Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 24, 2019 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 2023 46043 46534 Osprey 0 5 35 Bald Eagle 3 25 76 Northern Harrier 5 80 254 Sharp-shinned Hawk 44 1611 3689 Cooper's Hawk 9 65 76 Northern Goshawk 1 1 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 55 136 136 Broad-winged Hawk 0 538 64336 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 173 607 722 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 3 3 American Kestrel 3 124 697 Merlin 1 12 28 Peregrine Falcon 2 31 46 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: 2319 49281 116634 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 8 hours Official Counter: Kevin Georg Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Mark Hainen, Patrick Mulawa, Raburn Howland, Rosemary Brady Visitors: Johannes, Michelle and Dee were treated to a very good day at the watch. Many thanks to them for helping us. Weather: Very good conditions for migration today. Fairly mild winds for the first time in two days and a risen barometer said "Come on down!" to migrating raptors. The sky was filled, or not, with unusual transitional cloud formations as if confused by the sudden change to high pressure. NW winds were strong enough to encourage the birds but not force them too far away. Raptor Observations: The skies were filled today. 2023 turkey vultures made their erratic journeys by the site today. The buteos responded to the perfect conditions with 173 red-tailed hawks and 55 red-shoulders. Sharp-shins were a little hard to find today but 44 were counted, Cooper's hawks numbered 9 and for once (finally!!) we hit the accipiter hat trick with our first northern goshawk. Falcons were a little scarce but another hat trick with 3 kestrels, 2 peregrines and 1 merlin. 5 harriers rowed by and 3 bald eagles made the trip. Non-raptor Observations: Rusty blackbirds were heard in the trees behind us. One sandhill crane was noted with his snappy wing beats high in the sky. Predictions: The winds, although lighter, will still have a northern flavor to them tomorrow. Barometer, although starting to tail off towards the end of the day as another rain system is due Saturday, will still be in the Go Zone. Should be another good day but the light winds in the first couple of hours may slow the start. ======================================================================== 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: http://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-2019