Detroit River Hawk Watch
Brownstown, Michigan, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 16, 2019
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 31 41 41
Osprey 3 21 21
Bald Eagle 3 24 24
Northern Harrier 10 85 85
Sharp-shinned Hawk 100 713 713
Cooper's Hawk 1 6 6
Northern Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0
Broad-winged Hawk 34544 35158 35158
Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0
Red-tailed Hawk 2 67 67
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 0 0
American Kestrel 37 133 133
Merlin 0 6 6
Peregrine Falcon 0 4 4
Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0
Unknown Buteo 0 0 0
Unknown Falcon 0 0 0
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Raptor 0 0 0
Total: 34731 36258 36258
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Observation start time: 08:00:00
Observation end time: 16:30:00
Total observation time: 8.5 hours
Official Counter: Kevin Georg
Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Mark Hainen, Patrick Mulawa,
Rosemary Brady
Visitors:
Visitors were plentiful today as those in the know watch for the northerly
winds during September. There were not disappointed today. I was a little
concerned that the winds might be too light but it actually worked to our
advantage as it kept the birds closer overhead than a stronger wind.
Streaming birds overhead mean that OMG! is heard in the crowd, that's the
sign of a good day.
Weather:
The barometer stayed high with light winds with a northerly component for
most of the day. Cloud cover varied from near 100% at times to
multi-colored layers of cottony cumulus interspersed with blue windows. A
nice backdrop for the spectacle that we were fortunate enough to witness.
Raptor Observations:
Wow! There are days and there are extraordinary days. This was one of the
latter. The skies were filled with flying creatures today. Nearly 35,000
broad-wingeds passed by in large kettles today. Starting around 1100 EDST
and continuing through to 1730. Sharpies kept up the pace with 95, kestrels
numbered over 30. Harriers reached double digits with 10.
Non-raptor Observations:
The other flying creature of note was the monarch butterfly. I can only
estimate that well over 30,000 passed by. The sky was truly filled with
them. We had no way to effectively count them but we estimated them at
about 100 per minute and that was only one little slice of the sky! The
raptors kept us busy but it would have taken a team to even try and come
close to an accurate estimate. Common nighthawks were also observed today
catching insects in a hatch that occupied the gulls as well.
Predictions:
The winds are from the NE going E with a high barometer. I hope that means
that we can duplicate at least some of today's movement but the old saying
applies; you should have been here yesterday. Hopefully tomorrow will put
that to rest.
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Report submitted by Kevin Georg (kevin.l.ge...@gmail.com)
Detroit River Hawk Watch information may be found at:
http://www.detroitriverhawkwatch.org
More site information at hawkcount.org:
http://hawkcount.org/siteinfo.php?rsite=285
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