Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 04, 2023 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 0 0 0 Osprey 0 0 0 Bald Eagle 0 0 0 Northern Harrier 0 0 0 Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 8 8 Cooper's Hawk 0 0 0 American Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 0 17 17 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 0 0 0 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 0 7 7 Merlin 2 4 4 Peregrine Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0 Unknown Buteo 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 0 Total: 3 36 36 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 7 hours Official Counter: Kevin Georg Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Patrick Mulawa Visitors: We welcome visitors to our site and are very willing to share information and ID tips with them. However, during times of high traffic requiring extra focus and concentration, we would respectfully ask that everyone use their indoor voices and allow us to fulfill our mission to the best of our abilities. Thank you. Weather: A forecast that created pessimism in both raptor migration and personal comfort expectations, delivered on the migration aspect. It was not as bad as feared weatherwise; thanks to a SW wind that managed to increase in strength and filter through the trees behind us with adequate strength to provide some relief from the high temperatures and high humidity. It provided no relief from the Devil’s spawn of an insect, the biting fly. Looking like a normal house fly, it has a piercing, painful bite that leaves one bleeding near the ankle. They share certain characteristics with sharks in that they can detect blood from great distances and it drives them into a feeding frenzy. They eat DEET for breakfast and fear no repellent. As you can probably tell, I fell victim to them today. Temperatures did reach the high eighties and with humidity in the sixty percent range it was a day to seek shade when possible. Winds, thankfully, climbed to double digits at eleven mph while staying in the dreaded SW direction. The barometer dropped during the day, albeit slowly. There were enough bright white sheep grazing in the pasture (cumulus clouds) to provide an attractive look to the day despite the uncomfortable conditions otherwise. Raptor Observations: It was a strangely quiet day in the sky in the morning hours. Not many birds, local or otherwise, seemed to be flying. The winds were low at that point and perhaps that was the reason. Even later we did not see the usual collection of local eagles, red tails and ospreys except at much greater distances than we had seen them over the last three days. There was a near-adult eagle with a bum leg that visited in the morning looking like he had spotted a meal in the water. It circled a couple of times but did not pluck anything before leaving. We did see a sharpie eventually, possibly looking for insects high in the sky, as the gulls eventually seemed to be doing. A merlin offered to help a small bird fly across the water in front of us but he seemed to be holding a little too tight for the comfort of the bird of undetermined species; perhaps one of the warblers that are passing through. We did manage to see another merlin later on but otherwise the cupboard was bare. Non-raptor Observations: Our normal great egret was replaced by a great blue heron today who kept station most of the day to the SE of us. Cedar waxwings continue to look for protein, in the form of insects, using the trees on either side of us to perch in. Forster’s terns are roosting on the base of one of the entrance buoys in small numbers. The Caspian terns seemed quieter than usual today. Warblers continued to seek sustenance from the large maple trees, hiding in the leaves and not providing many good looks. The large number of double-crested cormorants on the rock jetty by Celeron Island seemed to have moved to another spot today. I suspect that they will return since they usually stick around much longer. Even the purple martins and swallows were not as plentiful today but they tend to follow the hatch so attendance can be spotty. Predictions: With the exception of a rising barometer, tomorrow looks like another copy of today’s weather. Rising winds from the SW, high temperatures, high humidity and fewer sheep in the pasture. Prospects for bird movement are not good. The next day after is when it gets interesting weatherwise, breaking the pattern with a barometric pressure that should fall a couple of tenths and a sixty percent chance of rain with thunderstorms thrown into the mix. This change will eventually bring another high-pressure system and its cooling northerly winds. Things should improve in the migration department once the turbulence settles and the winds stay in the northern quadrant. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Andrew Sturgess (ajyes72@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 Count data submitted via Dunkadoo - Project info at: https://dunkadoo.org/explore/detroit-river-international-wildlife-refuge/detroit-river-hawk-watch-fall-2023