Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 04, 2026 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 275 1626 3347 Osprey 1 1 8 Bald Eagle 2 4 71 Northern Harrier 10 14 185 Sharp-shinned Hawk 90 185 2139 Cooper's Hawk 0 3 10 American Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 1 3 Broad-winged Hawk 0 9 75157 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 1 Red-tailed Hawk 1 23 141 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 8 34 562 Merlin 1 3 24 Peregrine Falcon 1 7 19 Unknown Accipitrine 0 0 5 Unknown Buteo 0 1 19 Unknown Falcon 0 0 2 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 15 Total: 389 1911 81708 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 7 hours Official Counter: Gracie Sangmeister Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Bill Peregord, Don Sherwood, Erika Van Kirk, Johannes Postma, Mark Hainen, Michelle Peregord, Rebekah Graham, Rosemary Brady Visitors: We welcome visitors to our site at the Lake Erie Metropark Boat Launch. We are always willing to discuss the events of the day. Let us share our enthusiasm with you. There will be busy days, that may require our full attention, but those are not that frequent, and they provide great thrills for all. We can predict good days to some degree, but the exact hour is up to the birds, so be prepared to put in some time for the best results. Pack a lunch😊 Weather: We started the day catching the tail end of a system to the north of us that watered the lawns for a few minutes before passing on. The clouds that delivered the rain were soon a memory as the sky cleared to a blue dome for most of the day, some late scattered cumulus clouds adding some contrast. The winds were the issue today. A steep climb from near zero just before the watch, to fourteen mph from the southwest at the end, made an offer the birds could not refuse. The white horses were running on the lake as the winds pushed both the water and the birds to the north. As the wind grew, our count declined. The winds aside, it was a pleasant fall day with seventy-four-degree temperatures and lots of sunshine. The barometer was falling but still stayed above thirty inches as the dip in pressure coincided with the increase in the wind. Raptor Observations: We expected a dropoff from yesterday�s count with the predicted weather conditions and so it was. Turkey vultures played hard to get today, hiding behind the tree line as the skirted our site; they still took the gold with two hundred and seventy-five. Sharp-shinned hawks did what they could to break the century mark but just fell short, sending ninety volunteers to fight the wind. Northern harriers made the podium today with ten of them meeting some resistance from the wind over the lake and having to frequently recalculate. American kestrels were not too far behind with eight birds. One osprey was seen hurrying to the exits along with two bald eagles. The falcons were busy today with lots of aggressive action as they took runs at their feathered frenemies. We did score the hat-trick today with one merlin and one peregrine counted. We saw a peregrine many times but it was not deemed to be migrating. Non-raptor Observations: The gulls outnumbered the raptors today as they feasted on �bugs�. I know this because I asked one of the naturalists at the park what they were eating and received that answer. What ever it was, the gulls were performing aerobatics in pursuit of them, diving and twisting in a manic way. The sheer number of them made searching for raptors difficult at times. The cormorants and pelicans made their presence known today. Masses of cormorants were feeding on the lake, with air cover provided by ring-billed and herring gulls. Some of the pelicans ate side by side with the cormorants before taking to the air to practice their wheeling formations. A red-bellied woodpecker has been flying across the slip the last few days. Mallards fly by frequently, and more migrating ducks are being seen in the sky. Two thousand, three hundred and eighteen blue jays passed by. Twenty-one monarchs made the trek. Predictions: Tomorrow has potential. The barometer is rising again, and northwest winds are predicted. The strength of these winds should be from five to ten mph. The temperature will drop with winds from the north, reaching sixty-one degrees, thirteen degrees cooler than today. (Add a layer) The skies should be clear. This wind should push the birds to the Lake Erie coast line so we may not be the main recipient should the birds come in numbers, hopefully, we see enough to keep us busy. ======================================================================== 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