DRHW- Lake Erie Metropark Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 17, 2011 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 669 15059 15576 Osprey 2 13 82 Bald Eagle 8 64 161 Northern Harrier 1 76 178 Sharp-shinned Hawk 73 1548 3959 Cooper's Hawk 8 345 444 Northern Goshawk 0 1 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 23 25 Broad-winged Hawk 0 641 195857 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 5 Red-tailed Hawk 10 259 337 Rough-legged Hawk 2 3 3 Golden Eagle 3 8 8 American Kestrel 24 217 621 Merlin 1 5 16 Peregrine Falcon 1 4 17 Unknown Accipiter 0 16 30 Unknown Buteo 0 10 10 Unknown Falcon 0 0 2 Unknown Eagle 0 1 1 Unknown Raptor 0 7 11 Total: 802 18300 217344 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 8 hours Official Counter: Jonathan Stein Observers: Frank Kitakis, John Elliott, Patrick Mulawa, Rodney Laura Visitors: Jackie Owens and Rick Belville dropped in during the last hour and were treated to some slowly developing turkey vulture migration. Weather: It was cool and clear today with a touch of haze limiting visibility slightly. For most of the day, there was nary a cloud to be seen. The wind was out of the southwest early, shifting more to the west as the day progressed. Raptor Observations: A fun-filled, 12 species day with a lot of different things going on. After such dreary weather of late, it was good to see a fairly solid push of turkey vultures during the afternoon. Adult accipiters were out in full force, staying low to the water and frequently shooting by just overhead. Kestrels made a nice mid-October showing. We also added three more golden eagles and two more rough-legged hawks to the season total. All three eagles came in quick succession during the 11 o'clock hour and one of the rough-legged hawks, a dark morph adult, crossed slowly directly overhead, offering up spectacular views. A red-tailed hawk chased around a black-crowned night heron for a good while in the morning, which was an enjoyable observance. And expecting to see a bald eagle come up with a fish from the channel, we were stunned to watch the bird instead pluck a squirrel from the water and fly off with it around noon. Non-raptor Observations: The first hour of the watch featured an astonishing number of tree swallows, especially for mid-October. Tens of thousands of swallows poured out of the sky, many passing overhead but many, many more passing north of us in one long, broad swarm of birds. A raft of five american coots was seen from the watch site in the morning. Pied-billed grebes appear to be arriving in greater numbers. A bonaparte's gull was also noted. Predictions: Partly cloudy with winds out of the west but also a 40 percent chance of rain all day. Let's hope the rain doesn't become an issue. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Jonathan Stein ([email protected]) SMRR- Lake Erie Metropark information may be found at: http://www.drhawkwatch.org Site Description: The primary site used by the Detroit River Hawk Watch (a joint venture of the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge and it's Friends group, the International Wildlife Refuge Alliance) is the Boat Launch at Lake Erie Metropark located approximately 20 miles south of Detroit, Michigan. A secondary site, the Headquarters of Pointe Mouillee State Game Area is used during certain wind conditions. When staffing is available, both sites can be used at the same time. The season begins on the first day of September and concludes on the final day of November. For details and directions, log on to www.drhawkwatch.org Directions to site: Lake Erie Metropark: >From I-75, exit at Huron River Drive (exit 27). Continue east on Huron River Drive. Turn left on West Jefferson and proceed a few hundred yards to the entrance of Lake Erie Metropark. After paying the entrance fee, follow the signs to the Boat Launch. _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
