DRHW- Lake Erie Metropark Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 15, 2010 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 9393 88036 89407 Osprey 0 5 57 Bald Eagle 0 39 177 Northern Harrier 3 111 373 Sharp-shinned Hawk 6 1081 6036 Cooper's Hawk 8 370 607 Northern Goshawk 0 3 5 Red-shouldered Hawk 10 134 139 Broad-winged Hawk 1 208 79571 Red-tailed Hawk 17 349 597 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 1 4 4 American Kestrel 0 94 667 Merlin 0 15 39 Peregrine Falcon 0 12 32 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0 Unknown Buteo 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 17 Prairie Falcon 0 1 3 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 5 Total: 9439 90462 177736 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 16:30:00 Total observation time: 8.5 hours Official Counter: Rob Payne Observers: Don Sherwood, John Elliott, Patrick Mulawa, Rodney Laura Visitors: A handful of hardy cold weather hawk watchers came in for a few, most went to Pt. Mouille SGA for a better look at the TVs. Weather: The trailing edge of our low pressure system has stayed dry, but was very windy and chilly. Rain clouds came in from the northwest for the majority of the day. There were enough breaks in the clouds to keep everything separated and dry. Winds where constant from the Northwest at around 12mph, with gusts into the 20s. Raptor Observations: The best way to describe today, it was fantastically slow. Raptors for the most part were way down in numbers, probably due to high winds pushing them back to Canada. Only 10 Sharp-shinned Hawks is very unusual, as was the 10 Red-shouldered Hawks and 17 Red-tailed Hawks. A single adult Broad-winged Hawk made a lonely push early in the morning. We did have a Golden Eagle moving with the Turkey Vultures. Turkey Vultures stole the day with 9,393, way over the historic average for this date. The data has shown that Turkey Vultures have been expanding northward through the state for about a decade, but this is a heck of a jump. There is a strong storm system hanging over the New England area. Which was our theory when we had the 41,000 on October 4th. It could be happening again, and our in-between slow times are our normal groups. Either way it has been, and might continue to be, an incredible year for these "semi-raptors". A total of 9,439 of 8 species were counted today. Non-raptor Observations: Blue Jays migrate around the Broad-winged Hawk kettles just to give the hawk watchers a run for their money. Blue Jays have left, no major flocks were noted today, only locals. Now we have American Crows, and they like to follow the same flight path as the Turkey Vultures. Sometimes they like to fly with the Turkey Vultures. At 6kms out, a wall of black flapping flying dots is hard to identify. You have to wait for the Vultures to kettle or glide to pick them out. However the Crows today did not pick up as much altitude as the Vultures, after a few minuets most distant birds became identifiable. Today was the first real day of American Crow migration, and flocks of thousands were seen all day. Predictions: Essentially warmer, less clouds and less wind. Winds should shift in from the west, but will slow down significantly. Mixed with more sun should make perfect thermals for the easy going Turkey Vultures. Sunday looks to be same pattern. A good weekend of hawk watching is in order. ======================================================================== 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/
