Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 25, 2020 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 22 1226 1226 Osprey 4 18 18 Bald Eagle 2 25 25 Northern Harrier 7 109 109 Sharp-shinned Hawk 101 1527 1527 Cooper's Hawk 1 7 7 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 2 2 Broad-winged Hawk 1 15629 15629 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 1 117 117 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 11 296 296 Merlin 0 8 8 Peregrine Falcon 1 11 11 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: 151 18976 18976 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 7 hours Official Counter: Kevin Georg Observers: Andrew Sturgess, 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: Stop me if you’ve heard this before; another day of blue skies with significant haze, especially over the lake. The winds from the SE took a while to build and again, the direction seemed to depend on where on the lake you were located, as they curved to a more southerly origin just to the W of us. The barometer was relatively steady just around 30.1”, dropping a tenth throughout the day, but nobody’s ears popped. It was very similar to the last few days with very similar results. Raptor Observations: We at least had diversity today with ten species counted but not in great numbers. The osprey seemed to be on the move with four on a determined path passing by. Twenty two turkey vultures were seen but most of these are to the NW and are not seen moving from Canada along the treetops. We are not sure if they have slowed the movement or, because of the haze, there is a chance that we cannot see them. Numbers seemed to be increasing, as they should, before the last few days of low counts. Two bald eagles were seen pumping their way to their winter grounds. One Cooper’s hawk was counted as it was definitely not our local bird. One red-tailed hawk rode the afternoon winds in a lazy meander south. One peregrine sped by and eleven kestrels showed their pointed wings to us. Seven harriers were wide spread throughout the day. Sharp-shins kept the day interesting with one hundred and four birds. Our surprise bird, given our bad luck this year with the species, was a lone broad-winged hawk. Non-raptor Observations: The blue jays seemed to have run out of steam today as we noted about a thousand but they were well to the north in significant haze and some may have been out of sight. Our white dove, probably a wedding release bird, paid us another visit for a few moments, resting on the roof of a boat lift. Perhaps the homing radar needs a tune-up. We did see a lone nighthawk during the day flashing its white wing bars as it chased insects. We did not see the masses of swallows today but they have a wide range and may be back later. Predictions: Another hot day in the forecast with winds coming from the mostly S direction; the winds will build from a low starting position to low double digits. The barometer will continue to fall as possible rainy weather approaches. The promising days of rising barometer and northerly winds keep moving further back in the week with Thursday starting that process as of now. This has been a change as the early week looked good a few days ago. The stronger winds may impede flight tomorrow but the sharpies, if they are able, will continue to fly. ======================================================================== 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