Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 17, 2022 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 2599 35377 42661 Osprey 0 2 16 Bald Eagle 1 17 48 Northern Harrier 3 85 317 Sharp-shinned Hawk 103 1149 4025 Cooper's Hawk 1 27 51 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 48 51 Broad-winged Hawk 0 28 67350 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 13 449 630 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 8 8 American Kestrel 21 154 909 Merlin 2 17 42 Peregrine Falcon 1 24 46 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: 2744 37385 116154 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 13:00:00 Total observation time: 5 hours Official Counter: Kevin Georg Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Bill Peregord, Sarah deGuise 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: Act 1: The curtain rises on a scene of majestic beauty; brilliant sunshine highlights the edges of the towering mass of near black, backlit clouds receding over Lake Erie that had just recently dropped rain on the area. A young peregrine sits stage-right in an alder tree, taking refuge from the cyclonic effects of the low-pressure system whose center lurks just to the north. The winds are from the west at eight mph. The temperature starts at forty degrees, only managing to rise five degrees during the day. The skies are filled with turkey vultures and sharpies taking advantage of the gap in the forecast rainy periods to flee the reach of the low-pressure center. Act II: Thousands of swallows act as chaff to make our task more difficult. The clouds begin to fill the sky again, gloomy, dull specimens matting together and foretelling the rain approaching from the west. Winds are increasing, with significant gusts that cause the turkey vultures to pitch and yaw as they cross the sky, sometimes seeking shelter below the treetops. The barometer is dropping. The peregrine flies in front of us to the north, perhaps to seek better shelter in another tree. Act III The western sky takes on an ominous gray hue. The rain finally arrives, winds are eighteen mph with gusts exceeding that. Leaves are ripped from trees and take to the air. Birds continue to fly and are observed and counted through the windshield of a Chevy with Pennsylvania plates for one hour. The curtain drops. Raptor Observations: Today was “get out of Dodge” day for a lot of turkey vultures. Starting early, there was plenty of wind to carry them along with no need to wait. They were moving when we go to the site with the bright sun highlighting their silver secondaries as they rolled in the gusty wind. We counted 2,599 of them during a rain-shortened watch that ended at 2 P.M. The sharpies seemed to share the urgency to move with 70 of them flying by erratically as they fought the wind in a single hour. We ended with a total of 103. American kestrels were accompanying the sharpies with 21 noted today. The buteos were a little late to get off the starting line and ended with 13, 7 of which came in the last hour. Northern harriers were noted 3 times today. A pair of merlins were seen, one of them landed in a tree behind us for a short while. One unusually colored bald eagle flew over, trailing a stream of TV’s. The single peregrine falcon was noted sitting in a tree to the right of us, it sat for nearly three hours before flying away. Non-raptor Observations: It was a tossup whether the swallows that filled the air, or the pelicans feeding on the schools of shad were the best highlight today. The swallows, and some chimney swifts, created a matrix of thousands of busy birds whirling around the sky. It was a little tricky at times to follow the bouncing sharpies among them. The pelicans made their feeding cliques where they crowd together over the fish and dip their bills into the water to retrieve them. The bait fish have apparently moved in closer to our location. The gulls were busy today, but closer to the water, either following the pelicans or feeding on their own in mixed species groups. Some blue jays and a couple of flights of crows were noted. Predictions: Tomorrow may resemble today in its timeline. Showers are predicted for the afternoon; clouds will dominate the sky. Winds will range between 12 and 19 mph from NNW. Temperatures will hang near the forty-degree mark. It sounds like we are still in the grasp of the low-pressure system as the barometer should climb but very little and very slowly. It will probably be a more uncomfortable day for us with the winds hitting us a little harder from a less sheltered direction. Hopefully, the turkey vultures are still in a migrating mood. ======================================================================== 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