Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 25, 2020 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 4054 66316 68104 Osprey 0 9 31 Bald Eagle 0 30 55 Northern Harrier 15 231 362 Sharp-shinned Hawk 16 2887 4843 Cooper's Hawk 0 52 62 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 77 251 253 Broad-winged Hawk 0 676 16406 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 243 1185 1310 Rough-legged Hawk 4 5 5 Golden Eagle 4 13 13 American Kestrel 0 252 639 Merlin 0 30 49 Peregrine Falcon 0 63 91 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0 Unknown Buteo 0 1 2 Unknown Falcon 0 1 1 Unknown Eagle 1 1 1 Unknown Raptor 0 0 0 Total: 4414 72003 92227 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 17:00:00 Total observation time: 9 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: The only indication that the sun had actually risen today was a peach colored boundary layer at the eastern horizon at the bottom of a parfait of gray cloud striations in varying dark hues that made up the morning sky. The aircraft warning lights on the stacks were still blinking their bright red warning message as the photocells had not turned them off yet since it was still, in their mind, dark. Such was the scene that greeted us on a day that had promise on paper. The winds were from a NE direction that has traditionally favored us with large movements. The barometer, despite the solid overcast of the sky, was at 30.2” and stayed there with only a tenth drop towards the end of the day. It was a chilly day, made more so for the observers by the wind off the lake that made multi-layering necessary. There were occasional hints that the solid cloud deck was hiding a blue sky but only one very brief window opened during the day revealing high clouds moving in an opposite direction to the low deck. It was a “dark and stormy night” for the most part. Raptor Observations: Sometimes promises made are kept. Despite the gloomy look, the birds were on the move today. The October centerfold bird, the turkey vulture, led with way with four thousand and fifty four specimens; the last hour was again very productive for them. Fifteen harriers passed the turnstiles. Sixteen sharp-shins were noted. It was moving day for buteos with seventy three red-shoulders and two hundred and forty three red-tails soaring over. We didn’t have the same numbers of rough-legged hawks at Duluth as did the other day (582!) but we were happy to get four today, two light morphs and two dark. We also scored four golden eagles and one distant unidentified eagle that looked kinda like a golden but flew like a bald so we could not pull the trigger in the bad light. Non-raptor Observations: The mean skies were not kind to other species but we did note lots of swallows working just over the water, or later, higher in the sky in their eternal chase for insect flavored protein. We may have seen the first flight of tundra swans today but could not hear them to confirm. Three sandhill cranes were also observed flying in a seemingly random pattern in the sky. The distant ducks were present in huge numbers flying in long formations looking like strings in the sky. Otherwise it was a slow day as the cold winds kept most species at bay. Predictions: If you like cloudy skies with northerly winds then we have a day for you. The barometer will stay above 30”. Cloud cover will be near 100% much like today and the winds will shift to a more northern thrust during the normal watch hours. The temps will stay cold as is normal with Canadian air blowing in. The winds will be of moderate strength below ten mph so it is hoped that the birds are close enough to see well. There should be movement under these conditions, hopefully close enough for us to really enjoy the sights. ======================================================================== 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