Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 12, 2025 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 3855 38105 40186 Osprey 0 0 28 Bald Eagle 1 20 117 Northern Harrier 1 44 407 Sharp-shinned Hawk 22 477 3500 Cooper's Hawk 1 14 41 American Goshawk 0 1 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 4 17 17 Broad-winged Hawk 0 45 51919 Swainson's Hawk 0 1 1 Red-tailed Hawk 46 151 297 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 2 4 6 American Kestrel 2 29 952 Merlin 0 3 36 Peregrine Falcon 0 10 40 Unknown Accipitrine 0 0 1 Unknown Buteo 0 1 3 Unknown Falcon 0 0 3 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 6 9 Total: 3934 38928 97564 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 7 hours Official Counter: Andrew Sturgess Observers: Bill Peregord, Don Sherwood, Johannes Postma, Mark Hainen, Michelle Peregord, Rosemary Brady Visitors: We welcome visitors to our site as we are eager to share the joys of hawk watching with one and all. Although there may be times in which we are all very busy and need alone-time to concentrate, those are the times that are most enjoyable for visitors as the skies are filled with migrating raptors. Weather: There may be better ways to spend time lazing on a sunny afternoon than counting migrating raptors, but none of them come easily to mind. The day had its twists and turns with the fickle winds of course. What started as a benign northeast wind had a metamorphosis into a snarling beast of an easterly wind that immediately seemed to scour the sky of any raptors. Fortunately, it was on its way to a more productive southeast direction, and when that was achieved, the flights resumed. Cloud cover was variable, with cumulus clouds of inconsistent size, most seemed to be evaporating over the lake. They were helpful as backdrops, when present, as the birds were taking the high way again. Whitecaps were present on the lake, giving evidence of the persistent nature of the wind. The temperature reached as high as possible in the sixties, being short of seventy by one degree. The barometer was below 30.1” but stayed above 30 inches of mercury. Raptor Observations: We thought that we had the beginnings of a very good day during the first hours, with hundreds of birds counted each hour, until the wind took a literal turn for the worse. We then dropped to thirty birds for that hour. Luckily, the wind continued to veer and ended up in a more favorable direction. Turkey vultures carried the water today, with three thousand, eight hundred and fifty-five. What seemed to be a very good red-tailed day was interrupted by the wind shift but we still managed forty-six specimens. Twenty-two shins took the lower step of the podium finishers. Four red-shouldered hawks were noted. Two kestrels scurried by in the winds, the same number that the golden eagles earned. One was the number shared by bald eagles, Cooper’s hawks, and the northern harriers. Non-raptor Observations: The pelicans are definitely energized the last couple of days. Many flights of different sizes were noted, at times interfering with the counting of TVs, as they did yesterday. The cormorants were seen en masse, flying over the lake in a different formation than their usual follow-the-leader single file lines. Gulls were up in numbers, their sudden improbable maneuvers telling us they were hawking insects. Blue jay season seems to be coming to a close with five hundred and ninety birds. As further evidence of that, we had their successors, the crows, show up with four of them flying together today. We don’t see crows at the watch site except for migration and at times they can put on an impressive display. Let’s hope they have a good year. Predictions: Monday looks to have winds from the east-northeast again, but they are predicted to be less than five mph. That usually means a lot of unpredictable ups and downs, with direction shifts thrown in for good measure. The temperature should be higher than seventy degrees tomorrow by a degree or two. The barometer will actually rise tomorrow but not by a really significant amount, still high pressure. Partly cloudy skies means some cloud, but at times, a clear blue sky to sear the eyeballs. I would expect more of the same that we had today. We will depend on the mercy of the winds, either feast or famine., with turkey vultures continuing their exodus from Canada. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Andrew Sturgess (ajyes72@gmail.com) 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