SMRR- Lake Erie Metropark
Brownstown, Michigan, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 25, 2007
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
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Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 7734 50221 52006
Osprey 1 44 191
Bald Eagle 5 55 194
Northern Harrier 8 217 717
Sharp-shinned Hawk 42 2902 9607
Cooper's Hawk 25 286 459
Northern Goshawk 1 2 2
Red-shouldered Hawk 126 303 311
Broad-winged Hawk 0 39 69574
Red-tailed Hawk 722 1530 1893
Rough-legged Hawk 0 1 1
Golden Eagle 5 12 12
American Kestrel 0 206 1268
Merlin 0 12 38
Peregrine Falcon 0 25 60
Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0
Unknown Buteo 0 0 0
Unknown Falcon 0 0 0
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Raptor 0 0 8
Swainson's Hawk 0 0 2
Total: 8669 55855 136343
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Observation start time: 07:45:00
Observation end time: 16:30:00
Total observation time: 8.75 hours
Official Counter: Calvin Brennan
Observers: Bruce Roberts, Darlene Friedman, Don Sherwood, Jim Maki,
Raburn Howland
Visitors:
Benita Garner
Joe Bartell
Pete Przybylski
Anne and Saul Hanft
Allen Chartier
Weather:
Today was essentially a sunny day with mainly cirrus cloud during the
morning and substantial amounts of cumulous building up in the afternoon.
All cloud cover would dissipate by days end. Winds were moderate to strong
east-northeast in the morning and early afternoon becoming more easterly as
the afternoon progressed.
Raptor Observations:
The flight was immediate spurred by the windy conditions with small vulture
kettles getting up within an hour of sunrise. This activity was without let
up for the entire day and was mixed more and more with groups of Buteos as
the day wore on. Flight lines were not well established in the strong winds
with some birds following the crow strings over the lake while others were
overhead as well as individuals and small groups mixed in between. There
were times when it seemed like there were raptors in every corner of the
sky. Along with the very good Buteo movement was another fine Golden Eagle
day with several overhead views as well as a low cruising juvenile Northern
Goshawk. An unusual sighting was of a virtually pure white Red-tailed Hawk.
During all the excitement sometime in the fourth hour of the count today we
counted our 4 millionth bird since our inception as a hawk watch! Also
today we broke our previous single season record for Bald Eagles.
Non-raptor Observations:
The crow movement today was more impressive than yesterdays passage even
with probably a six-digit crow flight passing through the area.
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Report submitted by Calvin Brennan ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
SMRR- Lake Erie Metropark information may be found at:
http://www.smrr.net/
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