Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 27, 2025 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 1650 87084 89165 Osprey 0 1 29 Bald Eagle 2 52 149 Northern Harrier 4 111 474 Sharp-shinned Hawk 2 912 3935 Cooper's Hawk 1 37 64 American Goshawk 0 1 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 45 158 158 Broad-winged Hawk 0 47 51921 Swainson's Hawk 0 1 1 Red-tailed Hawk 161 807 953 Rough-legged Hawk 0 3 3 Golden Eagle 4 32 34 American Kestrel 0 41 964 Merlin 0 14 47 Peregrine Falcon 0 13 43 Unknown Accipitrine 0 0 1 Unknown Buteo 0 1 3 Unknown Falcon 0 0 3 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 6 9 Total: 1869 89321 147957 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 7 hours Official Counter: Jo Patterson Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Don Sherwood, Johannes Postma 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: What might have been. The day started well, with northeast winds, albeit strong ones, pushing buteos to our site. They were popping out of the trees like a ruptured Jiffy-pop spewing popcorn hither and yon. By noon, we had easily surpassed our best red-tail day by nearly fifty birds. Then the dreaded beast from the east awoke from its slumber. The wind shift, along with an increase in strength, cleansed the sky as if by magic. We spent the rest of the day searching for remnants of what had been a mighty stream of raptors. The wind started around nine mph and rose to fourteen as a promising day turned to what might have been. The temperature was fifty-seven but the wind chill was significant. The barometer has started to decline, as more cloud and rain are on the way later in the week. Raptor Observations: We have had days of multiple hundreds of red-tails before and this day started off in that manner. It seemed to be a normal day at first with crows and turkey vultures jockeying for position over Canada. The last couple of days, with crow migration in full song, they have at times been crossing paths with the turkey vultures, making counting a more interesting procedure. We did manage to separate sixteen hundred and fifty turkey vultures, giving them the top podium step, but a with a big decline from recent day’s numbers. Red-tailed hawks were on the move today with one hundred and sixty-one, zipping by early on a fast wind much to their liking. Forty-five red-shouldered hawks accompanied them in the first few morning hours. Four was the number shared by both harriers and golden eagles. Three of the goldens seemed to be traveling together as they came in quick succession. Two was shared by sharp-shins and bald eagles. We had a single Cooper’s hawk pass by. Non-raptor Observations: Although the pelicans made a late appearance, the skies and choppy waters in front of us were nearly empty. The exception being some migrating lines of cormorants, and some local ones up soaring in a near imitation of the pelican style of wheeling in the sky. It’s always a little odd to see those birds up soaring when you think of them as a bird that spends half its life underwater. The crows started strong but did not last in the wind switch. They still managed to accumulate six thousand, one hundred and eighty-two, so for the second day in a row, they beat out the turkey vultures. The monarchs aren't dead yet, two showed up today. Predictions: Tomorrow does not look good on paper. The winds will start in the east and stay there, growing in strength as the day progresses. Starting at ten and rising to sixteen mph means we may have sore eyes and wind-burned skin at the end of the day. The barometer will continue to decline a little but stay well above 30 inches. Temperatures should drop a couple of degrees from today, and reside in the mid-fifties range. Given our recent experiences with this wind, I would not expect good results tomorrow. The following day does not look much better at this time. ======================================================================== 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