Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 28, 2020 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 1035 68278 70066 Osprey 0 9 31 Bald Eagle 0 30 55 Northern Harrier 6 244 375 Sharp-shinned Hawk 24 2927 4883 Cooper's Hawk 2 55 65 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 57 482 484 Broad-winged Hawk 0 677 16407 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 284 1915 2040 Rough-legged Hawk 0 5 5 Golden Eagle 1 15 15 American Kestrel 0 252 639 Merlin 0 31 50 Peregrine Falcon 0 65 93 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0 Unknown Buteo 0 1 2 Unknown Falcon 0 1 1 Unknown Eagle 0 1 1 Unknown Raptor 0 0 0 Total: 1409 74988 95212 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 7 hours Official Counter: Kevin Georg Observers: Alex Gilford, Andrew Sturgess, Don Sherwood 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: For the first time in a few days we were blessed with the beneficial rays of the sun at the start of the day. The winds were moderate but were to increase throughout the day, eventually to our detriment. The barometer started at 30.1” but lost enough to drop slightly below 30” by day’s end. The westerly winds started to fill the sky with cumulus clouds soon after the start and it appeared that we might lose the sun for a short time but it was soon back to a clear blue sky for a few hours until the high cirrus clouds started to arrive in the form of mare’s tails. Winds started from the W at about six mph but grew to double digits and shifted to a more southerly flavor; what had been a productive couple of hours changed to almost barren skies as the flight line moved into the haze well to the north of the site. Raptor Observations: It was a slow start to the day and it looked at first like it might be a sharpie type of day as they were first out of the blocks. We ended with twenty four at the end of day, most coming in the early hours. Joining them were two Cooper’s hawks. The turkey vultures came in the mid-morning and later in the day but not in any large congregations, nevertheless, we tallied one thousand and thirty five. Six solo harriers were seen. The buteos had a couple of hours in which they came in large groups but they too were not seen later in the day. Red-shoulders totaled fifty seven and three hundred and twenty four red-tailed hawks passed through. Perhaps our toughest bird to ID was our distant lone golden eagle who seemed to be imitating a bald eagle in its flight habits but eventually gave us a good enough look to see the tail and its distinctive pattern. Non-raptor Observations: The cormorants continue to reap a harvest of small fish in our immediate vicinity. A Bonaparte’s gull was noted with its distinctive white leading-edge of the wing. We are seeing small flights of ducks in closer to the site but still not close enough to ID. A common loon was seen passing by in the distance. Crows were seen in fits and starts but not a consistent large movement. Some late blue jays passed by too. Predictions: It will be another day of contrast tomorrow in which the winds and barometer do not seem to match. The barometer will be falling to a low near 29.7”, the cloud cover will be over 90%, and the winds will be NNE and rising from a starting point of 5 mph to near 12 mph near the end of day. Hmmm. The winds seem favorable but the other factors, not so much. There is a small chance of precipitation but below 20%. There is a chance that the winds may be a little too strong for our site and what movement there is may be driven to the south of us. Stay tuned…. ======================================================================== 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: https://hawkcount.org/siteinfo.php?rsite=285