Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 07, 2025 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 0 0 0 Osprey 0 0 0 Bald Eagle 0 0 0 Northern Harrier 9 21 21 Sharp-shinned Hawk 3 3 3 Cooper's Hawk 0 0 0 American Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 12 95 95 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 2 18 18 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 6 15 15 Merlin 0 1 1 Peregrine Falcon 1 4 4 Unknown Accipitrine 0 0 0 Unknown Buteo 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 1 1 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 0 Total: 33 158 158 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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, Mark Hainen, Michelle Peregord 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: Today came down to who are you going to believe, the weather station, or your own lying eyes. The wind- strength graph looks like an EKG with premature junctional contraction. That we agree with, the wind was up and down most of the day, thankfully in the early part of the day it was less forceful than it became later on. The direction was shown as consistently coming from the west, although we had whitecaps on the lake indicating a definite southeast direction. The cloud formations followed a now familiar pattern with an almost clear sky developing cumulus sprouts that flourished and became more plentiful as the day proceeded. They attempted to knit together to form a stratus layer, but didn’t fully succeed. We started off in T-shirts and ended the day wrapped in two more layers due to the loss of sunshine and increased winds off the lake. The temperature climbed from the low fifties to sixty-seven at day’s end. Barometric pressure was climbing, albeit with some back-tracking towards the final hours. Raptor Observations: We had a little action today, which is all we can hope for with the adverse winds we have seen lately. Broadwings drifted by in small groups until the winds grew too strong for them to pass over us. We managed twelve during a period of mild winds. We expected to see more harriers, falcons and sharpies, and so it was. Harriers numbered nine, kestrels six and our first sharpies numbered three. We also had the king of falcons, a peregrine, make an appearance. Two red-tails came over in the “good” winds. These are anemic numbers but hope springs eternal…. only to be smashed on the windy rocks of reality. Non-raptor Observations: The pelican air force was back in force today with numbers over one hundred again. Gull flak was considerable today, as they spent time migrating back and forth in front of us. Cedar waxwings were noted on their appointed rounds. Monarchs were making a strong push today with one hundred, twenty-one passing over. The early milder, non-predicted, winds seemed to agree with them. Cormorants plied their trade out on the lake. The local ospreys, eagles and Cooper’s hawks made their Sunday matinee appearances. The swallow contingent was off to the side of the main stage today. Predictions: On paper, it looks like we might have a better morning tomorrow. The barometer will still be climbing, the winds will have a northern component and be in the four to six mph range. The fly in the ointment is that the winds are predicted to flip to the south and climb in strength in the afternoon. Temperatures are predicted to stay the same as today with sixty-seven as a peak. The timing of the wind shift may determine our state of mind at the end of the day, later is better. Fingers crossed. ======================================================================== 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