Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 07, 2022 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 946 10877 18152 Osprey 0 0 14 Bald Eagle 0 7 38 Northern Harrier 0 25 256 Sharp-shinned Hawk 29 424 3300 Cooper's Hawk 1 12 36 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 1 36 39 Broad-winged Hawk 0 28 67299 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 16 295 476 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 2 2 American Kestrel 0 37 791 Merlin 0 5 30 Peregrine Falcon 5 10 31 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: 998 11758 90464 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 7 hours Official Counter: Kevin Georg Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Frank Kitakis, Mark Hainen Visitors: We are located by the boat launch in Lake Erie Metropark in a fenced off area at the Hawk Watch site. This does not mean that we do not welcome interaction with any and all visitors. We enjoy talking about what we do and sharing our knowledge with beginners and experts alike. Please feel free to come up and talk to us. We usually have our backs turned to the parking lot as we scan the skies in front of us. This should not be interpreted as a sign of reluctance to engage; this is how we do our job. We have friendly people that do not bite and the welcome mat is always out. Weather: I think I’ve got it figured out now. The meteorologists at Weather Underground are similar to politicians in that they hold the truth in such high regard that they use it infrequently, and only on special occasions. They got the barometer rising part correctly, the winds below 10 mph and skies clearing… er, not so much. Our spirits were immediately dampened, in a literal sense, since light misty rain was falling at the start of the watch. Far out over the lake there was evidence of sunshine but our overlay of thick gray stratus clouds soon darkened even that bright spot. We did get the occasional small tease of blue but the clearing never came. Winds were over ten mph with healthy gusts. Temperatures did reach 50 degrees but with the vigorous NNW wind it was not a comfortable temperature. The barometer did jump a quarter of an inch up to 30.26 inches of mercury. The dark and ugly scene in front of us in no way resembled high pressure weather though. Raptor Observations: Once again, turkey vultures rode in to save the day. Taking various flight paths as they tacked back and forth to make headway into the winds, they came in smaller groups than one might expect at this time of year but eventually they added up to 946 red-headed strangers. The sharp-shins chose not to come our way this day with only 29 seen flying in the turbulent air. One Cooper’s hawk was observed passing through. Red-tailed hawks were seen 16 times, while only one red-shouldered hawk was noted. The 5 peregrines were the only birds that did not mind the adverse conditions, their sleek bodies splitting the air with relative ease. We were two short of the thousand mark today, which given the conditions was not too awful. Non-raptor Observations: Today was Swallowpalooza with many hundreds more swallows than we have seen before during this season. It was quite impressive to see the swarms feasting just over the water, and later, higher in the sky acting as chaff for the sharpies to slip by unnoticed. The pelicans went aloft to brave the winds today. Blue jays seemed to be moving in larger numbers that the few previous days while the blackbirds took the day off. One crow was spotted, perhaps a harbinger of things to come, as they will migrate past us in large numbers soon enough. Our Caspian terns are still at work diving with abandon. Lots of cormorants were seen migrating overhead while some of the solo birds continue to dive in front of us. Predictions: The forecast, ahem, calls for more sun tomorrow, although not completely clear skies. The barometer should continue to ease up another tenth of an inch. Temperatures will start from a lower opening position but end up higher than today at 56 degrees. The winds should die down overnight from the northern direction and shift to the west. The strength may be an issue again as it is forecast, ahem, to start around five mph and rise to fifteen during the watch. It will be interesting to see how that affects the flight. It may force the turkey vultures down to the coastline where we can actually see them better as they make the turn north. As for the other species, we may get a better turnout in the morning when the winds are lighter. Fifteen mph is a significant force acting on the birds and they will adapt in different ways. ======================================================================== 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-2022