Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 25, 2022 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 125 629 629 Osprey 0 12 12 Bald Eagle 1 26 26 Northern Harrier 4 177 177 Sharp-shinned Hawk 62 2305 2305 Cooper's Hawk 1 10 10 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 4239 61485 61485 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 1 118 118 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 5 651 651 Merlin 0 21 21 Peregrine Falcon 0 14 14 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: 4438 65448 65448 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 10:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 6 hours Official Counter: Kevin Georg Observers: Andrew Sturgess 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: Stranger things, Horatio, indeed. With rainy bookends, this was a day that did not indicate that it would be as busy as it was. Rain was moving through Canada and the barometric pressure was at a season low, bad mojo, normally. The NW winds were the only positive sign and that is not usually the kindest wind to our site. Rain passed in the morning and rather than continue to rain “as predicted”, the skies showed some signs of clearing to a partially sunny motif. Kevin’s spidey sense began telling him that the game was afoot, mine was telling me to buy groceries and get vaccinated. Nevertheless, we both ended up at the site together eventually. Birds were flying; flying directly into a rising wind from the WNW and facing a deep purple sky laden with rain by days end. The sky was schizophrenic, look one way and it looked a pleasant sunny fall day, look the other to see a torturous sky laced with malign intent. During the final hour we watched a very dark large cell skirt just to the north of us, dropping generous amounts of rain as it passed. In the end, a smaller, less angry cell forced us to retreat. I have to wonder if the very angry Fiona to the east may have moved birds this way and they took the lesser of two evils. Raptor Observations: Broadwings led the way today. Against a gray background there were easier to find than their usual high blue highway style. They may have been flying lower today as they came onto land a little earlier than they usually do on a NW wind, thus crossing our site. The wind did shift a little and was often WNW so the western element and inclement weather may have affected their decisions. Some of the juveniles flew rather close overhead near the end of the day. This is a bird you see by the thousands but never really up close and personal for the vast majority of them. There was no clearcut consensus on flight line as they meandered on various paths throughout the day. They totaled 4,239 as we closed up shop. The turkey vultures, October’s star, are starting to ease up in counts and today 125 were counted. The sharpies continue to flutter and glide by to the tune of 62 today. American kestrels were counted on one hand with 5 showing up. Northern harriers were 4 in number. Bald Eagles, red-tailed hawks, and Cooper’s hawks numbered 1 apiece. Non-raptor Observations: The insect hatch must have been very active in front of us today as the swallows and gulls were up trying their luck in very large numbers. Swallows can be numerous one day and not easily seen the next as they chase the insect hatch where it may lead them. A couple of local eagles were noted riding the updrafts near the tree line by Gibraltar. Otherwise, a fairly quiet day, but it was essential to keep scanning the sky for broadwings so there wasn’t much time to look elsewhere. About 3,500 bluejays passed by. Predictions: We continue to be in the circulation path of a low centered to the north of us. Scattered showers may or may not affect us. The barometer should start to climb slowly off its low of today. Winds should be westerly and growing to near twenty mph as high pressure slowly forces its way in. The area should be peppered with small showers but we shall have to see what actually happens in that regard. Today was supposed to be wetter than it ended up being. The birds should be flying low tomorrow due to the high winds and we shall have to see what shows up after today’s unusual display. ======================================================================== 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: 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