Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 04, 2022 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 931 9467 16742 Osprey 0 0 14 Bald Eagle 0 6 37 Northern Harrier 3 17 248 Sharp-shinned Hawk 54 298 3174 Cooper's Hawk 1 10 34 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 12 35 38 Broad-winged Hawk 0 25 67284 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 49 274 455 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 1 2 2 American Kestrel 2 33 787 Merlin 0 5 30 Peregrine Falcon 0 4 25 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: 1053 10176 88870 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 8 hours Official Counter: Kevin Georg Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Don Sherwood, Erika Van Kirk Visitors: We are located by the boat launch in Lake Erie Metropark in a fenced off area at the Hawk Watch site. This does not mean that we do not welcome interaction with any and all visitors. We enjoy talking about what we do and sharing our knowledge with beginners and experts alike. Please feel free to come up and talk to us. We usually have our backs turned to the parking lot as we scan the skies in front of us. This should not be interpreted as a sign of reluctance to engage; this is how we do our job. We have friendly people that do not bite and the welcome mat is always out. Weather: Today was a transitional day, although it seemed quite ordinary to the eye. The winds from the NE finally blew themselves out after a number of days in the front side of a high-pressure zone. Today the winds seemed confused and lacked energy, especially during the first couple of hours of the watch. Usually, no wind means no birds to speak of and so it was. Finally, around midday we saw a dead cat bounce as the wind went to the north and blew with its last reserve of energy. That brought the migrants back to our neighborhood but it felt like we were on the fringe of a larger movement somehow. The wind will start to change direction tomorrow and over the next couple of days return to its more normal SW direction. The temperature cracked the 70-degree mark as the skies were mostly clear and blue. The extraordinary sights of yesterday were not repeated as the jet contrails dispersed very quickly today. The barometer slowly declined all day, as it will for the next couple of days as more cloudy and potentially rainy weather approaches. Raptor Observations: Not ones to rest on our laurels, we saw our second golden eagle passing overhead today. Cunningly disguised as a turkey vulture and traveling with a large stream of TVâs, it tested our motto of None Shall Pass. This appeared to be a younger bird than the previous one and I, thinking as a photographer, was disappointed that it did not spread its wings and soar above us. The glide posture is not as spectacular since its wings are tucked in, hiding the white blazes on the wings. Turkey vultures led the way again, but their early efforts were feeble and it wasnât until late in the day that they seemed to literally rise to the occasion, emerging out of the trees in tall thin kettles across the slip. We ended the day with 931. Sharp-shinned hawks barely outnumbered the red-tails today with 54, compared to 49 RTHA. The rest of the count was rather thin with only seven other birds; northern harriers were spotted three times, kestrels two times, Cooperâs hawks and golden eagles had one of each. Non-raptor Observations: The light winds must have kept our pelicans at bay today as only a couple were spotted. An immature black-crowned night heron passed by this morning. A pair of mute swans announced their presence with their swishing wing sounds. A great egret also passed in review. The blue jays were not present in large numbers today at our site. We did see three monarch butterflies. The sky was largely devoid of gulls today so perhaps someone mentioned my report from yesterday, or more likely, the low winds and perhaps a lack of insects kept them grounded. Some swallows were noted but at a distance. Predictions: Much cooler days are on the horizon but tomorrow will not be one of them with forecasted highs near todays. The barometer will continue to fall and clouds will start to build in the late afternoon hours. Winds will again be on the low end of the scale (under five mph) and change from NW to SW when the clouds roll in. Itâs hard to know when this will all happen with pinpoint accuracy so take all of these predictions with a grain of salt. The forecasted changes in weather are only the most likely scenarios of computer models and the Great Lakes have a way of fooling the best of them. Hard to predict bird movement as well but low winds and a dropping barometer are not the most favored indicators. ======================================================================== 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-2022 -- Ontbirds and Birdnews are moderated email Listservs provided by the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO) as a service to all birders in Ontario. Birdnews is reserved for announcements, location summaries, first of year reports, etc. To post a message on Birdnews, send an email to: [email protected]. If you have any questions or concerns, contact the Birdnews Moderators by email at [email protected]. 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