Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 715 1150 1150
Osprey 0 17 17
Bald Eagle 1 27 27
Northern Harrier 1 125 125
Sharp-shinned Hawk 92 2074 2074
Cooper's Hawk 0 5 5
Northern Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0
Broad-winged Hawk 931 20064 20064
Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0
Red-tailed Hawk 5 42 42
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 0 0
American Kestrel 25 519 519
Merlin 2 20 20
Peregrine Falcon 4 21 21
Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0
Unknown Buteo 0 1 1
Unknown Falcon 0 0 0
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Raptor 0 0 0
Observation start time: 08:00:00
Observation end time: 15:30:00
Total observation time: 7.5 hours
Official Counter: Kevin Georg
Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Don Sherwood, Mark Hainen
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:
Although not exactly as predicted, todayâs weather did generally follow
the script. Instead of falling, the winds out the north increased for in
the morning hours. The barometer did climb, albeit with a little temporary
dip in the afternoon. Winds dropped in the afternoon and went slightly more
to the east. Temperatures rose to just over seventy and the skies were
mostly clear. The stage was set for a day of epic movement and that is what
we had with over thirty-nine thousand birds being counted today.
Raptor Observations:
When I read the tea leaves last night there was a little more ambiguity in
the prophecy than usual. (I attribute that to accidentally using decaf tea
leaves which have less energy and accuracy than the high-test stuff.) A big
number was indicated but the details were murky. I had anticipated the
final rush of broad-wings today with huge numbers blackening the sky but it
was not to be. Instead, it was another Canadian export with a blue hue. Not
Labatts, but blue jays that flooded the airways. We started off with a
fairly promising start to the day with broadwings being seen early but our
flight seemed to dry up and we saw only low numbers the rest of the day.
Nine hundred and thirty-one were counted. Itâs possible more were on the
move to the south of us but with the northerly wind staying fairly fresh we
could not see them. The turkey vultures seem more motivated by the day with
seven hundred and fifteen floating by. Kettles are starting to be seen over
Canada in their normal staging area. Five red-tails were counted, most of
the juvenile persuasion. The sharp-shins seemed much scarcer today although
I was pleasantly surprised to see the final end-of-day tally as ninety-two.
The falcons seem to be more common in the last few days. Today we saw
twenty-five kestrels, two merlin and four peregrines. One harrier and one
bald eagle were also counted.
Non-raptor Observations:
The constant flow of dense flocks of blue jays in the morning hours was the
highlight of the day. We totaled thirty-seven thousand, two hundred and
fifty-one. The skies were blackened, but by the wrong species. Some of
those birds had to take evasive action as the predatory falcons seemed to
be hungry today. One of those aggressive birds, a peregrine, took a run at
one bird in a small flight of American golden plovers that flew in front of
us. It was a juvenile bird still learning its craft so the plover escaped,
although I suspect its heart rate was slightly elevated. Our monarch
butterfly run has perhaps seen its best days with only fourteen seen today.
Predictions:
Tomorrow will be a form of déjà vu all over again with a similar forecast
to todayâs. Winds will mostly be from the NE to start, although at a
lower strength than today. That should make it a little easier to see the
migrants as they wonât be pushed away as much. However, sometimes a low
wind will send them further aloft to seek stronger winds The question is
whether there are that many migrants out there. We are a little late for
broadwings and a little early for heavy movement of turkey vultures and
other species. The barometer should continue to rise with a dip later in
the day. Skies should be sunny and temps peak around seventy again. Once
again, we will have fingers crossed and hope for the best.
---======
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
Count data submitted via Dunkadoo - Project info at:
https://dunkadoo.org/explore/detroit-river-international-wildlife-refuge/detroit-river-hawk-watch-fall-2021