Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 06, 2020 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 1922 10091 11819 Osprey 1 4 27 Bald Eagle 0 10 35 Northern Harrier 9 81 202 Sharp-shinned Hawk 143 1022 2973 Cooper's Hawk 1 11 20 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 6 8 Broad-winged Hawk 10 581 16307 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 2 55 180 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 3 128 512 Merlin 2 9 28 Peregrine Falcon 4 29 57 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0 Unknown Buteo 0 0 1 Unknown Falcon 0 1 1 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 0 Total: 2097 12028 32170 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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, Sam Heilman 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: Today was a 4 on the Beaufort scale; described as a moderate breeze, it has small waves becoming longer, with fairly frequent white horses. This was the situation on the lake today as the winds were up in double digits from the SW. Surprisingly; we had a fairly decent morning counting birds before the wind took its toll. The skies were clear and bright blue, clouds were few and far between. In our sheltered cove it was a very pleasant day. Gradually mare’s tails began to fill in the high sky and towards the end of day it was light, thin clouds around the perimeter acting as a hazy barrier to viewing. The winds continued to blow but had changed directions slightly as the white horses were knocked down and so was the bird count. The barometer had a starting point just below 30” and dropped over a tenth in the afternoon hours Raptor Observations: Although most of the birds were to the north today they were visible in the morning hours. Turkey vultures led the way with nineteen hundred and twenty two birds floating by. Hitchhiking with the TVs were only a few buteos; ten broad-wings and two red-tails to be exact. One osprey was seen headed south. Harriers popped up sporadically throughout the day with nine total. Accipiters were buffeted around today with the sharpies taking the worst of it, one hundred and forty three made the effort with lots of them flying low to stay below the worst of the wind. One Cooper’s hawk joined the ranks. Kestrels continue to be rare for us with only three seen, other falcons were two merlins and four peregrines. The peregrines slice through any wind with little effort so they are not subject to the pushing effects as much as other species. Non-raptor Observations: The gulls were up hawking insects today causing them to make herky-jerky moves in an effort to catch their prey. Swallows were present early at our location but thankfully moved on during the day. Not that they aren’t fun to watch and to be at the center of the maelstrom they create around you, but our job is to look for, and identify, tiny targets off in the distance and we prefer a clear view. Blue jays were plentiful early in the day but were not visible later in the afternoon hours. One lesser yellowlegs was seen. The Caspian terns and one Forster’s tern were noted but they are not coming as close as they once did. Usually, when the vegetation and algae clear from in front of us they come closer and fish in front of us. Not happening this year so far. Predictions: Tomorrow should be an interesting day. The barometer will bottom out early in the morning hours and will be rising sharply the rest of the day. Winds will continue to howl from the SW until later in the day when they turn NW. It may be the inverse of today with a slow morning and good afternoon. I still like Thursday better with milder NW going to W winds and the barometer high. We shall see how it plays out as the best conditions seem to take place during the very early morning hours on Thursday. ======================================================================== 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