Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 07, 2020 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 3075 13166 14894 Osprey 0 4 27 Bald Eagle 0 10 35 Northern Harrier 5 86 207 Sharp-shinned Hawk 209 1231 3184 Cooper's Hawk 1 12 21 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 6 8 Broad-winged Hawk 6 587 16313 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 6 61 186 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 32 160 544 Merlin 2 11 30 Peregrine Falcon 3 32 60 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: 3339 15367 35511 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 7 hours Official Counter: Kevin Georg Observers: Andrew Sturgess 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: A reminder today that this is Mother Nature’s world and we are living in it; it was a day to cinch down both straps on the Tilley, a day to note that we had another level on the Beaufort scale, a day to watch the “butt tree” twerking across the slip. Beaufort describes, with classic British understatement, our winds of 19 mph with gusts up to 30, as a fresh breeze, it felt like more than that as we had to batten down the hatches. We are between systems where last night’s low is fighting with the coming high pressure system that will not be denied. The barometer did not rise that much today and ended still below 30”after gaining a tenth. The winds were substantial all day, ending up with a more westerly element that gave the birds a headwind to fly into. Raptor Observations: We were fortunate today in that the turkey vultures kept to their flight line for most of the day into the wind. They did not kettle much but proceeded at a stately pace across the sky making the counting much easier. Sometimes high winds can cause unusual movements back and forth and cause confusion in the ranks. We ended up with three thousand seventy five for the day. We identify birds by pattern recognition, not the plumage patterns but flight patterns; how fast a bird flaps and how often, the shape of the bird in various positions. With high winds a lot of that can change as birds pinch their primaries together and sharpies take on a kestrel look. The wind buffets the small birds so much that they make adaptations. Human observers must adapt too. Today was one of those days that made the smaller birds tricky to ID. Nevertheless, we ended up with two hundred and nine sharpies at the end of day. One Cooper’s hawk was seen. Kestrels had a better day today with thirty two noted. Joining them in the falcon family were two merlins and three peregrines. Five harriers were observed in the afternoon hours. The buteos are waiting for tomorrow’s winds but six broad-wings and six red-tails were seen gliding along on the “fresh breeze”. Non-raptor Observations: It was a slow day for non-raptors as the winds kept most at bay. Blue jays were working hard in the morning hours trying to make the crossing. Some goldfinch flocks came across. Gulls are still working the insect hatch up high in the sky. A small flock of Forster’s terns can occasionally be seen flying together in the morning hours but they do not feed in front of us anymore. Predictions: I like to look for rising barometer pressure combined with northerly winds to feel comfortable predicting large movements. Tomorrow has those elements but unfortunately the best part of it happens in the dark hours. The wind should be dying from the NW as we start the watch and go more westerly during the day; increasing in strength although not as strong as today. I hope to see more buteos tomorrow but it is still early and sometimes they wait for cold weather to kick start them. It should be a good day for turkey vultures and old reliable sharpies. ======================================================================== 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