Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 08, 2019 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 1903 21815 22306 Osprey 0 2 32 Bald Eagle 3 4 55 Northern Harrier 7 35 209 Sharp-shinned Hawk 84 811 2889 Cooper's Hawk 8 29 40 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 10 13 13 Broad-winged Hawk 3 535 64333 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 34 96 211 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 1 1 1 American Kestrel 4 67 640 Merlin 1 3 19 Peregrine Falcon 0 15 30 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: 2058 23426 90779 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 16:30:00 Total observation time: 7 hours Official Counter: Kevin Georg Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Frank Kitakis, Mark Hainen, Rosemary Brady Visitors: We had some visitors today. Michelle was helpful in finding birds and enjoyed seeing our first golden eagle. Hopefully we informed some new casual visitors about the miracle of migration going on over their heads. Weather: It was a beautiful day in the office. A high dome of cerulean blue surrounded by a low halo of cumulus clouds off in the distance provided the view from the window. Gentle NE winds, going round to SE coming off the lake, kept the sun's heat tempered. A very mellow day to enjoy the migration. Raptor Observations: We had eleven species of birds today. Turkey vultures led the way with 1903. The accipiters were well represented with 84 Sharp-shins and 8 Cooper's hawks. Buteos finally found a wind they liked with 34 Red-tails, 10 red-shouldered, and 3 broad-winged hawks. Falcons were not entirely forgotten with 4 kestrels and 1 merlin. 7 harriers made the trip and last, but not least, 3 bald eagles and our first golden eagle of the year came over, the golden nape of the GE shining bright in the sunshine. Non-raptor Observations: We had over 5K blue jays today but the winds may have moved them out of sight for our location later in the day. Today was a day to be mindful that the cast of players is changing and careful attention has to be paid to each and every bird. Wing-beat cadences and shapes must be studied more closely since there are more options now. Predictions: Tomorrow looks similar to today with a high barometer and winds starting in the NE and moving round to the ESE. I think it might still be a little early for huge numbers of buteos since they normally start in earnest in the second week of October but the early birds that are anxious to leave Canada may be on the move. ======================================================================== 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