Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 11, 2026 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 0 13261 14982 Osprey 0 3 10 Bald Eagle 0 7 74 Northern Harrier 0 102 273 Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 621 2575 Cooper's Hawk 0 3 10 American Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 1 3 Broad-winged Hawk 0 24 75172 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 1 Red-tailed Hawk 0 63 181 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 1 1 American Kestrel 0 128 656 Merlin 0 9 30 Peregrine Falcon 0 12 24 Unknown Accipitrine 0 1 6 Unknown Buteo 0 3 21 Unknown Falcon 0 1 3 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 2 17 Total: 0 14242 94039 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 12:15:00 Total observation time: 4.25 hours Official Counter: Gracie Sangmeister Observers: Erika Van Kirk, Rebekah Graham 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: "The rain is like someone doing raspberries in your face all day," as one of the brave souls in today's hawkwatching group eloquently put it. A very light, almost non-stop misty drizzle descended upon us as we vainly searched the stratus covered skies. Winds were consistently easterly, but switched their north-south angle every hour. The barometer slowly sank, dropping from 30.07" to 30.03" during observation hours. Raptor Observations: At this point in the season we're usually able to promise a turkey vulture or a sharpie to any new comers, out-of-towners, and golden eagle hopefuls should they stay for an hour, but today we scraped the barrel even deeper, pointing out literally any bird that flew by. This was our first observed zero countable migrant day since September 2nd. The best we did raptor-wise was a single local Cooper's hawk that flew east across the channel and into someone's backyard, and then west less than five minutes later from the tip of Gibraltar Island into the metropark woods. Non-raptor Observations: The cormorants were gathered in decent numbers close to shore at the start of the count. Swifts, not many in number, fluttered by overhead. Two shorebirds and a handful of ducks flew distantly from us. The pelicans made a distant appearance by the jetty. Several ring-billed gulls swooped around, and two fought over a small fish one had caught. The most drama of the day were two balls of starlings that flew briefly overhead in tight coordination, their wings creating a vibration that sounded like the quick thrum of a machine. Predictions: Southerly winds will dominate tomorrow in the 7-10mph range, and skies will be overcast until noon. The barometer will stay below 30.00", and temperatures will be warm, potentially reaching 75F by the end of the count. Conditions are not ideal, but we've seen birds migrating through worse. Chances are at least a few will be restless after today's sky spitting kept them down and will try to make it through on the morrow. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Erika Van Kirk (erika_vankirk@fws.gov) 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