Detroit River Hawk Watch
Brownstown, Michigan, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 29, 2022
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
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Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 797 56951 64235
Osprey 0 2 16
Bald Eagle 1 32 63
Northern Harrier 2 143 375
Sharp-shinned Hawk 20 2953 5829
Cooper's Hawk 3 43 67
Northern Goshawk 0 1 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 105 287 290
Broad-winged Hawk 0 28 67350
Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0
Red-tailed Hawk 688 2497 2678
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 1 14 14
American Kestrel 0 226 981
Merlin 0 43 68
Peregrine Falcon 0 38 60
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: 1617 63258 142027
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Observation start time: 08:00:00
Observation end time: 16:00:00
Total observation time: 5 hours
Official Counter: Kevin Georg
Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Don Sherwood, Michelle Peregord,
Patrick Mulawa
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:
Most times that local dense fog is forecast, there is little to show for
it. Today, it was not forecast and it was dense. We shortened the watch on
the front end due to lack of visibility. The sun finally burned it off
around midday and we got to work. The skies were easy to describe today:
blue. No clouds were present once the fog lifted. Winds were light and
variable ending up with a southeastern accent and growing stronger towards
the end of the watch, pushing the birds a little further north into the
haze. Temperatures did reach the high fifties and with the sunshine it was
another pleasant fall day. The barometer is continuing its slow decline as
potential rain is possible on Monday.
Raptor Observations:
Once the fog lifted, we could see a stream of buteos flying past the stacks
almost nonstop for three hours. Turkey vultures accompanied them, and
thanks to a late surge in the last hour, finally outnumbered them. Turkey
vultures ended the day with 797, which is a moderate number for them,
red-tails ended with 688, which is a very good number. One of them,
apparently partially leucistic, had a striking pattern of white on the top
of the wings. It was unfortunately very far away but we may have some shots
for DRHW Facebook. Over the last three days we have tallied 1,969
red-tails, which is almost 75% of our season total. At the time we started
the watch, the wind had settled in the SE and it kept the flight lines more
consistent today than yesterday. Red-shoulders were flying with the tails
and earned the bronze medal today with 105 working hard in the light winds.
Our sharp-shins have avoided the lime-light the last few days and only 20
were counted today. Cooperâs hawks numbered three on the day. Northern
harriers only accounted for 2 of our daily total. The eagles shared the
spotlight equally with a single count each of bald and golden eagles. We
may have seen another good candidate for a golden at the end of the day but
could not satisfactorily confirm due to distance and hazy conditions.
Non-raptor Observations:
The crows honored the Sabbath today and were not very evident. We did see
some lines of ducks headed the opposite direction from what we usually see
but they may have just been up stretching their wings. Our kingfisher is
still taunting us with flybys that come from nowhere and give us little
chance to photograph it. There wasnât much time to devote to other
species today as the stream of buteos and TVs required constant attention.
Predictions:
Sunday looks to be the overture to Mondayâs possible showers. Cloud cover
will increase and the barometer will be headed south with a potential two
tenths of an inch drop, although still remaining above 30 inches. The winds
will continue to be light and variable, staying mostly SE during our watch
hours. As long as the wind speeds stay low, we still have a chance to see
birds to the north. Whether they continue the torrid pace of evacuation of
the last three days is anyoneâs guess. Most of the factors look somewhat
negative but given the past three days of buteo flights, we can always hope
for more.
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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-2022
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