DRHW- Lake Erie Metropark
Brownstown, Michigan, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 30, 2010
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
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Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 606 112619 113990
Osprey 0 10 62
Bald Eagle 0 58 196
Northern Harrier 7 142 404
Sharp-shinned Hawk 50 1489 6444
Cooper's Hawk 10 489 726
Northern Goshawk 0 6 8
Red-shouldered Hawk 1 269 274
Broad-winged Hawk 0 209 79572
Red-tailed Hawk 12 1000 1248
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 15 15
American Kestrel 2 100 673
Merlin 4 24 48
Peregrine Falcon 1 16 36
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: 693 116447 203721
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Observation start time: 09:00:00
Observation end time: 15:00:00
Total observation time: 6 hours
Official Counter: Rob Payne
Observers: Brian , Brian "Bubba" McCarty III, Don Sherwood,
Jeff Schultz, Paul Cypher, Rodney Laura
Visitors:
Quite a group, made of regular Hawk Watchers, Birders, and Boy Scouts. A
lot of people came out for the Cave Swallows, and as earlier noted, none
were found. Same goes for those who came for Golden Eagles and Northern
Goshawks.
Weather:
Today was cloudier and windier than expected. Winds came in from the north
west at an average of only 4mph, but gust reached the low 20s. Temperatures
stayed low with a top off at 53f.
Raptor Observations:
Raptor migration was slow today due to the high winds and lack of thermals.
One large movement of Turkey Vultures was first spotted over Canada,
numbering around 300 birds. After about noon the flight slowed down to near
nothingness, as the winds picked up in the afternoon. A total of 606 Turkey
Vultures were counted for the day. 7 Northern Harriers were noted in the
early part of the count, 3 of which were males. We had all three of our
normally occurring falcons today, 4 Merlin, 2 American Kestrels, and 1
Peregrine Falcon. A good push of Sharp-shinned Hawks came through with an
even 50 for the day.
A total of 693 raptors were counted of 9 species.
Non-raptor Observations:
The best bird of note was a group of 6 Long-tailed Ducks that passed to our
south east, 2 were male. 3 Common Loons were also noted in migration today.
Despite the many swallows around, no Cave Swallows were found, just Tree.
American Crow migration slowed to our weeks average, only 2 decent sized
groups came through. Less than a thousand migrant crows were noted today.
Predictions:
Tomorrow will consist of thicker clouds, with a few breaks, but a bit more
wind. Thinks will probably continue to be slow until we have a good sunny
day. Monday is looking most likely to be a good day for raptor migration.
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Report submitted by Greg Norwood ([email protected])
SMRR- Lake Erie Metropark information may be found at:
http://www.drhawkwatch.org
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