Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 17, 2020 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 3522 44634 46420 Osprey 0 9 32 Bald Eagle 8 28 53 Northern Harrier 19 192 323 Sharp-shinned Hawk 153 2651 4604 Cooper's Hawk 6 41 50 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 60 92 94 Broad-winged Hawk 0 677 16407 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 249 641 766 Rough-legged Hawk 1 1 1 Golden Eagle 2 4 4 American Kestrel 2 248 635 Merlin 5 23 42 Peregrine Falcon 2 58 86 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0 Unknown Buteo 0 1 2 Unknown Falcon 0 1 1 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 0 Total: 4029 49301 69520 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 15:30:00 Total observation time: 7.5 hours Official Counter: Kevin Georg Observers: 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: With a high barometer reading of 30.3” the sky for the beginning of the watch was clear of any obstructions, at least in the form of clouds, to the viewing of raptors. The avian flak was there in the form of numerous swallows that were concentrated into a small area and always seemed to be where the migrating birds were in the early hours. The wind took its time; building up gradually and eventually shifting to a more southerly direction that in the end affected the flight. The later hours saw the birds pushed more to the north in the haze that results when the wind blows off the lake. The barometer dropped about a tenth later in the day and the sky began to fill with cloud. At times temporary wandering planes of thin solid cloud backed by blue but growing into a solid mass with a dark gray bottom daubed with streaks of steel blue that looked vaguely ominous. Raptor Observations: >From a slow beginning the day got to the next level and the next level after that. At times the flight lines were many and varied. It required a lot of concentration to track all the birds soaring and drifting on the wind that was increasing in strength. Fortunately, I am surrounded by experts who carry the heavy load. Thirty five hundred and twelve turkey vultures kettled and streamed by, starting strong early and tapering off till the last hour when they rushed for the exits again. Four bald eagles were counted on a day in which eagles, with all the local contingent present and accounted for, seemed to fill the sky and also the “eagle tree with four young birds sitting there at once for a good while. Twenty two harriers rocked their way through. Sharp-shins built to a peak and then tapered off again with seventy of one hundred fifty one total for the day coming in one hour. Cooper’s hawks were on the move with six registered. The falcons were a small part of the flight today with only two kestrels (they seem to be avoiding our site this year), five merlins, and two peregrines noted. This was a day for buteos to move, finding a corridor of energy to their liking, they came early and often after the winds picked up. Two hundred forty nine red-tailed hawks (including one dark morph) soared through riding the turbulence of the winds kicked up by the trees and houses below them. They were joined by sixty one red-shoulders and one, our first of the season, light morph rough-legged hawk. We caught two golden eagles trying to sneak by in a long glide but their white tails gave them away. Today they came around midday so the four o’clock golden eagle rule is apparently not written in stone. Non-raptor Observations: The talk of the day at the watch was a gathering of great egrets (30-40) in one of the marshes that all visitors must drive by. The white statuettes were hard to ignore. The SW winds had blown the water levels down and egrets love to have their targets concentrated in shallow water. This is ideal shorebird habitat and there were a few greater yellowlegs in attendance there too. We saw two of my favorite camera subjects, the Bonaparte’s gull and the Forster’s terns come in to fish nearby for a change. The American white pelicans were seen flying in formation over the lake. One common loon was seen flying by to a destination further upriver. The swallows were plentiful this morning as they filled the sky at times with hundreds of them present. Predictions: Your expectations for rain tomorrow depends which computer model you believe. No one knows for sure. The winds will stay strong from the S but the barometer will be heading down so that does not bode well although it should stay around thirty inches. Skies should stay very cloudy; temps will stay in the fifties. There will be a varying threat of rain through the day although it should be light if it does occur. Good sharpie weather. ======================================================================== 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