Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 15, 2019 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 0 10 10 Osprey 1 18 18 Bald Eagle 0 21 21 Northern Harrier 4 75 75 Sharp-shinned Hawk 142 613 613 Cooper's Hawk 0 5 5 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 0 614 614 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 0 65 65 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 16 96 96 Merlin 2 6 6 Peregrine Falcon 0 4 4 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: 165 1527 1527 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 16:30:00 Total observation time: 8.5 hours Official Counter: Kevin Georg Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Raburn Howland, Rosemary Brady Visitors: A few stalwart visitors came today despite the weather not looking like Chamber of Commerce material. We enjoyed pointing out the numerous sharpies to them Weather: Despite that the word rain never entered yesterday's forecast, we did have a period of rainus interruptus today in the middle of the day. At times, it looked like an afternoon off on the radar with many green blobs headed our way. However, the Lake Erie affect took hold and broke up many of the amalgamations into smaller ineffective showers. Raptor Observations: This looked to be a day that favored Sharpies and it proved to be that way despite some of the interruptions. These birds seem to like the winds around the cells and like a switch being thrown will come as soon as the rain stops. We had nearly 140 today, with 16 kestrels to keep them company. Other notables being 4 Northern harriers and 2 merlins. Buteos were not observed. Non-raptor Observations: The gulls seemed to enjoy their day hawking insects with plenty of swallows and purple martins to keep them company. One lesser yellowlegs was seen passing trying to convince us he was a falcon with his long swept back wings. Predictions: A mostly cloudy day is predicted with a high barometer. There is prediction of low winds at first but a brief period of NE winds later. None of this will probably happen, but hope springs eternal, and perhaps we will see a few broadwings in the afternoon. ======================================================================== 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