Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 01, 2022 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 0 0 0 Osprey 0 0 0 Bald Eagle 0 0 0 Northern Harrier 6 6 6 Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 0 0 Cooper's Hawk 0 0 0 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 8 8 8 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 13 13 13 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 3 3 3 Merlin 2 2 2 Peregrine Falcon 0 0 0 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: 32 32 32 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 7 hours Official Counter: Andrew Sturgess Observers: Don Sherwood, Erika Van Kirk, Mark Hainen 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 meet 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: “For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone, the flowers appear on the Earth, the time of the singing of birds is come, And the voice of the turtle is heard in our land.” The late, great, Detroit Tiger’s announcer, Ernie Harwell used those lines from Song of Solomon to kick off the grapefruit league season each year and if it was good enough for him, it’s good enough for me. (Did they have different turtles back in biblical times?) The first day of the season was a pleasant day indeed. The early morning hours had a favorable NE wind but it started to swing to the south as soon as we took up our stations. Although the occasional high cirrus cloud made a brief appearance, the sky was nearly always completely blue. Temperatures climbed during the day from a very pleasant 70 degrees to a less pleasant 80 at the end of the watch. Thankfully, there was enough of an eastern element to the predominantly southern wind to allow us to feel a cooling breeze. The wind gradually grew in strength, approaching the high single digits. The barometer was rising in the morning hours, peaked at noon just over 30 inches, and then fell slightly in the afternoon hours. The birds must have found these conditions to their liking as we did have some traffic on the first day. Not record-breaking numbers but enough to keep our interest up as we scanned the sky, grateful for the opportunity to hone our skills. There have been more than one first days in September in which the number was less than one. Raptor Observations: Juvenile red-tail hawks were the biggest movers today. We counted thirteen, with no adults observed. The star of September’s migration, the broad-winged hawk, was next with eight counted. The most we saw at one time was three so no impressive kettles today. Northern Harriers were next on the list with six present and accounted for. That is a pretty good number for our site for the first day. Falcons were the only other birds we noted, with three kestrels and two merlins racing by. We did see a fair number of bald eagles and a pair of ospreys but they were deemed to be “local birds” and not counted. Non-raptor Observations: We were visited by a few Cedar Waxwings today, hawking insects from their usual perches on either side of us. The resident Caspian Tern made sure that no one dozed off with its raucous call; its offspring begging for food in a much softer voice. Swallows were up in the morning hours but at a distance that made it difficult to see whether they were all Tree Swallows. A Carolina Wren seemed to be going through its entire song repertoire nearby. A pair of Forster’s Terns were noted sitting on the entrance buoy to the channel. Mallards were the duck of choice today as they flew back and forth in front of us. A couple of Great Blue Herons made an appearance, as did a couple of Common Nighthawks, flying solo on each occasion. Predictions: Tomorrow will be much cloudier than today with more humidity and more temperature to boot. Winds will stay in the south and increase during the day, although they are not predicted to reach double digits. The barometer will be rising from an overnight dip but will not get much higher than today’s peak. Usually, a strong southern wind is not our favorite as it tends to push the buteos further north and out of our sight. Hopefully, the winds will be moderate enough so we can get some more falcons and harriers to put on the tally sheets. ======================================================================== 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