Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 13, 2021 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 0 0 0 Osprey 1 10 10 Bald Eagle 0 3 3 Northern Harrier 4 24 24 Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 39 39 Cooper's Hawk 0 1 1 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 5 227 227 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 0 11 11 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 6 50 50 Merlin 0 0 0 Peregrine Falcon 1 5 5 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 Total: 18 371 371 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 14:00:00 Total observation time: 6 hours Official Counter: Kevin Georg Observers: Alex Gilford, Andrew Sturgess, 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: Today was an interesting day as far as the weather goes. The surface maps showed us on a cold front boundary as a cooler northern high introduced itself to a warmer southern high. Apparently, they were equally matched as the situation did not change much throughout the day. There was an impressive thunderstorm north of the front that raced across Lake Michigan, retaining its shape across the state and into the Canadian flyway to the north of us. Not that we had that much of a flight to begin with but that certainly stopped any that were on the way, causing us to retire a little early. We had ENE winds and I suspect if we were not on the boundary line our flight may have been much better. The skies were completely cloud covered for most of the day with the sun trying in vain to break through early in the day before giving up the fight for good. The barometer stayed steady at just north of thirty inches. Wind maps for Michigan showed different, sometimes contradictory, winds depending where you were located in the state. Confusing for a weather neophyte such as myself. Raptor Observations: We managed to get some variety today if not any quantity. One osprey was counted flying high in a purposeful manner. Four harriers pumped their way across. Only one sharp-shin was counted, it seems that we should be seeing more of those but it is still early. Five broad-wings were seen early in the day. Six kestrels flew by and one peregrine rounded out the falcon contingent. Most of the flight except for two late kestrels were earlier in the day. Non-raptor Observations: Our monarchs were flying again today, but in fits and starts. They seem to come when the birds do so they are reading the same wind conditions and reacting the same way. We managed one hundred and fifty-one today. Two young pied-billed grebes were keeping each other company in front of us. There is a professional fishing competition taking place in our area over the course of seven days, apparently the prize is $100K for the winner. We have been seeing some of them at work pulling bass from under the weeds, weighing them and putting them back to fight another day. There are plenty of warblers to be had on the trails and a white-eyed vireo was heard behind us for a short while. Predictions: Tomorrow shows a falling barometer with possibly significant rain predicted in the evening hours. Cloud cover will be almost total. Winds will be climbing to seventeen mph during the day from the dreaded SSW direction. Temperatures will be soaring again with the hot air coming up from the south, possibly making it hotter by fifteen degrees than today. I wish I had better news but it is what it is. There may be a little hope for Wednesday if the weather clears quickly enough. The barometer will be rising and the winds should be more favorable. ======================================================================== 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