Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 14, 2020 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 60 35958 37744 Osprey 0 9 32 Bald Eagle 0 20 45 Northern Harrier 5 163 294 Sharp-shinned Hawk 41 2347 4300 Cooper's Hawk 1 33 42 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 23 25 Broad-winged Hawk 0 676 16406 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 1 279 404 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 0 240 627 Merlin 1 15 34 Peregrine Falcon 0 54 82 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: 109 39819 60038 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 14:00:00 Total observation time: 6 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: Momma said they'd be days like this.A day that did not have much promise lived down to its potential. With an increasing wind from slight variations on a southerly theme and a falling barometer foretelling possible rain to come tomorrow, the paraphrased words of Yogi B. rang true, “if the birds don’t want to come, nobody can stop them”. Some days are not going to warrant a mention in the history books and this was one of them. Raptor Observations: Only sixty turkey vultures were sighted today, I said, only sixty turkey vultures were sighted today. Yes, it was that bad. Five harriers were noted. Thirty one sharpies passed through, well spaced apart. One Cooper’s hawk was seen. Only one red-tailed hawk was observed, apparently lost. The falcon contingent was limited to one merlin. Non-raptor Observations: The highlight of the day was the sighting of a short-eared owl; only the second one that I know of in the last ten years. Otherwise a very slow day for all bird observations, perhaps it was a bank holiday. Predictions: Tomorrow may have some potential in the afternoon. The barometer bottoms out in the early a.m. hours and rebounds during the afternoon. Some rain may occur in the early morning hours. Winds are from the W during that time, although maybe a little too robust for our site. The forecast has changed and Friday does not look quite as promising as it once did since the winds will be SW that day. They will be lighter and that may help keep the birds from going too far north. Time will tell. ======================================================================== 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