Detroit River Hawk Watch
Brownstown, Michigan, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 23, 2021
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
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Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 3578 35460 39586
Osprey 0 5 24
Bald Eagle 0 31 65
Northern Harrier 15 148 343
Sharp-shinned Hawk 60 3261 6174
Cooper's Hawk 0 23 35
Northern Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 3 62 67
Broad-winged Hawk 0 18 22240
Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0
Red-tailed Hawk 39 554 615
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 4 5
American Kestrel 4 417 1066
Merlin 0 25 48
Peregrine Falcon 0 23 49
Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0
Unknown Buteo 0 0 1
Unknown Falcon 0 0 0
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Raptor 0 0 0
Total: 3699 40031 70318
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Observation start time: 08:00:00
Observation end time: 23:00:00
Total observation time: 9 hours
Official Counter: Kevin Georg
Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Don Sherwood, Mark Hainen,
Shourjya Majumder
Visitors:
We are still dealing with the residue of the Covid 19 situation. The
workers at the site will be in an enclosed area that is designed for four
people only. We still love to interact and share our love of hawk watching
with visitors. Feel free to ask questions and look over our shoulders to
help you follow the birds. Watch the weather for favorable forecasts as the
birds are predictable to some degree based on weather situations.
One other thing of note this year; the boat-launch bathroom building has
been shut down for the foreseeable future due to plumbing issues. There are
Porta-Johns in the parking lot should you require them.
Weather:
Yes, we did eventually end up with partly cloudy skies, but to get there we
witnessed a garish display of natureâs capricious ways of arriving at a
destination. Once again, we were on an isobar line which erratically
affected the wind direction and strength. A low-pressure trough is headed
our way tomorrow but for most of today it looked as if it had already
arrived. Ominous purple clouds offered a contrast to the otherwise gray mat
that covered the sky at times until the gradual clearing later in the final
hours. The temperatures were more pleasant than yesterdayâs rude
awakening, even though they only reached just above fifty degrees. The
barometer was steady for the morning hours but started to fall in the
afternoon, ending just under thirty inches. Winds were rising till midday
but eased later, the direction changed from WSW to NW to WNW causing some
changes in the wind-sensitive turkey vultures flight lines as they reacted
to the shifts.
Raptor Observations:
Much like yesterday, we got off to a very slow start with less than thirty
birds for the first three hours. The turkey vultures started in modest
numbers after that, but really got going in a two-hour span from two till
four p.m. We ended with a respectable total of three thousand, five hundred
and seventy-eight, given that slow start. No one told the sharpies when to
run, so they missed the starting gun, but we ended the day with sixty
counted, some coming in the turkey vulture streams at the end of the day.
We had a fairly good harrier day with fifteen counted, the first of the day
was a gray ghost. We havenât seen that many of these birds lately but
they are always a welcome sight with their unique gait. Buteos can be
expected to hitchhike with the vultures and today we noted thirty-nine
red-tailed hawks and three red-shouldered hawks. Four American kestrels
were the only falcon representatives. Today was apparently St.
Valentineâs Day for the local red-tails as they were observed flying
together in display flights showing public displays of affection. One bird
was carrying a large stick as the other flew with its legs extended. This
legs-down posture was a frequent gesture of amore, although Iâm not sure
why.
Non-raptor Observations:
The birds of the day were the swallows that moved into our neighborhood in
significant numbers. They caused some confusion at times as they constantly
crossed our field of view and had to be checked to see if they were
sharpies or kestrels. At times, they do a credible job of imitating both
species. We have not had serious vision issues with them this year, but
apparently the insect hatch was close to us today and, no, the swallows
have not left. Crows are becoming more apparent and at times in the
shimmering haze of thermal distortion they are easily confused with the
other black flocking bird of October, the turkey vulture. The one thing
that all hawk watchers are thankful for is that crows do not glide, they
flap all the time. Ravens glide, but not crows. This simplifies our life a
great deal as we try to separate raptors from non-raptors. We always look
for the flap and glide pattern of raptors to separate them from other
species.
Predictions:
The first few hours of tomorrowâs watch would ordinarily show promise.
Winds look favorable, barometric pressure is above 30 inches, whatâs not
to like? Well, the fact that we have had very slow starts the last two
days, the fact that rain is imminent in the afternoon hours and that the
winds will eventually grow too strong for our site. Perhaps we will see a
mad rush for the exits before the rain but that remains to be seen. Heavy
rains will through a dampener on most migration activity for the next two
days.
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Report submitted by Andrew Sturgess ([email protected])
Detroit River Hawk Watch information may be found at:
http://www.detroitriverhawkwatch.org
More site information at hawkcount.org:
https://hawkcount.org/siteinfo.php?rsite=285
Count data submitted via Dunkadoo - Project info at:
https://dunkadoo.org/explore/detroit-river-international-wildlife-refuge/detroit-river-hawk-watch-fall-2021
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