Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 24, 2013 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 6890 56745 60967 Osprey 0 10 70 Bald Eagle 10 120 258 Northern Harrier 4 57 180 Sharp-shinned Hawk 151 1017 2875 Cooper's Hawk 15 168 361 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 19 119 121 Broad-winged Hawk 0 2 49627 Swainson's Hawk 0 1 4 Red-tailed Hawk 145 805 1104 Rough-legged Hawk 0 3 3 Golden Eagle 1 1 1 American Kestrel 1 181 678 Merlin 1 23 47 Peregrine Falcon 0 32 42 Unknown Accipiter 1 12 44 Unknown Buteo 0 7 12 Unknown Falcon 0 3 3 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 1 11 23 Total: 7239 59317 116420 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 8 hours Official Counter: Jonathan Stein Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Jim Lynch, Raburn Howland Visitors: 4 Weather: The shifting sun and wandering clouds painted a sky awash in dazzling purples, blues, whites and grays. No rain to speak of but we did get pelted by a brief patch of hail in the afternoon. Some early morning mist wafted away in a hurry. The temperatures remained in the 30s and 40s and the west wind blustered throughout. Raptor Observations: Memorable and highly enjoyable, today was a reminder of just how much fun late October hawk watching by the lake can be. The Turkey Vulture flight was awe-inspiring, especially after the breathtaking numbers of the previous two days. Stream after stream wobbled past well into the late afternoon. And this time, more Red-tailed and Red-shouldered hawks came along for the ride. Not to be overlooked, we added our first Golden Eagle of the season, a gorgeous first year bird that crossed quietly into the trees to our right, the first of many. Non-raptor Observations: American Crows (8000+) were moving but in smaller numbers than yesterday. Blackbirds crossed overhead early in small numbers. An Eastern Phoebe was hanging out with a mixed flock of songbirds (both kinglets, yellow rumps, chickadees, juncos, whitethroats, etc.) around midday. A Hooded Merganser flew by in the late afternoon. Predictions: Partly cloudy with highs in the upper 40s and moderate west wind. Let's keep it going. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Jonathan Stein ([email protected]) Detroit River Hawk Watch 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 [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS including how to unsubscribe visit http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdssetup
