Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 24, 2022 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 284 41063 48347 Osprey 0 2 16 Bald Eagle 2 20 51 Northern Harrier 10 127 359 Sharp-shinned Hawk 353 2728 5604 Cooper's Hawk 0 35 59 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 48 51 Broad-winged Hawk 0 28 67350 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 4 510 691 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 8 8 American Kestrel 8 220 975 Merlin 8 39 64 Peregrine Falcon 3 33 55 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: 672 44861 123630 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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, Bill Peregord, 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: The maple tree just to our right has reached peak color and is gently releasing its leaves from their appointed stations. Sheltered from the wind, they have wafted down to form a multi-colored carpet that fully explores the red-orange-yellow end of the spectrum and all the permutations thereof. An inspiring and beautiful natural sight that reminds those of us that endure the sometimes-harsh winters in northern climes that the spring and fall bookends make it all worthwhile. Despite the fall-like look to the scene, it felt a little more like summer again with temperatures peaking at seventy-two degrees. The skies were mostly clear during the watch, the exception being the aircraft contrails that dispersed into a light veil over a large portion of the dome. Towards the end of the watch, more extensive cloud cover did begin to form as a predecessor to the rain that looks likely in two days. The barometer began its slow descent, which will accelerate tomorrow, bottoming out on Wednesday. The winds were from the south again, although our local winds seemed to be more SE. Moderate in strength at ground level, the birds seemed to like it a little higher today where it was evident that they were being pushed sideways but still making very good time in a stable wind. Raptor Observations: The winds that have blown from the south for three days have produced similar results for our count. Despite our hopes that the turkey vultures and buteos would stay closer to home due to lighter winds today, it was actually the opposite. The vultures never showed to the north and very few buteos were seen. On the other hand, sharpies, harriers and falcons are pushed into our bailiwick in greater numbers. The sharp-shins retook the top spot today with 353 shooting by at high speed and high altitude towards the end of the watch. Turkey vultures put forth a poor effort, visible to the south early, but then disappearing for good while avoiding their normal flight paths in the north. Northern harriers took third place with 10 counted. The merlins and kestrels tied at 8 apiece, each winning a participant’s trophy, much the same as the Lions receive every year. Red-tailed hawks did manage 4 appearances. I have a feeling that we may see more of them on Thursday with more favorable winds. The falcons were well represented today with 3 peregrines answering the roll call along with the merlins and kestrels. A pair of young bald eagles were seen working hard on a predetermined flight line this morning and were tallied on the clicker. Non-raptor Observations: Today was another day in which crows took to the skies in search of warmer climes. Over four thousand were counted today as they winged their way by in large murders. Although, it may be too early to dismiss them completely, the swallows and pelicans were not in evidence today. We’ll see if a change in wind direction changes anything later in the week. Our Caspian terns, after a few days off, have returned, but not as raucous as they were in September. Forster’s terns are still diving in the slip in front of us. Some Bonaparte’s gulls were noted today. We are seeing quite a few blackbird flocks flying by in the morning hours, mostly red-winged black birds along with some starlings. Predictions: Tomorrow should be similar to today in both temperature, wind strength and direction; the differences will be more cloud cover and the barometer will be falling faster, dropping three tenths by Wednesday. It will be interesting to see if the cloud cover changes things given the otherwise very similar conditions to today’s weather. Sharpies usually do not let anything change their minds so they may be the bird of the day again. ======================================================================== 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