchs seemed to fly early in the day but then slowed down through the rest of the day, perhaps as a consequence of the southern winds picking up. We seem to see them in larger numbers when the buteos are passing. Predictions: Tomorrow will be one of those paradoxical days when clouds prevail but the temperatures will rise due to southerly winds. The actual temperature is predicted at 80 degrees but the real feels will add a few degrees as the humidity will be higher. We will see if the forecast holds as these transitional periods are similar predicting the herding of cats as highs and lows mesh and fight it out. We escaped the worst of the rain last week as a high blocked it and kept it to the south. I hope the flight of sharp-shins continues but I would expect the southern winds will move the buteos to the north if they are not already avoiding the low-pressure area all together. ======================================================================== 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