Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 09, 2019 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 1957 23772 24263 Osprey 1 3 33 Bald Eagle 3 7 58 Northern Harrier 2 37 211 Sharp-shinned Hawk 18 829 2907 Cooper's Hawk 7 36 47 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 10 23 23 Broad-winged Hawk 3 538 64336 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 34 130 245 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 1 1 American Kestrel 0 67 640 Merlin 0 3 19 Peregrine Falcon 3 18 33 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: 2038 25464 92817 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 7 hours Official Counter: Kevin Georg Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Don Sherwood, Rosemary Brady Visitors: Johannes was out on work release from Ann Arbor and helped us looking in the high blue sky for birds. It was a difficult day to show birds as the line changed as the day progressed and even the pros were having to work hard to find high and distant birds. Weather: The only thing that seemed to have changed at the site this morning was the calendar. A benign wind from the NE became too light in the early hours and less benign as it strengthened and blew from the east in the afternoon. Wind is the engine that drives migration and each site has favorable winds that increases their chances of seeing raptors. Our chances decreased as the wind increased and the birds took shortcuts over the lake in a very tough sky to follow them. Raptor Observations: Turkey vultures are Miss October; they were hard to see today but we managed 1957. We are starting to see more buteos with 34 red-tails, 10 red-shouldered, and 3 broad-winged hawks. The sharpies tailed off today with only 18 spotted, 7 Cooper's hawks flew by as they are on the move. 1 peregrine was spotted, the only falcon of the day. We counted 1 osprey. 3 bald eagles were counted, alas, no golden today. Non-raptor Observations: We didn't see as many blue jays today but winds may have pushed them elsewhere. The monarchs were having a good day on a wind that they liked. Probably a 4-500 day. We did see one thing that none of us had never seen before; a double-crested croaked at another one. The first sound we had heard from that species. A young white-crowned sparrow landed on the breakwall in front of us. Predictions: Can you say ditto? More easterly winds but less so. More sun and temps in the high sixties. The raptor movements will probably be the same. Hopefully the decreased wind speeds will bring the birds back directly over the site. ======================================================================== 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