Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 12, 2020 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 26 82 82 Osprey 2 7 7 Bald Eagle 2 15 15 Northern Harrier 11 29 29 Sharp-shinned Hawk 83 122 122 Cooper's Hawk 0 1 1 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 737 1647 1647 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 8 49 49 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 31 101 101 Merlin 0 0 0 Peregrine Falcon 0 2 2 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0 Unknown Buteo 0 1 1 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 0 Total: 900 2056 2056 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 8 hours Official Counter: Kevin Georg Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Don Sherwood, Rosemary Brady 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: A more benign day greeted us today with warmer temps and SE winds that were not quite as biting. A mostly blue sky with some high cirrus clouds made for a pleasant Saturday for all concerned. The winds went round to a more southerly direction as the day progressed and this seemed to move the flight line more to the north. High clouds began to fill the sky in the late afternoon as the rain approaches although we saw nothing resembling rain clouds. The barometer was steady during the morning hours but began to slowly fall later in the day, dropping two tenths of an inch by day’s end. Raptor Observations: The day seemed to start very well with the wind direction from the SE. Sharpies were coming early and often which was a welcome sign as we have seen fewer than usual this season. We ended up with eighty one on the day. American kestrels were consistent but not in as great a number as the sharpies, twenty nine were counted. We saw two ospreys in a dedicated flight line headed south pumping all the way. Two bald eagles were observed flying in the same manner. The wind seemed to encourage the early adopters among the turkey vultures with 26 tallied. Northern harriers were winging their way to the winter grounds in the count of nine. Eight red-tailed hawks were added to the day’s count. Last but certainly not least were the stars of September, the broad-winged hawks. The flight started in a very good fashion as the wind was favorable to our site in both strength and direction. The early morning flight was lower than yesterday and right over our heads, lower being a relative term with broad-wings of course, we saw over 400 birds in the first hours. The flight slowed down through the middle part of the day and we had a late blip but as the wind had shifted, the flight line had changed to the north and was not as visible as earlier. We ended up with six hundred and eighty seven birds. Non-raptor Observations: Our lone rarely seen Forster’s tern made an appearance today. I miss these birds as they are quite athletic and nimble as they dive with utter abandon after their prey. Caspian terns, their bigger cousins continue to threaten the small fish population with their dives. The gulls were working high in the sky today forming kettles on their own and making searching for raptors more complicated. Cedar waxwings were observed in the early morning hours. Starlings were seen in numbers today including small murmurations at times. Predictions: Tomorrow’s chances will depend on when the thunderstorms and rain actually clear the area. As predicted at this hour, the skies should clear by 10 am. The barometer should rebound and that bodes well. Winds will be variable but finally settle in the W and grow in strength. This may push the birds that do move away from our site but time will tell. The winds will eventually shift to a northerly direction but the timing of these things is rarely certain so Monday may be a good day. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Kevin Georg (kevin.l.georg@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