DRHW- Lake Erie Metropark Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 30, 2010 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 259 1371 1371 Osprey 1 52 52 Bald Eagle 4 138 138 Northern Harrier 11 262 262 Sharp-shinned Hawk 56 4955 4955 Cooper's Hawk 27 237 237 Northern Goshawk 0 2 2 Red-shouldered Hawk 3 5 5 Broad-winged Hawk 50 79363 79363 Red-tailed Hawk 12 248 248 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 4 573 573 Merlin 0 24 24 Peregrine Falcon 2 20 20 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0 Unknown Buteo 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 1 17 17 Prairie Falcon 1 2 2 Swainson's Hawk 0 5 5 Total: 431 87274 87274 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 17:00:00 Total observation time: 8.5 hours Official Counter: Rob Payne Observers: Raburn Howland, Rodney Laura Visitors: The same as yesterday, about a dozen non-volunteers. Weather: Light haze early in the morning was thankfully burned off as the day progressed. It was then a crystal clear day, with a nice breeze out of the south west. Kind of cold for me for me, but the locals agreed it was a beautiful day for hawk watching. Raptor Observations: If we graded our days I would give this one an A+. A real case of quality over quantity, as only 431 individuals where counted, but of 12 species. Turkey Vulture numbers are increasing with 259 for the day, 205 where at noon alone. An early afternoon push of Broad-winged Hawks in three different kettles, turned up an even 50 birds. Accipiters are still flying with 56 for Sharp-shinned and 27 for Cooper's. Here is what your waiting for. A fairly normal Falcon day with three species. Except one of those Falcons was another Prairie. Our second bird of the season/month, and only the third for the count site. It was also literally the last bird of the day. The falcon came in pretty high and was spotted by Rodney Laura as it was right overhead. The bird had come from the west, but immediately turned back and climbed altitude incredibly fast. By the time our camera man was at his car for the camera it was a distant speck. Furthermore the bird was a typical adult male, very pale with a peregrine shape and dark axillary patches. In short it looks like a sand colored Peregrine with dirty armpits. Non-raptor Observations: Good numbers of passerines where still in the area, but nowhere near as many as yesterday. Blue Jays continue their cross country wave tour, many more thousands where seen today. Predictions: Good weather continues for tomorrow and numbers should be as good or better. A cold front from the north west is scheduled for the weekend, and we will see the signs of that tomorrow. We should see some moderate winds from the north west and it will probably be chilly. Birds might push well tomorrow to beat out the storms. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Greg Norwood ([email protected]) SMRR- Lake Erie Metropark information may be found at: http://www.drhawkwatch.org _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
