Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 23, 2019 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 406 44020 44511 Osprey 0 5 35 Bald Eagle 0 22 73 Northern Harrier 1 75 249 Sharp-shinned Hawk 55 1567 3645 Cooper's Hawk 1 56 67 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 2 81 81 Broad-winged Hawk 0 538 64336 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 14 434 549 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 3 3 American Kestrel 11 121 694 Merlin 2 11 27 Peregrine Falcon 1 29 44 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: 493 46962 114315 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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, Mark Hainen, Rosemary Brady Visitors: It took tough people to come out today. We were at Stage Four Goose Down in layering options due to the chilling effects of the determined wind. Weather: Batten down the hatches! A strong, persistent, surging SSW wind separated the motivated birds from the less so. Trees were dancing and trying to hold on to their leaves today. Clear blue skies for most of the day with a few cumulus clouds wandering in like errant sheep returning to the fold.The barometer moved a half a tenth today and stayed around 30". Raptor Observations: Relatively low numbers today and those that came had a Cedar Point wild ride. Usually, clear blue skies are not our preferred backdrop but because of the high winds the birds were very low at times. Dodging in and out of the tree tops and slip-sliding across the water in front of us, the smaller birds were hard to track, much less ID. Turkey vultures numbered 406. 55 sharp-shins took their dramamine and made the trip. 1 Cooper's hawk followed. 1 northern harrier took the plunge. 14 red-tails and 2 red-shoulders represented the buteos. Surprisingly, the falcons were active today with 11 kestrels, 2 merlins, and 1 peregrine falcon, another hat trick. Non-raptor Observations: We had a flyover by two lesser yellowlegs. Forster's terns are still active along with plentiful tree swallows. One of the best scenes came at the end of the day when two falcons were observed disappearing behind The Brain Tree. When they emerged, it could be seen that it was a merlin hot on the tail of a kestrel. Is there anything they don't chase? A couple of monarchs crossed. They are very good flyers in high winds surprisingly. Predictions: Tomorrow looks good on the technical indicators. A rising barometer on the backside of this front bodes well and the winds are going to switch during the day to NW at a reasonable level. If there are birds close after two days of adverse winds we should see them tomorrow. ======================================================================== 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