Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 20, 2020 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 210 951 951 Osprey 0 10 10 Bald Eagle 1 20 20 Northern Harrier 3 96 96 Sharp-shinned Hawk 41 1034 1034 Cooper's Hawk 1 4 4 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 2 2 Broad-winged Hawk 13 15618 15618 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 6 110 110 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 5 261 261 Merlin 0 8 8 Peregrine Falcon 1 8 8 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0 Unknown Buteo 0 1 1 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 0 Total: 281 18123 18123 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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, Rosemary Brady 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: The huge high pressure system continues to affect the site. The strong winds generated today, from the SE for most of the day, pushed all flying objects to the north beyond our view except for a few resolute souls. The pressure was the highest we have seen at the site this year starting at 30.5”, rising to 30.55” for a short time before returning to its starting point. The sky was classic high pressure with very few clouds except for a distant rind over the lake. The clear blue dome with bright light made it difficult to locate the higher flying birds. The wind at our location was helped by the fetch of the open lake to our right and we had small whitecaps in front of us. Our wind-burned faces were so tight it was difficult to smile at the close of day even though we all wanted to, happy to put it behind us. Raptor Observations: The wind built from a slightly softer starting point so we saw a few more birds early in the morning. The sharp-shins were underway early but were rarely seen in the afternoon hours. We ended with forty one on the day. Five kestrels were noted. Three harriers rocked past, pumping through the challenging winds. One Cooper’s hawk was seen. One bald eagle was observed winging by, but sky high. Six red-tails were noted; again most of them seemed to be juvenile birds. One peregrine falcon was spotted in a feisty mood, harassing a gull as it passed. Two hundred and ten turkey vultures passed over, the last ones so high that they were nearly lost in the clear blue sky. We suspect the wind was more stable aloft. These are the October centerfold birds but they usually start to move in smaller numbers in the last days of September. September’s centerfold birds, the broad-wings, were probably influenced by the wind most of all and could only manage thirteen, an unlucky number for all of us. Non-raptor Observations: We have a family of young mallards that feed on the duckweed and water striders in front of us and one interesting occurrence caught my eye today. Suddenly a few of them cocked their heads and used one eye to look overhead. There was a bald eagle very high in the sky, so high that it had escaped our detection. Somehow, and I find it rather extraordinary that they did so; they had seen that bird very high right above them. The usual flak of gulls and swallows made it difficult to filter out the raptors in the morning hours when they were chances of seeing them. Blue jays continue to wing their way south. Predictions: I’m hoping that tomorrow’s winds, generally from the SSE, will be somewhat tempered by having to pass over land, rather than open water like today’s blast. It should only hit single digits so it might be possible that we have a normal sharpie, kestrel, harrier flight. The turkey vultures should continue to move in increasing numbers. It’s possible that we will continue to see broad-wings in decent numbers but significant money will not be placed on that bet till the winds are a little more favorable. Cheers! Andrew S. ======================================================================== 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: http://hawkcount.org/siteinfo.php?rsite=285